CITY Champs City could be set for lightning start
FOR once, the football fixtures gods seem to have smiled on City.
The Blues have a relatively easy start to their Premier League title defence, setting aside a tricky opening day at Arsenal who will be eager to impress their new manager Unai Emery.
But City face newlypromoted Wolves, Cardiff and Fulham, plus last season’s relegation strugglers Huddersfield, Newcastle and Brighton, in their next six matches.
As Pep Guardiola constantly reminds everyone, no Premier League games are easy, but if City can take three points at the Emirates, they would fancy themselves to win the first seven games and set the kind of scorching pace which their rivals failed to match last time out.
After that run, City face their bogey fixture, a trip to Anfield on October 6, but they will be glad of an early chance to avenge their solitary away defeat last season, as well as wipe away the traumatic memory of their 3-0 Champions League defeat.
The fixtures surrounding their Champions League group games have also fallen kindly, with seven home games and five away trips scheduled for the weekends surrounding their European games.
And if City progress to the Champions League quarterfinals and semi-finals, they are not scheduled to face any major domestic games around those dates.
Last season, the Blues had more clashes with league rivals around European dates than anyone else, sparking conspiracy theories among the more imaginative fans who sense a Uefa agenda at every turn.
Some clashes are inevitable, but in the coming season, four of the group games will follow home games against Fulham, Brighton, Burnley and Southampton, while three will be followed by home clashes with Bournemouth and Everton and a trip to Cardiff.
The festive period also looks easier this time round, setting aside the inconvenience of a journey to Southampton on December 29.
Heading to Leicester on Boxing Day is not the worst, while New Year’s Day brings a home game with Liverpool – although recent history suggests that could be switched to a far less convenient New Year’s Eve date.
City’s last three New Year’s fixtures have been turned into trials for their loyal fans by insensitive TV companies.
Last year they had to travel to Crystal Palace – the most gruelling trip of the season – for a New Year’s Eve midday kick-off.
Before that, a New Year’s Eve trip to Liverpool was made into a transport nightmare with a switch to a tea-time kick-off, and in 2015 the longest trip of the season, to Swansea, was changed to a 12.45pm kick-off on New Year’s Day.
The Blues also face another long trip to the south coast on the final day of the season. After the joyous scenes as Gabriel Jesus’ late goal saw them win at Southampton, fans will relish the possibility of another sunshine trip to Brighton.