Emery begins his tenure at Arsenal with a match against the champions

New Arsenal manager Unai Emery has been handed the toughest possible start to his tenure at the London club – an opening Premier League fixture against champions Manchester City.

The Premier League fixtures for the 2018-19 season were published yesterday and the Arsenal v Manchester City match was the standout on the opening weekend.

Emery, having replaced Arsene Wenger, who was in charge of Arsenal for 22 years, will be looking to make an immediate statement at the Emirates against a City side who won the league by a record 19 points last season.

Tottenham Hotspur are scheduled to play Fulham at home on the second weekend but it is still unclear if the match will be at the club’s temporary home of Wembley Stadium, which they are using while white hart lane is being rebuilt. Tottenham have three away games in their first four fixtures, kicking off with a trip to Newcastle.

Manchester United start at home to Leicester and play only one of last season’s top six – Tottenham – in their first eight games. The first Man- chester derby is at City’s Etihad Stadium on 10 November, with the second at Old Trafford on 16 March. English Premier League opening fixtures: Arsenal v Manchester City, Bournemouth v Cardiff City, Fulham v Crystal Palace, Huddersfield Town v Chelsea, Liverpool v West Ham United, Manchester United v Leicester City, Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton v Burnley, Watford v Brighton, Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton.