Premier League Opening Day: What the stats say
The fixtures for the 2024/25 Premier League season have been announced, with dates and kickoff times for all 380 matches. All matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport and live streaming through ShowMax Pro.
Weekend and Bank Holiday matches will kick off at 15:00, while midweek matches are scheduled for 19:45 local time unless specified otherwise.
Manchester United v Fulham
16 August 2024
Manchester United have lost just four of their 34 Premier League meetings with Fulham (W24 D6) but one of those came in their most recent encounter in February, with the Cottagers winning 2-1 at Old Trafford.
Following their Premier League victory at Old Trafford last season, Fulham are looking to win consecutive away league visits to Manchester United for the first time. They’ve faced them at Old Trafford in their opening league match three times previously, losing all three (0-1 in 1950-51, 2-3 in 2001-02 and 1-5 in 2006-07).
For the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, Manchester United will begin their Premier League campaign with a home match, including now their last eight seasons in a row. They are the first side in Premier League history to start a season with a home game in eight seasons consecutively.
Fulham have only lost their opening Premier League match in two of their last nine seasons at this level (W4 D3), keeping six clean sheets across these nine games.
Ipswich Town v Liverpool
17 August 2024
Ipswich Town’s most recent Premier League game was in May 2002 against Liverpool at Anfield, losing 5-0 as they were relegated. Since then, the two sides have only faced once, a 1-1 draw in the League Cup in December 2002 before the Tractor Boys lost 5-4 on penalties.
Liverpool have never lost a Premier League match at Portman Road against Ipswich Town (P5 W3 D2), with their last visit a 6-0 win in February 2002. They’ve played more games there without losing than any other ground in the Premier League.
Ipswich Town are unbeaten in their opening league match of the season in each of the last 10 seasons (W6 D4) since losing 2-1 to Reading in the Championship in 2013-14.
For the fifth time in the last six seasons, Liverpool begin their Premier League season with a match against a newly promoted side (W3 D1 previously). They are unbeaten on MD1 in their last 11 seasons (W8 D3) since losing 3-0 to West Brom in 2012-13 in Brendan Rodgers’ first game in charge.
Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers
17 August 2024
Arsenal have won each of their last six Premier League matches against Wolves, their joint-longest winning run against them in the competition (also six in a row from 2003 to 2011).
Wolverhampton Wanderers have won just one of their last 13 away top-flight visits to Arsenal (D4 L8), winning 2-1 at the Emirates in November 2020 under Nuno Espírito Santo.
Arsenal have won their opening Premier League match in each of the last two seasons, beating Crystal Palace in 2022-23 and Nottingham Forest last season. The Gunners last started their season with a win in three seasons in a row between 2007-08 and 2009-10.
Wolves have lost their opening Premier League game in each of the last three seasons. They have never started a league season with defeat in four seasons in a row in their history.
Everton v Brighton and Hove Albion
17 August 2024
Everton won their first four home Premier League games against Brighton and Hove Albion but are since winless in their last three against them at Goodison Park (D1 L2).
The team scoring first has never lost a Premier League meeting between Everton and Brighton (W10 D3), although the Toffees went 1-0 up in both games last season and both ended 1-1.
Everton have lost their opening Premier League match in each of the last two seasons, losing 1-0 at home both times to Chelsea in 2022-23 and Fulham in 2023-24. They haven’t begun a campaign with defeat in three seasons in a row since between 2008-09 and 2011-12 (four consecutively).
Brighton lost their first match in three of their first four Premier League campaigns but have begun their last three seasons with victory. The Seagulls are looking to win their opening league game in four consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
Newcastle United v Southampton
17 August 2024
Newcastle United have won seven of their last nine Premier League matches against Southampton, including the last three in a row. The Magpies have never won four league games in a row against the Saints before.
Southampton have managed just one win in their last 18 Premier League visits to St James’ Park to face Newcastle (D4 L13), winning 2-1 under Ronald Koeman in January 2015.
Newcastle have won their opening Premier League match in both campaigns under Eddie Howe. They haven’t won their opening league match in three seasons in a row since between 1982-83 and 1984-85, while the last manager to do so with the Magpies was Joe Harvey between 1972-73 and 1974-75.
Among teams to have played in 10 or more Premier League seasons, Southampton have the lowest win ratio in their opening matches of the season, winning just two of 24 games (8 per cent). Their 12 defeats to open a season are also the joint second most alongside Newcastle and behind only West Ham United (15 defeats).
Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth
17 August 2024
Nottingham Forest are winless in their last eight league games against Bournemouth (D3 L5), losing each of their last three at home against the Cherries.
This will be the second time Bournemouth have faced Nottingham Forest in their opening league match of a season, following a 0-0 draw at the City Ground in League One in 2007-08.
Nottingham Forest have lost their opening league game in each of the last five seasons, conceding exactly two goals each time.
Having lost their opening match in each of their first three Premier League campaigns, Bournemouth are now unbeaten in their last four season openers in the competition (W2 D2).
West Ham United v Aston Villa
17 August 2024
West Ham have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League games against Aston Villa (W6 D5), a 4-1 loss at Villa Park last season.
Aston Villa are winless in their last nine Premier League away games against West Ham (D5 L4), since a 2-1 victory at Upton Park in April 2011.
West Ham have won their opening Premier League match in just one of the last eight seasons (D1 L6), beating Newcastle 4-2 in 2021-22. Indeed, the Hammers have lost their opening game in the Premier League more often than any other side (15).
Aston Villa have lost their opening Premier League match in each of the last three seasons, conceding 10 goals in these games. They also lost the last time they faced West Ham in their first game, going down 1-0 at Upton Park in 2012-13.
Brentford v Crystal Palace
18 August 2024
Brentford are winless in all six of their Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace (D5 L1) – it’s both the joint-most the Bees have faced a side in the competition without ever winning (also 6 v Newcastle) and the joint-most the Eagles have faced a side without ever losing (also 6 v QPR).
Following a 3-1 win against Brentford in December last year, Crystal Palace are looking to win consecutive league games against the Bees for the first time since December 1957.
For the third time in four Premier League seasons, Brentford are beginning the campaign with a London derby. They beat Arsenal 2-0 in 2021-22, before a 2-2 draw with Spurs last season.
Crystal Palace beat Sheffield United 1-0 in their opening league game last season but haven’t won their first league match in consecutive campaigns since 2006-07/2007-08.
Chelsea v Manchester City
18 August 2024
Chelsea are winless in their last six Premier League meetings with Manchester City (D2 L4), since a 2-1 away win in May 2021.
Since losing the Uefa Champions League final in May 2021, Manchester City are unbeaten in their last nine meetings with Chelsea in all competitions (W7 D2) – it’s their joint longest run without defeat against the Blues in their history (also 9 between 1936 and 1949).
This is the first time Chelsea have begun a top-flight campaign with a match against the reigning champions since 1971-72, when they lost 3-0 against Arsenal at Highbury.
Manchester City have won their opening Premier League match in 12 of the last 13 seasons, with the exception being a 1-0 loss at Tottenham in 2021-22.
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur
19 August 2024
Leicester beat Tottenham 4-1 in their last Premier League meeting in February 2023, last winning consecutive league games against Spurs in October 1999 (a run of three).
Of all Premier League fixtures to have been played at least 30 times, Leicester against Tottenham has the highest goals-per-game average (3.8 – 128 goals in 34 games). There have been 28 goals scored in the last five meetings between the sides alone (5.6 per game).
Leicester are unbeaten on the last nine occasions they’ve began their league campaign with a home game (W6 D3). However, the last three times they’ve lost such a match, they’ve been relegated at the end of the campaign – 1-3 v Newcastle in 1994-95 (Premier League), 0-5 v Bolton in 2001-02 (Premier League) and 0-1 v Blackpool in 2007-08 (Championship).
This is the seventh time Tottenham are starting their Premier League campaign against a promoted side; they’ve won five of the previous six, losing the other 1-0 against Sunderland in 2007-08.
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