We now know Crystal Palace and Arsenal will open the 2022-23 Premier League season after the fixture list was announced – and we cannot wait for it all to get started again. But which teams have the easiest and hardest starts to the campaign?
Now that the calendar has been set in stone, we've ranked every team in the Premier League by the difficulty of their first six matches, based on every club's 2021-22 finishing position.
Note: newly-promoted sides Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have been deemed to have finished 21st, 22nd and 23rd last season.
20. Wolves
First six fixtures: Leeds (A), Fulham (H), Tottenham (A), Newcastle (H), Bournemouth (A), Southampton (H)
Average difficulty: 15.0
19. Manchester City
First six fixtures: West Ham (A), Bournemouth (H), Newcastle (A), Crystal Palace (H), Nottingham Forest (H), Aston Villa (A)
Average difficulty: 14.8
18. Liverpool
First six fixtures: Fulham (A), Crystal Palace (H), Manchester United (A), Bournemouth (H), Newcastle (H), Everton (A)
Average difficulty: 14.6
17. Arsenal
First six fixtures: Crystal Palace (A), Leicester (H), Bournemouth (A), Fulham (H), Aston Villa (H), Manchester United (A)
Average difficulty: 13.8
16. Brentford
First six fixtures: Leicester (A), Manchester United (H), Fulham (A), Everton (H), Crystal Palace (A), Leeds (H)
Average difficulty: 13.5
15. Tottenham
Final six fixtures: Southampton (H), Chelsea (A), Wolves (H), Nottingham Forest (A), West Ham (A), Fulham (H)
Average difficulty: 13.2
14. Everton
First six fixtures: Chelsea (H), Aston Villa (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Brentford (A), Leeds (A), Liverpool (H)
Average difficulty: 12.0
13. Brighton
First six fixtures: Manchester United (A), Newcastle (H), West Ham (A), Leeds (H), Fulham (A), Leicester (H)
Average difficulty: 11.6
12. Chelsea
First six fixtures: Everton (A), Tottenham (H), Leeds (A), Leicester (H), Southampton (A), West Ham (H)
Average difficulty: 11.2
11. Leeds
First six fixtures: Wolves (H), Southampton (A), Chelsea (H), Brighton (A), Everton (H), Brentford (A)
Average difficulty: 11.0
10. Aston Villa
First six fixtures: Bournemouth (A), Everton (H), Crystal Palace (A), West Ham (H), Arsenal (A), Manchester City (H)
Average difficulty: 10.5
9. Nottingham Forest
First six fixtures: Newcastle (A), West Ham (H), Everton (A), Tottenham (H), Manchester City (A), Bournemouth (H)
Average difficulty: 10.2
8. Newcastle
First six fixtures: Nottingham Forest (H), Brighton (A), Manchester City (H), Wolves (A), Liverpool (A), Crystal Palace (H)
Average difficulty: 9.5
7. Bournemouth
First six fixtures: Aston Villa (H), Manchester City (A), Arsenal (H), Liverpool (A), Wolves (H), Nottingham Forest (A)
Average difficulty: 9.2
6. West Ham
First six fixtures: Manchester City (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Brighton (H), Aston Villa (A), Tottenham (H), Chelsea (A)
Average difficulty: 9.0
5. Manchester United
First six fixtures: Brighton (H), Brentford (A), Liverpool (H), Southampton (A), Leicester (A), Arsenal (H)
Average difficulty: 8.6
4. Leicester City
First six fixtures: Brentford (H), Arsenal (A), Southampton (H), Chelsea (A), Manchester United (H), Brighton (A)
Average difficulty: 8.5
3. Southampton
First six fixtures: Tottenham (A), Leeds (H), Leicester (A), Manchester United (H), Chelsea (H), Wolves (A)
Average difficulty: 8.0
2. Crystal Palace
First six fixtures: Arsenal (H), Liverpool (A), Aston Villa (H), Manchester City (A), Brentford (H), Newcastle (A)
Average difficulty: 7.5
1. Fulham
First six fixtures: Liverpool (H), Wolves (A), Brentford (H), Arsenal (A), Brighton (H), Tottenham (A)
Average difficulty: 7.2