Brighton to face the top four in first seven games as 2018-19 fixtures announced
It’s a ridiculously tough start to the 2018-19 Premier League season as Brighton and Hove Albion face last seasons top four in their first seven games of the campaign.
The most boring away game imaginable kicks things off with a trip to Watford on Saturday 11th August and that is followed by the visit of last seasons runners up Manchester United to the Amex a week later and then a trip to Champions League runners up Liverpool a week later.
Tottenham Hotspur at home takes place on the weekend of September 22nd and a week after that it is a trip to the Etihad Stadium to face champions Manchester City, meaning that we’ll have faced all the Champions League clubs before September is over.
Having been sent to Newcastle United on New Years Eve Eve and for a 5.30pm kick off thanks to the considerate people at Sky Sports for our previous two visits to St James’ Park, its good to see that this seasons trip to take on the Toon Army is currently scheduled for a sensible Saturday in October, taking place on the 20th.
Crystal Palace’s visit to the Amex will take on place again on a Tuesday night, December 4th which kicks off a busy festive period featuring The 1970s Away and a visit to Burnley four days later, Chelsea at home on December 15th, a trip to Plucky Little Bournemouth on the 22nd and Arsenal will visit the Amex on Boxing Day, which means we can all look forward to a sell out crowd trying to reach Falmer with no trains or public transport.
The likelihood is that the meeting with the Gunners will be moved, as probably will the trip to West Ham United which is set to take place on New Years Day given that no trains have run to Stratford on the first day of the year for several years. Having said that, Chelsea away went ahead on Boxing Day last season, which many of us will remember fondly for spending nearly two hours completely gridlocked in a small area of West London.
Liverpool at home and Manchester United away take place on January 12th and January 19th respectively while the eagerly anticipated trip to Fulham is a Tuesday night one on January 29th, which will bring back fond memories of our last evening visit to Craven Cottage when caretaker boss Nathan Jones oversaw a 2-0 victory which kick-started the Albion’s escape from relegation out of the Championship in the second half of the 2014-15 season.
Your opportunity to experience what life was like in Stalin’s Russia comes on Saturday March 9th when ID checks, kettling and being told exactly where you can and can’t go around Croydon occurs at Selhurst Park while games that could be lost to the FA Cup are Cardiff at home on March 16th which is quarter final weekend and our first visit to Spurs’ new stadium – should it be completed by then – on April 6th.
Last seasons run-in was brutal and it’s slightly gentler this time although the Albion will want to have secured survival before the last two games which come away at Arsenal on May 4th and home to Manchester City on May 12th. It will be only the third time in 10 seasons that we’ve ended a campaign with a home game.
Of course, there is little point in getting too excited about the dates yet as Sky and BT Sports will soon begin taking a sledgehammer to the list with the first round of television games expected to be announced in early July.
