West Ham United will be the club to welcome current Italy national team manager Antonio Conte to the Premier League as Chelsea look to exorcise the demons of their terrible 2015-16 season.
The Football Association (FA) of England released the Premier League fixture list on Wednesday as all of England’s top tier teams discovered their schedule for the upcoming campaign. Chelsea will be under the management of former Juventus manager Antonio Conte this coming season and will hope to reverse their poor fortunes from 2015-16.
The Blues begin their season with a home game against a resurgent West Ham United, which is among the biggest games of the opening weekend. Apart from the tricky start, Antonio Conte will be relatively pleased with Chelsea’s fixture list for the first month as he looks to settle into the rhythm and tempo of English football.
If Chelsea can survive with minimum damage in August against West Ham, Watford, Burnley and Swansea, it would hold them in good stead as they get ready to run into the heavyweights. In addition to the relatively straightforward beginning, there are also no big fixtures in store for Chelsea at the end of the season as they face Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland to wind up their season in May.
Jose Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge on 22nd October as an opposition manager for the first time in the Premier League. It will be an emotional return to Stamford Bridge for Mourinho, with the Portuguese managing Chelsea over two spells lasting nearly six seasons. There’s also an Italian flavor to the Premier League as Antonio Conte will come head-to-head with Walter Mazzarri, Francesco Guidolin and Claudio Ranieri of Watford, Swansea City and Leicester City respectively.
Holiday season clashes
Boxing Day: Bournemouth (h)
New Year’s Eve: Stoke (h)
2nd Jan: Spurs (a)
Key Fixtures for Chelsea
September 24: Arsenal vs. Chelsea
October 22: Chelsea vs. Manchester United
November 26: Chelsea vs. Spurs
December 3: Manchester City vs. Chelsea
January 2: Spurs vs. Chelsea
February 4: Chelsea vs. Arsenal
April 5: Chelsea vs. Manchester City
April 15: Manchester United vs. Chelsea
Full fixture list
13/08/2016 15:00 West Ham United (h)
20/08/2016 15:00 Watford (a)
27/08/2016 15:00 Burnley (h)
10/09/2016 15:00 Swansea City (a)
17/09/2016 15:00 Liverpool (h)
24/09/2016 15:00 Arsenal (a)
01/10/2016 15:00 Hull City (a)
15/10/2016 15:00 Leicester City (h)
22/10/2016 15:00 Manchester United (h)
29/10/2016 15:00 Southampton (a)
05/11/2016 15:00 Everton (h)
19/11/2016 15:00 Middlesbrough (a)
26/11/2016 15:00 Tottenham Hotspur (h)
03/12/2016 15:00 Manchester City (a)
10/12/2016 15:00 West Bromwich Albion (h)
13/12/2016 19:45 Sunderland (a)
17/12/2016 15:00 Crystal Palace (a)
26/12/2016 15:00 A.F.C. Bournemouth (h)
31/12/2016 15:00 Stoke City (h)
02/01/2017 15:00 Tottenham Hotspur (a)
14/01/2017 15:00 Leicester City (a)
21/01/2017 15:00 Hull City (h)
01/02/2017 20:00 Liverpool (a)
04/02/2017 15:00 Arsenal (h)
11/02/2017 15:00 Burnley (a)
25/02/2017 15:00 Swansea City (h)
04/03/2017 15:00 West Ham United (a)
11/03/2017 15:00 Watford (h)
18/03/2017 15:00 Stoke City (a)
01/04/2017 15:00 Crystal Palace (h)
05/04/2017 19:45 Manchester City (h)
08/04/2017 15:00 A.F.C. Bournemouth (a)
15/04/2017 15:00 Manchester United (a)
22/04/2017 15:00 Southampton (h)
29/04/2017 15:00 Everton (a)
06/05/2017 15:00 Middlesbrough (h)
13/05/2017 15:00 West Bromwich Albion (a)
21/05/2017 15:00 Sunderland (h)
