The fixtures for the season are announced at 9am on Wednesday 16th June BST so just thought I’d start a topic for us to discuss all things fixtures here….
I think this season we’ll start away, I think the last 3 seasons we’ve started at home and as always I’m going to hope that we have a few easy games to break into our stride.
I predict we’ll play 38 games in the league, with 19 being at home whilst 19 will be played at various other stadiums classed as being ‘away’.
Some of these games we will win, some we will draw and some we might even lose. Depending on how many of each will decide on where we finish in the table
I played hockey for 25 years and during that time they did away with offside and everyone said that would happen and it did for a season or so. There were way more goals scored but then tactics adjusted to it and guess what …you probably get less goals scored now than before.
It was going to ruin the game…but it is much better now and faster flowing.
To start maybe have a line in the last quarter and you can only be offside there. They could trial changes in youth tournaments and the like.
Never look at the first batch of matches… takes all teams a few weeks to get into their stride
Always look to the run-in fixtures at the business end… Hopefully the last game of the season is at Anfield so we can parade the Premiership with red ribbons attached
From my understanding the “computer” works out from broadcast figures past what dates are the traditional high viewing dates - season beginnings, Christmas, Easter, end of season.
They also look at the quieter dates and they almost try and reserve the bigger games for these dates.
(Did you think super Sunday with the Merseyside Derby and the north London derby was an accident? - it’s planned)
By default you won’t see any glamour fixtures first or last game of season and Unlikely to around Christmas. (Boxing Day and New Years Day)
By that our opening game of the season won’t be against City, Chelsea, United or Everton.
Whereas I am not 100% certain of the sums involved it would unlikely to be against the likes of Leicester, Arsenal and Spurs.
Do you remember about a year or 2 back this came out and the “lesser” clubs being outraged that their opening game was almost a certainty against a “big” club
I may be mistaken but it does seem like (cba checking) we often get Arsenal or Chelsea in the first three games. I could check but I’m busy working right now. As you can see.
I wouldn’t mind too much if we had the kind of start to the season that Man City had in the season just gone. Only three wins in their first eight games. So long as we start doing the business once winters sets in. That’s what counts.