The Premier League is back -- but not everyone has been dealt the same hand to start the season.
For some, the opening weeks offer the perfect chance to build momentum. For others, a brutal run of fixtures could leave them playing catch-up almost immediately.
Taking into account last season's performances, home advantage and how squads have changed over the summer, we've ranked every Premier League team's first five fixtures from the toughest start at No. 20 to the easiest at No. 1.
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20. Fulham
First five fixtures
Chelsea (h)
Sunderland (a)
Crystal Palace (h)
Liverpool (a)
Manchester United (h)
A west London derby to start the season against a surely rejuvenated Chelsea will be tough, before the difficulty ramps up again with a trip to Anfield and a home game against Manchester United. Yeah, we'll pass.
19. AFC Bournemouth
First five fixtures
Manchester City (a)
Everton (h)
Newcastle United (a)
Brentford (h)
Liverpool (h)
A brutal opening five for Marco Rose, all while thinking about Bournemouth's first-ever European venture. City away is about as bad as it gets first up and while a trip to Newcastle might not be as difficult as it once was, none of these games are comfortable. Even Everton, one of only two teams to beat Andoni Iraola's high fliers at home last season.
18. Coventry City
First five fixtures
Arsenal (a)
Hull City (h)
Manchester City (a)
Brighton & Hove Albion (h)
Nottingham Forest (a)
Welcome back to the Premier League, Frank Lampard. Trips to both Arsenal and Manchester City make this one of the most daunting starts to the season, although Coventry will hope to pick up points in the other games.
17. Hull City
First five fixtures
Manchester United (h)
Coventry City (a)
Aston Villa (h)
Chelsea (a)
Newcastle United (a)
Much like Coventry, Hull's only respite comes with a game against their former Championship rivals. The only thing keeping this out of our 'relegation zone' of fixtures is avoiding one of last season's top two.
16. Sunderland
First five fixtures
Ipswich Town (a)
Fulham (h)
Brentford (a)
Arsenal (h)
Manchester City (a)
Plenty have tipped Régis Le Bris' side to struggle despite finishing a remarkable seventh last season, and it might be a tough start. The first three aren't so bad -- and they could even start the season with back-to-back wins -- but it's not pretty from there.
15. Ipswich Town
First five fixtures
Sunderland (h)
Manchester United (a)
Liverpool (h)
Crystal Palace (a)
Everton (a)
Why are you so cruel to the promoted teams, fixture gods? Gary O'Neill has both United and Liverpool in his first five games as Ipswich boss, but they would hope to pick up a point or three in the others.
14. Nottingham Forest
First five fixtures
Leeds United (h)
Liverpool (a)
Tottenham Hotspur (h)
Aston Villa (a)
Coventry City (h)
Trips to Anfield and Villa Park are far from ideal early on, but Oliver Glasner would take those home fixtures. Leeds and Coventry will be beatable, and it remains to be seen what version of Tottenham we get this year.
13. Arsenal
First five fixtures
Coventry City (h)
Aston Villa (a)
Chelsea (h)
Sunderland (a)
Brighton & Hove Albion (a)
You'd expect the champions to get up and running with a bang at home to Coventry, but a tough trip to Aston Villa then precedes the visit of a hungry Chelsea team. Sunderland and Brighton represent tricky away days, too.
12. Aston Villa
First five fixtures
Brighton & Hove Albion (a)
Arsenal (h)
Hull City (a)
Nottingham Forest (h)
Tottenham Hotspur (a)
Unai Emery would want, and expect, six points from Hull and Forest -- but we don't love the other fixtures. Brighton represent an awkward test, and Villa may struggle to get points from Arsenal and Tottenham.
11. Newcastle United
First five fixtures
Liverpool (h)
Tottenham Hotspur (a)
AFC Bournemouth (h)
Leeds United (a)
Hull City (h)
Get past Liverpool and Tottenham, and Newcastle's start to the season looks a little more manageable. Over to you, Matthias Jaissle.
10. Everton
First five fixtures
Crystal Palace (h)
AFC Bournemouth (a)
Manchester United (h)
Tottenham Hotspur (a)
Ipswich Town (h)
This ranking is purely based on the home fixtures, with Palace and Ipswich among the first five for David Moyes' side. They'd probably take a point from the trips to Bournemouth -- though they did win there last year -- and Tottenham combined.
9. Brighton & Hove Albion
First five fixtures
Aston Villa (h)
Chelsea (a)
Leeds United (h)
Coventry City (a)
Arsenal (h)
While by no means an easy first five, Brighton are capable of picking up points from all of these -- and might well be particularly motivated against Chelsea after Welbeck's move there.
8. Chelsea
First five fixtures
Fulham (a)
Brighton & Hove Albion (h)
Arsenal (a)
Hull City (h)
Brentford (a)
Can Alonso get off to a flier at Stamford Bridge? A daunting trip to the Emirates is the only scary fixture from Chelsea's first five. The away games are all in London, too.
7. Crystal Palace
First five fixtures
Everton (a)
Manchester City (h)
Fulham (a)
Ipswich Town (h)
Leeds United (a)
Man City at home is the only alarming fixture here, and after seeing Enzo Maresca's side in the Community Shield -- should Palace be that worried?
6. Brentford
First five fixtures
Tottenham Hotspur (h)
Leeds United (a)
Sunderland (h)
AFC Bournemouth (a)
Chelsea (h)
Brentford's home form was something else last year and Tottenham and Chelsea won't fancy that short trip -- while Leeds and Bournemouth are more than beatable away, too.
5. Tottenham Hotspur
First five fixtures
Brentford (a)
Newcastle United (h)
Nottingham Forest (a)
Everton (h)
Aston Villa (h)
Roberto De Zerbi is well-placed to start strongly with his new-look Spurs squad. His opening five has none of the other so-called 'big six,' and all those games are very much winnable. Not easy, but winnable!
4. Manchester City
First five fixtures
Bournemouth (h)
Crystal Palace (a)
Coventry City (h)
Manchester United (a)
Sunderland (h)
Without a trip to a surely raucous Old Trafford in the mix, City may well have topped the pile here. You'd expect wins in all their home games, while Palace will have a new boss finding his feet. But after watching Maresca's side in the Community Shield, who knows what City we'll get...
3. Manchester United
First five fixtures
Hull City (a)
Ipswich Town (h)
Everton (a)
Manchester City (h)
Fulham (a)
United kick off their campaign by playing two of the three promoted sides, while trips to Everton and Fulham don't appear as tricky as previous years.
2. Liverpool
First five fixtures
Newcastle United (a)
Nottingham Forest (h)
Ipswich Town (a)
Fulham (h)
AFC Bournemouth (a)
Newcastle represent the most difficult test here -- and while St James' Park will be bouncing under a new boss, have they simply lost too much quality this summer? After that, Andoni Iraola should fancy maximum points from the next three before a trip to Bournemouth.
1. Leeds United
First five fixtures
Nottingham Forest (a)
Brentford (h)
Brighton & Hove Albion (a)
Newcastle United (h)
Crystal Palace (h)
Leeds may not top too many rankings this season, but we've got them ahead here. These opening games give Daniel Farke the chance to fend off relegation fears from the get-go, with a trip to Arsenal on Oct. 10 the first game they should really worry about.