Fixture list may help Arsenal, Leeds and Brentford make strong starts to 2022-23

It is the nature of the Premier League beast that teams are only ever a couple of results away from being the next in-form 'momentum' side or sliding into the status of 'crisis club'.

With expectations high among fanbases at the start of the 2022-23 season, which clubs could see an early narrative shift due to favourable or difficult early fixtures?

The accompanying table summarises each team's opening eight fixtures up to the September international break.

Each team's schedule is unique – Manchester City can't play themselves, for example – so those at the top of this table have the most difficult starts, based on the percentage of their overall fixture difficulty that they face in their opening matches.

It was doom and gloom at the end of last season for Arsenal, who let a Champions League place slip through their fingers after costly late defeats to Tottenham and Newcastle.

The Gunners are 9-5 to secure a top-four berth this time around after some positive pre-season performances and they will hope to be front-runners in that race due to a favourable early run of games.

Arsenal were efficient at dispatching lower-ranked sides last term and five of their opening eight matches are against clubs priced up at 6-1 or shorter for relegation. Manchester United, who have left it late to address their most pressing transfer needs, are the Gunners' only 'big six' opponents during that run.

Only the three promoted clubs are shorter than Leeds (23-10) and Brentford (5-2) in the relegation betting but they should also be confident of easing the pressure with a strong start to the campaign.

The Bees kept themselves out of the survival scrap last term by picking up 28 points against sides who finished 12th or lower and they have five consecutive fixtures against teams projected to fill those positions between matchdays three to seven.

Thomas Frank's men must target a decent points haul from those fixtures if they want to silence talk of the dreaded 'second season syndrome'.

Jesse Marsch is prominent in the sack race betting after Leeds lost several big names, including England international Kalvin Phillips and last season's top scorer Raphinha, in the summer.

However, six of Leeds's opening eight fixtures are against sides projected to finish in the bottom half and it is vital that they get wins on the board in those games considering their dire record against the top sides.

Frank Lampard is favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his job and his Everton side – like Wolves, whose form tailed off at the end of last season – need to capitalise on winnable games in the first month of the season or the pressure will surely mount with brutal stretches either side of the international break.

Relegation favourites Bournemouth face a baptism of fire as their first two away fixtures are trips to Manchester City and Liverpool while fellow new boys Fulham face four of last term's top six in their opening seven games.

Crystal Palace were seen as one of the success stories of 2021-22 but things couldn't be much tougher for the Eagles at the start of this campaign. They also face early trips to Liverpool and Manchester City, and eight of their opening nine games are against teams projected to finish 11th or above.

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