The stats experts at Opta has revealed which Premier League club has the most difficult opening five fixtures of the season.
The new Premier League season is just over a month away - and Sunderland have already kick-started their preparations for what will be a truly historic season for the Black Cats.
Last season’s incredible seventh placed finish in their first season back in the Premier League means Regis Le Bris and his players will take the club into the Europa League for the first time in their history. However, there will be high hopes Sunderland can make an impact in the league once again and build on the solid foundations that have been put in place over the last 12 months.
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris.placeholder image
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris. | AFP via Getty Images.
Le Bris’ men made a solid start to pre-season with a big win at League Two newcomers York City at the weekend and they will now travel to the United States where they will face Premier League rivals Liverpool and Leeds United and Championship side Wrexham.
The Black Cats already know what faces them in the opening month of the new campaign after they were handed a visit to newly promoted Ipswich Town on the opening day of the season before they open up their home fixtures for the season with a game against Fulham. That is followed by a visit to Brentford before a heavyweight end to the opening five games as Premier League champions Arsenal head to Wearside before the Black Cats head to face a Manchester City side that will hope to reclaim the title during the campaign.
But just how tough is Sunderland’s start to the season compared to their rivals across the top flight? We assess every club’s opening five fixtures of the campaign with the help of the stats experts at Opta and their power rankings.
How do the Opta calculate the difficulty of a club’s opening five games?
As per the Opta website, the Power Rankings rate 10,000 teams across the globe based on a system that scores the current strongest side 100 and the weakest zero. Those scores are then used to rank the teams in order of strongest to weakest. These range from Arsenal (the number one team in the world with a Opta Power Rating of 100.0) to Hull City (ranked 164th in the world with a Opta Power Rating of 82.2 and therefore the ‘easiest’ team to play against in England’s top flight). Those scores have been used to assess each Premier League club’s first five fixtures by calculating the average score of the opposition.
Which club has the hardest opening to the Premier League season?
1st: Manchester United - Hull City (A), Ipswich Town (H), Everton (A), Manchester City (H), Fulham (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 89.3
2nd: Newcastle United - Liverpool (H), Spurs (A), Bournemouth (H), Leeds United (A), Hull City (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 89.9
3rd: Liverpool - Newcastle United (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Ipswich Town (A), Fulham (H), Bournemouth (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 90.7
4th: Brentford - Tottenham Hotspur (H), Leeds United (A), Sunderland (H), Bournemouth (A), Chelsea (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 90.8
5th: Crystal Palace - Everton (A), Manchester City (H), Fulham (A), Ipswich Town (H), Leeds United (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 90.8
6th: Everton - Crystal Palace (H), Bournemouth (A), Manchester United (H), Tottenham Hotspur (A), Ipswich Town (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 90.8
7th: Manchester City - Bournemouth (H), Crystal Palace (A), Coventry City (H), Manchester United (A), Sunderland (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 90.8
8th: Arsenal - Coventry City (H), Aston Villa (A), Chelsea (H), Sunderland (A), Brighton (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 90.9
9th: Nottingham Forest - Leeds United (H), Liverpool (A), Tottenham Hotspur (H), Aston Villa (A), Coventry City (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 91.1
10th: Aston Villa - Brighton (A), Arsenal (H), Hull City (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Tottenham Hotspur (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 91.2
11th: Chelsea - Fulham (A), Brighton (H), Arsenal (A), Hull City (H), Brentford (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 91.4
12th: Leeds United - Nottingham Forest (A), Brentford (H), Brighton (A), Newcastle United (H), Crystal Palace (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 91.7
13th: Ipswich Town - Sunderland (H), Manchester United (A), Liverpool (H), Crystal Palace (A), Everton (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 91.7
14th: Fulham - Chelsea (H), Sunderland (A), Crystal Palace (H), Liverpool (A), Manchester United (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 92.0
15th: Hull City - Manchester United (H), Coventry City (A), Aston Villa (H), Chelsea (A), Newcastle United (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 92.1
16th: Tottenham Hotspur - Brentford (A), Newcastle United (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Everton (H), Aston Villa (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 92.2
17th: Brighton and Hove Albion - Aston Villa (H), Chelsea (A), Leeds United (H), Coventry City (A), Arsenal (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 92.6
18th: Coventry City - Arsenal (A), Hull City (H), Manchester City (A), Brighton (H), Nottingham Forest (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 92.8
19th: Sunderland - Ipswich Town (A), Fulham (H), Brentford (A), Arsenal (H), Manchester City (A) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 93.2
20th: Bournemouth - Manchester City (A), Everton (H), Newcastle United (A), Brentford (H), Liverpool (H) Opponents’ average Opta power ranking: 93.3
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