Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola won’t have long to wait before they face off for the first time in the English Premier League.
The fixtures for the 2016-17 Premier League season, which starts on the weekend of Aug. 13-14, were announced on Wednesday and the first Manchester derby — featuring Mourinho’s United and Guardiola’s City — will be played on Sept. 10 at Old Trafford. That is in the fourth round of games.
Mourinho was handed a trip to Bournemouth for his first league game in charge of United, while Guardiola’s first league game as City manager is at home to Sunderland.
There was plenty of controversy and animosity when Guardiola and Mourinho went head-to-head while coaching Spanish powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, from 2010-2013, with incidents on and off the field.
Leicester will start the defence of its title away to promoted Hull, while the highlights of the first round of fixtures are Arsenal-Liverpool and Chelsea-West Ham, which will be current Italy coach Antonio Conte’s first game as Chelsea manager.
Arsenal has the toughest start of all the likely title contenders, with its second game away to Leicester in a match between the top two from last season.
Mourinho will return to Stamford Bridge to play former club Chelsea on Oct. 22. The other Manchester derby is on Feb. 25.
West Ham’s first league match at its new home, the Olympic Stadium, will be against Bournemouth on Aug. 20.
Leicester plays Man United in the Community Shield on Aug.7, the traditional curtain-raiser for the English season between the previous season’s league champion and FA Cup winner.
