Man City or Liverpool: who has the easier start to the 2022-23 Premier League season

Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions for a second consecutive campaign on the final day of last season, narrowly lifting the title by one point over Liverpool.

The Sky Blues and Reds were a cut above the rest of their rivals in the chase for the trophy and will be hoping to repeat this come the new campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s side will be looking to win a third title in a row - an achievement only their cross-town rivals Manchester United have done in the past - while Liverpool look to spoil their fortunes.

The Catalan has already bolstered his squad with the arrivals of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez this summer and will be hoping the former will play a pivotal part in their success in other competitions as well.

However, City aren’t the only team to add to their squad so far. Jurgen Klopp has also added fire power up top with the £64m signing of Darwin Nunez.

The two new strikers in the Premier League adds an exciting element to the new season and fans can assume that the Sky Blues and Reds will be fighting for the title once again - but who has the easiest start to the campaign?

Below we take a look at City and Liverpool opening six fixtures of the new season and determine who could be top of the table come the end of August.

City’s first six

7 West Ham United (A)

13 AFC Bournemouth (H)

20 Newcastle United (A)

27 Crystal Palace (H)

31 Nottingham Forest (H)

Guardiola’s men face a tough opening day of the new campaign with a trip to the London Stadium to take on West Ham, while also facing two of three newly-promoted teams in the first month. The one game to look out for here is when they welcome Palace to the Etihad Stadium. In this fixture last season City fell to a 2-0 defeat to the Eagles - one of only two losses at home.

Liverpool’s first six

6 Fulham (A)

13 Crystal Palace (H)

20 Manchester United (A)

27 AFC Bournemouth (H)

31 Newcastle United (H)

Like the Sky Blues, Klopp’s side also take on two newly-promoted teams in their opening six games of the new campaign, including a trip to Craven Cottage on the opening day to face Fulham. However, their standout fixture in August is when they travel to Old Trafford to face bitter-rivals Manchester United on the 20th.

Verdict

Looking at the first six games for City and Liverpool, it’s interesting that both sides take on Bournemouth, Newcastle and Palace in this period, while also taking on another newly-promoted team. It can be argued that because of this neither side has an ‘easier’ start to the new season.

However, if we base the fixtures from the league positions their opposition finished in the last campaign, then due to United finishing above West Ham, it could be argued that Liverpool have the tougher start.