Arsene Wenger vs Jose Mourinho vs Pep Guardiola vs Jurgen Klopp vs Antonio Conte vs Claudio Ranieri vs Mauricio Pochettino. Phew! And that is just to name seven. The new English Premier League season gets underway from Saturday, with, at the very least, seven teams, looking to clinch a title that is anybody's to win.
It's a power packed opening weekend too, with Arsenal hosting Liverpool on a cracker of a Sunday which will also see Mourinho make his Manchester United debut in the Premier League, with Chelsea having the advantage of watching how everyone fares over the weekend, before playing on Independence Day Monday.
The opening match of the season will witness the champions travel to newly-promoted Hull City, a match that Ranieri will fancy winning, considering the preseason that the Tigers have had. Without a manager and with a possible takeover coming in, Hull are likely to find themselves in big trouble in the early part of the season, but then the same was said of Leicester at the beginning of last campaign, wasn't it. So, after the most unpredictable Premier League season of all-time, the only thing that can be predicted is that this one's going to be unpredictable again.
The Hull City vs Leicester City match will be followed by five 3 p.m. (7.30 p.m. IST) fixtures, with the pick of them being Everton vs Tottenham.
Spurs are coming off a fantastic season, as long as you don't take their capitulation in the final few games into consideration, and with Pochettino now having another season to inculcate his ethos into his young players, expect them to come out even stronger.
The only problem, though, is that all the other teams are stronger as well, with Everton being one of those. In Ronald Koeman they have one of the best managers in the Premier League, and with a lot more investment in players set to come in before the transfer window closes o Aug.31, expect Everton to be one of the better teams this season.
Saturday's late game will be Manchester City vs Sunderland at the Etihad, the match in which Guardiola makes his Premier League bow. City have gone transfer crazy this season, splashing out insane amounts for young players, including £47.5 million for John Stones from Everton, and while the likelihood of Guardiola turning them into superstars is pretty high, it will be interesting to see how the former champions go under the most coveted manager in Europe.
There will be plenty of fireworks between the two Manchester rivals, of course, especially since Mourinho and Guardiola are not the best of friends, but for now, the Spaniard will want to just get his new team off to a winning start.
The same plan will be in the mind of Mourinho as well, having begun life as Manchester United manager on a winning note, when his team beat Leicester in the Community Shield. Manchester United have the early game on Sunday, when they travel down south to face Eddie Howe's AFC Bournemouth.
Then comes the big game of the weekend, when Arsenal host Liverpool at the Emirates. Both teams have injury problems, but Arsenal's run a little deeper, with frustrations only growing as Wenger fails to strengthen the squad with marquee names that are necessary, or at least deemed to be, to compete.
The last match of the weekend is a London derby between Chelsea and West Ham, one of the dark horses of the Premier League, at Stamford Bridge, and Antonio Conte will know his debut match as Blues manager will not be an easy one.
Premier League schedule: Opening weekend.
Saturday, August 13: Hull City vs Leicester City (5 p.m. IST, 12.30 p.m. BST, 7.30 a.m. ET) at the KCOM Stadium.
Crystal Palace vs West Bromwich Albion (7.30 p.m. IST, 3 p.m. BST, 10 a.m. ET) at Selhurst Park.
Everton vs Tottenham (7.30 p.m. IST, 3 p.m. BST, 10 a.m. ET) at Goodison Park.
Middlesborough vs Stoke City (7.30 p.m. IST, 3 p.m. BST, 10 a.m. ET) at the Riverside Stadium.
Burnley vs Swansea City (7.30 p.m. IST, 3 p.m. BST, 10 a.m. ET) at Turf Moor.
Southampton vs Watford (7.30 p.m. IST, 3 p.m. BST, 10 a.m. ET) at St. Mary's.
Manchester City vs Sunderland (10 p.m. IST, 5.30 p.m. BST, 12.30 p.m. ET) at the Etihad Stadium.
Sunday, August 14: AFC Bournemouth vs Manchester United (6 p.m. IST, 1.30 p.m. BST, 8.30 a.m. ET) at Vitality Stadium.
Arsenal vs Liverpool (8.30 p.m. IST, 4 p.m. BST, 11 a.m. BST) at the Emirates.
Monday, August 15: Chelsea vs West Ham United (12.30 a.m. next day IST, 8 p.m. BST, 3 p.m. ET).
TV listings: India: Star Sports. UK: Sky Sports and BT Sport. USA: NBC Sports. Canada: Sportsnet and TSN. Australia: Optus and SBS. China: PPTV Sports, LeTV, QQ Sports. Middle East: Bein Sports Arabia. Singapore: 102mio Stadium. Malaysia: Astro SuperSport. Thailand: Bein Sports. South Africa: SuperSport.
