When The Premier League Rolls Again Amid Qatar 2022 World Cup Interruptions

JAKARTA - The schedule for the 2022-2023 Premier League season has been released and August 5 is the kick-off for the new season which is believed to be even more intense.

Manchester City, who had bought Erling Haaland, tried hard to maintain their dominance from day one. Liverpool, which became a magical attraction for European heavyweight players until Darwin Nunez also chose the Reds, also did not want to lose to start.

Chelsea, which has a new owner but is still being coached by Thomas Tuchel, certainly doesn't want to be left behind by the two most dominant teams in England.

Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester United as well. Even the two promoted teams, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, will not want to start this season with a slack.

Friday night 5 August which coincided with Saturday 6 August in Indonesia, the Premier League officially launched its new season by bringing Crystal Palace together with Arsenal at Selhurst Park Stadium, south London. A day later, another seven games followed, while the two Manchesters would start the season on day three.

But the season will be interrupted for more than a month by the 2022 World Cup, which is not usually held at the end of the year to avoid the sweltering heat of the Middle East in June or July where the World Cup is usually held.

To that end there is the first phase for the half of the season in this period from November 13 to December 25. But ahead of the Qatar World Cup there will be no league matches between the six big clubs who are also contributors to the England squad for the World Cup.

That's because English football's governing body (FA) has asked Premier League authorities not to bring together Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United on the weekend before the Qatar World Cup begins.

The FA's request was fulfilled so that the weekend leading up to the World Cup, City only hosted Brentford, Liverpool against Southampton, Chelsea traveled to Newcastle, Tottenham were challenged by Leeds, United traveled to Fulham, while Arsenal traveled to Wolverhampton.

Quoted from Antara, the FA's request is based on the desire of England manager Gareth Southgate to avoid the possibility of England's national team players getting injured before the World Cup.

Announce 2022/23 #PLFixtures

— Premier League (@premierleague) June 16, 2022

Manchester City started their campaign to defend their league title against West Ham United, while last season's runners-up Liverpool hosted Fulham. The top three complete teams start the season away from home, because Chelsea will also travel to Everton.

But Manchester United and Tottenham started the season at home respectively. United, now managed by Erik ten Hag, will host Brighton, while Tottenham will host Southampton.

Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, two of the three promoted clubs, will be guests and hosts, respectively, against Newcastle United and Aston Villa.

From the new schedule, Manchester City have the opportunity to step on the gas to avoid being affixed too tightly by other big teams, especially Liverpool.

Last season, City won the league by one point. City do not want this to happen again, and for that they will try to immediately start from the away match against West Ham which last month held them to a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.

City then host Bournemouth, away against Newcastle, home again against Palace and Nottingham Forest, then visit Aston Villa before hosting Spurs who twice beat them last season.

On the other hand, Liverpool do not want to be in a position to chase, as happened when they stayed behind Man City for most of last season.

Liverpool, who may lose Sadio Mane but get an explosive striker from Uruguay, Darwin Nunez, will also go straight into fourth gear or even more.

The Reds will start the season challenging two promoted sides, Fulham and Bournemouth, but then face three arch-rivals Manchester United, Everton and Arsenal, before hosting Manchester City on 15 October.

After facing Tottenham on April 19, Liverpool will have four relatively easy games against Brentford at home, away with Leicester, Aston Villa at Anfield and another away against Southampton, if these teams don't improve a lot.

Meanwhile the Gunners started the season at home to Crystal Palace which crushed them 3-0 last April which dashed their hopes of a top-four finish.

Therefore, when they return to face Patrick Vieira's team, who is a former Arsenal retainer, the Gunners have immediately experienced a tough test but can also be a great motivation to start the season with a brilliant start.

Ahead of the 2022 World Cup break, Arsenal have completely tested the other five. First hosted Man United in early September, host Tottenham in early October, then Liverpool and Man City in the same month, and finally hosted Chelsea on 5 November.

Manchester United, who have been very inconsistent throughout last season, will test new manager Erik ten Hag by hosting and being hosted by Brighton and Brentford respectively in two tough opening matches.

But the biggest test came in the third game on 20 August against Liverpool which last season cost them 5-0 at Old Trafford.

For United who have been slow to make transfer decisions again this summer when others have moved quickly, this game could prove to be a testament to whether they have changed or are the same as last season.

Moreover, after facing the Reds they had to go through fairly difficult away games against Southampton and Leicester, before hosting Arsenal, away against Crystal Palace and facing Leeds at home.

Prior to the World Cup break, United had already completed tough matches against three other top six teams, namely versus City in early October, and Spurs and Chelsea in the space of three days in the middle of the same month.

So are the Spurs. Coach Antonio Conte is very ambitious to lead Tottenham to the league title but in his first seven games he has had to face tough tests against Chelsea, West Ham and Man City.

Spurs will finish against all of the top six teams before the World Cup by taking on Arsenal on October 1, away against Manchester United in the middle of the same month, and hosting Liverpool in early November.

Meanwhile, Chelsea kick off the 2022/2023 season with a visit to Everton, coached by Blues legend Frank Lampard, before hosting Spurs in their first home game of the new season.

Thomas Tuchel's men host Liverpool on 17 September, Manchester United on 22 October and Arsenal on 5 November, while their last game before the 2022 World Cup kicks off is away against Newcastle.

The following is the schedule for the big matches between the top six Premier League teams before the 2022/2023 season was suspended for six weeks by the Qatar World Cup which will start on November 21 this year.

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur; August 13Manchester United v Liverpool; August 20Manchester United v Arsenal; September 3 Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur; 10 September Chelsea v Liverpool; 17 September Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur; October 1 Manchester City v Manchester United; October 1 Arsenal vs Liverpool; October 8 Liverpool v Manchester City; October 15 Arsenal vs Manchester City; October 18 Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur; October 19 Chelsea v Manchester United; October 22 Chelsea v Arsenal; 5 NovemberTottenham Hotspur v Liverpool; November 5