The fixtures for the 2020-21 Premier League season have been released and the opening weekend will see champions Liverpool host Championship winners Leeds United at Anfield.
In other games Fulham play at home against Arsenal while West Bromwich Albion host Leicester City at the Hawthorns.
The Burnley vs. Manchester United and Manchester City vs. Aston Villa opening weekend fixtures are postponed due to the Manchester clubs’ involvement in the Europa League and Champions League respectively.
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Premier League matchweek one - Saturday 12 September (3pm)
Crystal Palace vs. Southampton
Fulham vs. Arsenal
Liverpool vs. Leeds Utd
Tottenham vs. Everton
West Brom vs. Leicester City
West Ham vs. Newcastle Utd
Monday 14 September (8pm)
Brighton vs. Chelsea
Sheffield Utd vs. Wolves
Date to be confirmed
Burnley vs. Man Utd
Man City vs. Aston Villa
Here we look at the key dates and details for the Premier League, English Football League (EFL), FA Cup and Carabao Cup in 2020-21.
Premier League
The 2020-21 Premier League season will kick off with matchday one on Saturday 12 September and the season will end on Sunday 23 May. A total of 380 matches will be played.
BBC Sport reports that the Premier League has scrapped the winter break because of the congested 2020-21 schedule.
The new season will be five weeks shorter than normal because of the late end of the 2019-20 campaign and the European Championships which are rescheduled for next summer.
Transfer window
After opening on 27 July the summer transfer window will close at 11pm on Monday 5 October.
The EFL has announced that an agreement is in place with the Premier League for an extended two-week domestic-only window which will close at 5pm on Friday 16 October. During this extended window Premier League clubs will only be able to trade with EFL clubs.
Community Shield double header
Premier League champions Liverpool take on FA Cup winners Arsenal in the 2020 Community Shield. The traditional season curtain-raiser will be held behind closed doors at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 29 August. Kick-off is at 4.30pm (BST) and the game will be broadcast live on BT Sport.
A Community Shield double header at Wembley will see Women’s Super League champions Chelsea play Women’s FA Cup holders Manchester City at 12.30pm on 29 August (live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer).
Carabao Cup
The draw for the first round of the Carabao Cup has been made with teams split into north and south to limit travel requirements, talkSPORT reports.
Ties will be played on Saturday 5 September, but Sky Sports says some games could be moved due to potential clashes with international matches.
The EFL has confirmed that the usual two legged semi-finals will be replaced by a single tie and the first four rounds are scheduled to take place on consecutive weeks in early September.
Premier League sides will enter the competition in round two or round three if they are competing in European competition in season 2020/21. Wembley Stadium will host the 2021 Carabao Cup final on 28 February.
Carabao Cup first-round draw - northern section
Tranmere vs. Harrogate
Crewe vs. Lincoln
Walsall vs. Sheffield Wednesday
Rochdale vs. Huddersfield
Preston vs. Mansfield
Bolton vs. Bradford
Blackburn vs. Doncaster
Stoke vs. Blackpool
Fleetwood vs. Wigan
Grimsby vs. Morecambe
Middlesbrough vs. Shrewsbury
Derby vs. Barrow
Scunthorpe vs. Port Vale
Sunderland vs. Hull
Burton vs. Accrington
Salford vs. Rotherham
Barnsley vs. Nottingham Forest
Oldham vs. Carlisle
Southern section
Bristol City vs. Exeter
Plymouth vs. QPR
Swindon vs. Charlton
Forest Green vs. Leyton Orient
MK Dons vs. Coventry
Crawley vs. Millwall
Stevenage vs. Portsmouth
Peterborough vs. Cheltenham
Brentford vs. Wycombe
Northampton vs. Cardiff
Luton vs. Norwich
Birmingham vs. Cambridge
Newport vs. Swansea
Oxford vs. AFC Wimbledon
Reading vs. Colchester
Gillingham vs. Southend
Ipswich vs. Bristol Rovers
Carabao Cup key dates
Round one: 5 September (alternative dates may apply)
Round two: 15-16 September
Round three: 22-23 September
Round four: 29-30 September
Round five: 22-23 December
Semi-finals: 5-6 January
Final: 28 February
English Football League (EFL)
Starting six weeks later than usual, the opening weekend of the Sky Bet EFL will be on 12 September. Fixtures are released on Friday 21 August at 9am.
The regular campaigns for the Championship, League One and League Two will conclude on 8-9 May 2021 and the play-off finals will be held at Wembley over the spring bank holiday weekend of 29-31 May 2021.
Due to the tight schedule of the season there will be 13 midweek match rounds for the Championship and 11 for Leagues One and Two.
EFL key dates
21 August: fixtures are released
12 September: season starts
8-9 May: regular season ends
29-31 May: play-off finals at Wembley
(Image credit: thefa.com)
FA Cup
The big format change to this season’s FA Cup will be the scrapping of replays. Extra preliminary round games will be played on 1 September and the final at Wembley Stadium will be on Saturday 15 May.
FA Cup key dates
Extra preliminary round: Tuesday 1 September
Preliminary round: Saturday 12 September
First round qualifying: Tuesday 22 September
Second round qualifying: Saturday 3 October
Third round qualifying: Tuesday 13 October
Fourth round qualifying: Saturday 24 October
First round proper: Saturday 7 November
Second round proper: Saturday 28 November
Third round proper: Saturday 9 January
Fourth round proper: Saturday 23 January
Fifth round proper: Wednesday 10 February
Quarter-finals: Saturday 20 March
Semi-finals: Saturday 17 April
2021 FA Cup final: Saturday 15 May
2020-21 Uefa Champions League
Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United have qualified for the group stage of the Champions League.
18-19 August: first qualifying round
25-26 August: second qualifying round
15-16 September: third qualifying round
22-23 and 29-30 September: play-offs
20-21 October: group stage matchday one
27-28 October: group stage matchday two
3-4 November: group stage matchday three
24-25 November: group stage matchday four
1-2 December: group stage matchday five
8-9 December: group stage matchday six
16-17 February 2021: round of 16
6 and 14 April: quarter-finals
17 April and 5 May: semi-finals
29 May: 2021 Champions League final
2020-21 Uefa Europa League
Leicester City and Arsenal have both qualified for the group stage of the Europa League, which starts on 22 October. Tottenham start their European campaign in the second qualifying round on 17 September.
20 August: preliminary round
27 August: first qualifying round
17 September: second qualifying round
24 September: third qualifying round
1 October: play-offs
22 October: group stage matchday one
29 October: group stage matchday two
5 November: group stage matchday three
26 November: Group stage matchday four
3 December: group stage matchday five
10 December: group stage matchday six
18 and 25 February 2021: round of 32
11 and 18 March: round of 16
8 and 15 April: quarter-finals
29 April and 6 May: semi-finals
26 May: 2021 Europa League final
Other key football dates for the 2020-21 season
24 September 2020: Uefa Super Cup at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary
3 October 2020: expected start date for the National League
8 October 2020: Euro 2020 play-off semi-finals
12 November 2020: Euro 2020 play-off finals
11 June to 11 July 2021: Euro 2020
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Mike Starling is the former digital features editor at The Week. He started his career in 2001 in Gloucestershire as a sports reporter and sub-editor and has held various roles as a writer and editor at news, travel and B2B publications. He has spoken at a number of sports business conferences and also worked as a consultant creating sports travel content for tourism boards. International experience includes spells living and working in Dubai, UAE; Brisbane, Australia; and Beirut, Lebanon.
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