EPL NEWS:2014-15 fixtures released on Wednesday

Manchester City will begin
the defence of their Premier
League title on the weekend
of 16 August
Fans will discover who and when their teams
will play as the 2014-15 English and
Scottish League fixtures are announced at
09:00 BST on Wednesday.
Manchester City will begin the defence of
their Premier League title on the weekend of
16 August.
Celtic, under new boss Ronny Deila, start
their bid for a fourth successive Scottish
championship a week earlier.
The remainder of the Scottish League also
start on 9 August, along with the Football
League programme.
In Scotland, there will be huge interest in the
Championship given it contains Rangers,
Hearts and Hibernian, who between them
had three of the five highest average
attendances last season.
Manchester City, who secured their second
Premier League crown in three years with a
last-day win over West Ham, are joined in
the top flight by Leicester, Burnley and QPR
who were all promoted from the
Championship.
However, given David Moyes was irritated
by a tough opening fixture list prior to his ill-
fated spell at Manchester United, it will be
interesting to see whether the computer is
any kinder to the Scot's successor Louis van
Gaal.
Ronald Koeman will also learn where he will
start his tenure at Southampton after former
boss Mauricio Pochettino moved on to
Tottenham.
Cesc Fabregas' arrival at Chelsea is likely to
be just one of a large number of high-profile
transfers prior to the big kick-off, with Diego
Costa also set to join the former Barcelona
man at Stamford Bridge.
Lower down the scale, Luton and Cambridge
will discover who they face as they return to
the Football League after absences of five
and nine years respectively.