The 2012/13 Premier League fixtures were announced today and the Swans were handed an awkward first match away to Queens Park Rangers on the opening day. The Swans havent won an opening day fixture since 2005 and will surely be seeking to banish the memory of last seasons dismal performance away to QPR.
Opening Fixtures
Aug 18 - QPR (A)
Full fixture list www.swansblog.co.uk/fixtures
Aug 25 - West Ham (H)
Sep 1 - Sunderland (H)
Sep 15 - Aston Villa (A)
The first home game, on August 25th will be against newly promoted West Ham. They return to the top flight under the stewardship of Sam Allardyce after a one year absense, winning promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
West Ham will no doubt prove difficult opposition, but the Swans will see these first five home games (West Ham, Sunderland, Everton, Reading & Wigan) as winnable. They will need to chalk up as many points as possible as they head into a potentially tricky run of fixtures from the end of October, starting with Man City away on Saturday 27th.
The majority of the fixtures have been kind to the Swans, mixing in games against the traditional heavy weights with the teams the Swans will be hoping to compete with in or around mid table.
However, we have once again been handed a daunting last few fixtures and will hope to be safe heading into those towards the end of April. It all starts with a trip to Stamford Bridge to face Champions League winners Chelsea on April 27th. This is then followed a week later when reigning Premier League champions Manchester City travel to the Liberty Stadium on May 4th.
Last Four Fixtures
Apr 27 - Chelsea (A)
Full fixture list www.swansblog.co.uk/fixtures
May 4 - Man City (H)
May 12 - Man Utd (A)
May 19 - Fulham (H)
Then, as like last season, our final away game will be away to Manchester United on May 12th. The season is then rounded up with the visit of Fulham to Swansea on the final day of the season, and I'm sure we'll all be hoping the Swans can replicate theit performance at Craven Cottage from last season.
One final word of note, these fixtures are likely to change slightly over the coming weeks as Sky and BT decide which games they want to show live.
To see the full fixture list go to www.swansblog.co.uk/fixtures
