The Premier League’s fixtures ‘computer’ has thrown up five of our hardest away trips following European ventures, compounding my fears for the new season. Forget the run-in or who we face after Christmas, check out the opposition after our Champions League games:

Sunderland AWAY
Chelsea AWAY
Man City AWAY
Newcastle HOME
Aston Villa AWAY
Man U AWAY

So one home game out of the six and five away games including fixtures against the clubs that finished first, second, fifth and sixth - from which we gained one point last season. I can’t wait either…

For reference, Chelsea have three home games out of six and Man U have four, with Chelsea’s looking the harder set on paper:

Chelsea
Blackpool HOME
Arsenal HOME
Wolves HOME
Liverpool AWAY
Newcastle AWAY
Spurs AWAY

Man U
Liverpool HOME
Sunderland AWAY
Stoke AWAY
Wolves HOME
Blackburn HOME
Arsenal HOME

I think we all know that these fixtures take weeks to prepare and involve plenty of consultation with the clubs (judging by the league’s reaction last year when Arsene questioned the schedule). So it surprises me we’ve been dealt such a tough set of matches after the Champions League – is there no room for Arsenal to have questioned the fairness?

Most of the big four complain about the impact of away games after European trips, though looking back at last year’s results we actually did pretty well – two home wins (Wigan, Blackburn), two away wins (Wolves, Liverpool) an away draw (West Ham) and one home loss (Chelsea).

That in part was because the league fixtures were easier and our Champions League group was a breeze. Let’s hope UEFA’s fixtures are equally kind this year – and that Arsene makes the purchases required so we can at least try to cope with such a demanding schedule.