Twitter Reacts to the Release of 2020/21 Premier League Fixtures

The full-time whistles in the final matches of the unique 2019/20 Premier League campaign have barely stopped echoing through the cavernous arenas up and down the country. But the unrelenting churn of the modern game has already forced the spotlight onto next season.

Conveniently, the highly anticipated release of the 2020/21 fixture list has also hauled the attention away from the Champions League and back to the Premier League.

Having gone three weeks without league football after gorging multiple games each day following resumption of play in June, the footballing world have leapt upon the Premier League's equivalent of a teaser trailer.

So, let's take a look at how next season's fixture list has already been dissected and - inevitably - criticised.

Opening Day

When bombarded with a list 38 lines long, the first place to look is inevitably at the top. The opening day fixture is of the utmost importance to every football fan before the season begins but ten games in and most struggle to remember much about it.

The standout tie from the first weekend of 2020/21 pits the reigning champions of England's top two tiers against one another as Liverpool host Leeds United.

While Leeds' admin only took nine minutes to dig up a smashing reason for optimism for the Elland Road faithful, the widespread reaction hasn't been universally positive.

Although at least one Liverpool fan is exerting some sort of caution.

Conspiracy Theories

As this is the internet, conspiracy theories are never far away when enough people have access to a keyboard. These ones don't have anything to do with secret laboratories or the Illuminati but one or two have pointed out how the 'random' fixture generation has conveniently favoured some teams (and, pertinently, not their own).

Tough Run

Every team may play each other twice, home and away, but the sequence in which these matches arrive can be crucial. A tough start early on can see you playing catchup for the rest of the season while a tricky sequence over the festive period could derail a title bid.

After opening the season against Newcastle United, West Ham face Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool in successive games.

Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds haven't exactly been handed the easiest of run-ins either.

Manchester United's first game of the season against Burnley has already been rescheduled but they would probably like the powers that be to have a tinker with the pileup of tricky ties in October.

Tottenham Hotspur are one of the team's to face Manchester United in that run but Spurs are poised for their own sticky patch not long after.

Festive Period

The opening day obviously catches the eye initially, but the Premier League's traditional feast of football in the festive period is poised to serve up a slew of fascinating matchups between desperately tired teams.

Run In

It may seem like an eternity away but some forward thinkers have already turned their attention to their side's final few games of the season.

Liverpool's possible title challengers Chelsea have not been dealt a kind end to the season.

Newcastle fans are more concerned with how their unfavourable conclusion to next season may impact their battle at the other end of the table.