Newcastle United to tackle Man City in the EPL

Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City will begin their title defence with a visit to the St James' Park when they meet Newcastle United on August 16th,2014. The defending league champions would play this match after the regular curtain raiser that will involve Arsenal. City won the EPL last season while Arsenal ended their nine year wait for a trophy by winning the English FA cup.

Newly promoted Burnley will take on Chelsea in the opening match of the new English premier league season the 3pm BST kick off match.

EPL 2014/2015 Fixtures

At Anfield Road
Liverpool will welcome Southampton that is now being managed by Ronald Koeman. The Reds narrowly lost the league title to Manchester City with just two games to the end of the campaign. Southampton was the first of the two teams that defeated Brendan Rodger's men last season.

Arsenal's first match is against Crystal Palace at the Emirates stadium. The FA cup champions will hope to start the season on a winning note in London.

Swansea City will be the visitors of Manchester United at the Old Trafford stadium. Louis Van Gaal will be expected to guide the Red devils to a memorable season kick off.

Upton Park will be the venue of the London derby between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur,while Everton will visit the King Power stadium to tackle Leicester City.

Loftus Road is the match venue for QPR against Hull City while Stoke City will try Paul Lambert's Aston Villa for size at the Britannia stadium.

West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland will clash at the Hawthorns in Birmingham.

Fixtures

Arsenal v Crystal Palace

Newcastle v Man City

Liverpool v Southampton

Leicester City v Everton 

Burnley v Chelsea

Man Utd v Swansea

West Brom v Sunderland

West Ham v Tottenham

Stoke v Aston Villa

QPR v Hull City

Arsenal drop points against Southampton

Southampton played a 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal at the Saint Mary stadium on New Year's day. The Gunners huffed and puffed throughout the entire duration of the encounter.
Artur Boruc made a shaky start to the match when he almost dropped the ball into his net off a corner from Arsenal.

In the 8th minute, Maya Yoshida was brought down by Thomas Vermaelen. Arsenal's display was poor and they were punished by the 'Saints' in the 35th minute. Gaston Ramirez swept  Jason Puncheon's pass beyond Szczesny to make it 1-0.

In the 42nd minute, Arsenal were back on level terms. Theo Walcott's free-kick was deflected in by Do Prado.  Southampton should have been ahead by a minimum of two or three goals before the end of the first half.

SECOND HALF
Arsenal's keeper prevented Do Prado from redeeming his image after his first half blunder. His 55th minute shot was turned around the post by Wojciech Szczesny. As a follow-up to Szczesny's save, Southampton were awarded a corner kick by referee Probert. The ball bounced off the knee of Bacary Sagna, but the Arsenal keeper was fast enough to pick up the ball before a goal-mouth scramble could occur.

On the other hand, Theo Walcott fired a shot on goal in the 70th minute. The Englishman was able to find some space on the right channel before he shot the ball that was easily saved by Boruc.
Gaston Ramirez thought he had restored his team's lead when his volley sailed into the net, but the referee seemed to have made a bug mistake by awarding a free-kick to Arsenal for a push.

Mikel Arteta and Gervinho failed to make their efforts count in the closing stages of the match. There was time for either side to score late goals. Puncheon made a dazzling rundown the right before he struck the ball towards goal. Gibb's goal bound effort was cut out by Yoshida.

Arsenal is currently placed in the 5th position in the English premiership with 34 points from 20 matches.

Man City avoids opening game shocker at Etihad stadium

Manchester City avoided what cold have been the biggest shock of the weekend when they came from 2-1 down to beat Southampton FC at the Etihad stadium. It was the Saints first appearance in the English Premiership after a two year absence.

Jack Rodwell's mistake almost cost his team three points.

Jack Rodwell and Yaya Toure were included in the starting line up by Roberto Mancini and the two players started the game in the midfield positions. Guly do Prado and James Ward Prowse started in the attack for the visitors while Lambert was left on the bench despite finishing last season as the club's top scorer. Argentine forward, Sergio Aguero sustained an injury in the opening minutes of the game after being at the receiving end of a sliding tackle by Nathaniel Clyne. Edn Dzeko was introduced into the match as a replacement for Aguero who left the pitch on a stretcher amidst cheers from the City fans.

Penalty saga
Carlos Tevez was fouled by Jos Hooiveld and Howard Webb had no option than to award a penalty to the defending league champions. David Silva stepped to play a woeful spot kick that was easily saved by the Saints goalkeeper. Dzeko was well marked by the visitors. He found it difficult to get to the end of crosses by Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta.

Meanwhile, Samir Nasri was able to find Tevez in the penalty box after 40 minutes of action. The Argentine attacking maestro fired his team into the lead with a well-taken shot. After the restart, Rickie Lambert gave the visitors something spectacular. He came off the bench and scored the equaliser. His initial effort was cleared back to him by Lescott and he was able to beat Joe Hart in the City goal.

Steven Davis made it 2-1 to the visitors when he got to the end of a pass by Adam Lallana. Jack Rodwell's back pass in the Southampton area sparked off a counter attack that resulted in that goal.

Turn Around
Vincent Kompany played the ball into the penalty area from a corner that was taken by Nasri. Dzeko tapped the ball home to bring scores to 2-2. Samir Nasri scored the winning goal to save the Citizens from getting an embarrassing one point. The Frenchman picked his angle before firing the ball past Davies who was in goal for the visitors. Edin Dzeko was credited with the assist.