Southampton will welcome Burnley on the opening day of the new Premier League season, the club have confirmed.
Following a relegation fight last season, Mark Hughes has been given a favourable opening run of fixtures.
Games against Everton and Leicester follow the Burnley match, before fixtures against Palace, Brighton and Liverpool in September, meaning the Saints face just one of the top six in the opening two months of the campaign.
Hughes will be bracing himself for a tricky Christmas period with games against Arsenal, Huddersfield, West Ham and Manchester City.
Southampton will then make the trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on New Years’ Day.
The Saints will be confident about their end-of-season run-in with games against Newcastle, Bournemouth and West Ham before finishing the season at home to Huddersfield.
As with every year, fixtures and kick-off times are all subject to change as and when the relevant games are chosen for broadcasting.
