Man City have early chance to set World Cup advantage over Liverpool FC in Premier League title race

Fixture release day is different for Manchester City fans nowadays. It used to be a case of looking at the opening day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and the final day. Pick out the derbies with United, and plot a couple of tempting away days to mark in the diary.

Now, though, it's a case of mathematics, and closely comparing City's fixtures to Liverpool's. Both sides are looking like they will be challenging for the title again, with five titles between them in the last five years, and two of those decided on the last day. These are two elite sides, who will take advantage of any slip-up from the other.

Now the fixtures are out, City have a good opportunity to pull ahead in the opening months of the season and put the pressure on Liverpool in the New Year.

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On the opening day, Liverpool have an easier fixture as they travel to newly-promoted Fulham, while City are at West Ham. It's a game City will still look to win, but one they only drew at the end of last season.

However, after that, the next nine games are very favourable to City, and they can try and go into the October meeting with Liverpool at Anfield boasting a lead against their biggest rivals.

City host Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham, Manchester United and Southampton in the opening run. The Spurs and United games are tricky, while Palace have done well at the Etihad recently, but home advantage should give City a boost. Their away games against Newcastle, Aston Villa and Wolves are all tricky on paper, although they may prefer to get those games out of the way early on before those sides build up the rhythm they will be capable of.

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