Arsenal low-down: Gunners face a nightmare start to the season - before a grueling 13-day triple-header - and a brutal run-in

LIVE BLOG: Follow Mail Sport's coverage as the top-flight fixtures are released LISTEN to It's All Kicking Off! Why leaving Phil Foden out would be an extreme knee-jerk reaction 

Arsenal will know that they are going to have to go big at the start of the season if they are to have any chance of pipping Manchester City to the title at the third time of asking.

The Gunners have been the second-best side in the division for the second season in a row, pushing eventual winners City to the final game of the 2023-24 campaign last time out before falling agonisingly short.

This time round, Mikel Arteta's side will take on Tottenham Hotspur on the road on September 14 before a trip to the Etihad seven days later in a week that could prove decisive in the Gunners' hopes of a first title in over two decades.

As well as those to clashes, there is a tricky trip to Villa Park to negotiate on the second day of the new season, before a triple-header of Liverpool (h), Newcastle (a) and Chelsea (a) all within 13 days in September and October.

Arteta and Co then welcome historic rivals Manchester United to the Emirates on December 3 in what has over the years proven to be one of the biggest games in the  football calendar.

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal face a fiendish start to the season with Tottenham and Manchester City in their first five games

The Gunners will need to make a very fast start indeed in order to give themselves a platform to build on throughout the season

Their two meetings with bitter rivals Tottenham come on September 14 (a) and January 14 (h)

The relentless rate at which Arsenal seem to be facing their potential title rivals then slows down somewhat around the festive period, before the home north London derby on January 14, followed by Aston Villa (h) four days later.

It is then City who travel to the Emirates on February 1, with the Gunners hoping to pull off a similar result to last season, Gabriel Martinelli's deflected strike ending Arsenal's City hoodoo.

After meetings with Leicester, West Ham and Nottingham Forest to close out February, March kicks off with a trip to Old Trafford and the visit of Chelsea a week later, before the run-in truly gets going.

Whereas Man City take on only Man United and Aston Villa in their final 12 games in terms of their genuine Champions League rivals, Arsenal finish the season with a trip to Anfield on May 10 and the visit of Newcastle on May 18.

On the balance of things, Arsenal's fixture list is bookended with incredibly tough ties, with their other meetings with top six rivals coming in regular clusters throughout the campaign.

The Gunners of course come into the season off the back of a bitterly disappointing finale that saw them lose out on the final day, with their now 20-year wait for a Premier League crown continuing.

Yet fans will feel that they have a very tall order indeed to end that drought with the release of their fixtures for the next campaign.

With Liverpool away coming at such a crucial point in the season, the Gunners will be hoping to finally end their Anfield curse, having not won there in 12 years.

What with City's run-in being comparatively much smoother, there will be even more pressure on that game, with Arsenal knowing that nothing short of perfection in the run-in will likely spell another year without the crown.

Read the full fixture list below: