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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 1
Newcastle United v Aston Villa
St James' Park
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Saturday, 12 August 2023
Kick-off is at 17h30
Newcastle will be looking to build on a promising 2022-23 season when they open proceedings in the
Premier League against Aston Villa at St James' Park on Saturday, August 12.
The Magpies continued to make strides under Eddie Howe as they finished in the top four to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 20 years.
Howe's side matched champions Manchester City for least defeats suffered (five) and goals conceded (33), although 14 draws seriously dented their title challenge.
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Villa, meanwhile, enjoyed a remarkable resurgence under Unai Emery, who took over the reins from Steven Gerrard in November with the team sitting 16th in the table after winning just two of their opening 11 matches.
Emery went on to register 15 wins in 25 games as the Villans equalled a club record for most league victories in a season with 18 to finish seventh and qualify for the Europa Conference League.
The Toon pulled off a coup when they signed Harvey Barnes from relegated Leicester for a fee of £38million in July, with the 25-year-old winger having scored a career-high 13 goals in 34 league appearances last term. The Foxes youth product impressed during pre-season, bagging a brace in a 4-0 win over Villarreal on August 6.
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Villa acquired a gem in Youri Tielemans, who also departed Leicester following their relegation and was snapped up on a free transfer. The Belgium international will add a new dimension to their midfield and has an eye for goal after scoring 28 times in 195 appearances across all competitions for the Foxes.
Howe intends to stick with the same aggressive approach that served them so well last season as he looks to convert all those draws into wins.
"That is a major part of my philosophy," he said. "We had that meeting a long time ago when I first came to the club... I don't want to go into any game and not look like we are trying to win and not prepare to win.
"To prepare to win, the best way for us to try and do that is to be front foot, to be aggressive to take the game to the opposition. We are certainly not going to change that way of playing."
Emery is preparing for a long campaign and wants to start on a positive note after a good pre-season, which took them to the United States and Spain.
"We are going to play this year, hopefully, a lot of matches," the Spaniard said. "The Conference League is an objective as well but the Premier League is the first competition we are going to face. We have to be fit and make everyone aware that hopefully it's going to be a long season.
“We are going to play a lot of matches, playing on Thursday and then on Sunday, with FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
"Overall, I'm very happy. We have to be ready and have everyone very excited with our supporters for the first match in Newcastle. It's our objective now to start our season in the best way possible."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Newcastle - 2
Aston Villa - 2
Draws - 1
Matchday 1 fixtures:
Friday, August 11
20h00: Burnley v Manchester City
Saturday, August 12
12h30: Arsenal v Nottingham Forest
15h00: Bournemouth v West Ham United
15h00: Brighton & Hove Albion v Luton Town
15h00: Everton v Fulham
15h00: Sheffield United v Crystal Palace
17h30: Newcastle United v Aston Villa
Sunday, August 13
16h00: Brentford v Tottenham Hotspur
18h30: Chelsea v Liverpool
Monday, August 14
20h00: Manchester United v Wolverhampton Wanderers
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