United up against Bolton in Premiership curtain-raiser
Alex Ferguson's David Beckham-less side will run out at Old Trafford on August 16 against the side who inflicted their first top-flight defeat of last year.
Sam Allardyce's men sprung a surprise when Kevin Nolan's solitary goal proved to be the winner on September 11.
It was Bolton's second successive win at Old Trafford and promised much for their campaign but they struggled and finished just one place above the relegation zone thanks to a last-day victory over Middlesbrough.
United's biggest rivals for the title, Arsenal, begin at Highbury against an Everton side which will be out to prove last season's seventh place was no flash in the pan.
It will also present young England striker Wayne Rooney with an instant chance to maintain his goalscoring run against the Gunners.
Last season the 17-year-old scored a 90th-minute winner in the Toffees' 2-1 victory at Goodison Park and also found the net in the 2-1 defeat in the return fixture.
Newcastle defender Jonathan Woodgate will make an early season return to former club Leeds as the Magpies travel to Elland Road for their opening game.
Newcastle boss Bobby Robson will be hoping this is the season his side can seriously challenge for honours while Peter Reid must lift Leeds out of the doldrums after a disappointing 15th-place finish last time.
Liverpool have the chance to reap immediate revenge on Chelsea for the 2-1 defeat on the last day of the season which meant the Blues progressed into the Champions League at their expense. The two sides meet at Anfield in their opening fixture.
The Division One champions Portsmouth have been handed a home start against Aston Villa, while Leicester's Walkers Stadium will see Southampton visit and Wolves, the third promoted team, go to Ewood Park to face Blackburn.
Other fixtures on the opening day see Birmingham play host to Tottenham, Manchester City go to Charlton and Fulham at home to Middlesbrough.
The first big game of the season sees Manchester United head to St James' Park on the second weekend, where they roasted Newcastle 6-2 last April.
However, the first clash of the titans comes on September 20 when Arsenal head to Old Trafford where they lost 2-0 last December. The return fixture is on March 27, 2004.
The initial Merseyside derby of the season is on August 30 when Liverpool make the short trip across Stanley Park, with Everton making the opposite journey on January 31.
North-west rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool is resumed on November 1 when United travel up the East Lancs Road to Anfield, with Houllier's troops heading in the opposite direction on April 24.
London's first big derby game sees Arsenal host Chelsea on October 18, but before that there is the small matter of the United versus City clash with Kevin Keegan's side heading across Manchester on December 13. United travel back on March 13.
City's first opponents in the new City of Manchester Stadium will be Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth on the second weekend of the season.
Meanwhile, the Premier League last night launched the beginning of another revolution in football on television as it threw open the doors for broadcasters to bid for the rights to screen matches from 2004-2007.
The number of matches that will be shown live from 2004 will rise from the current 106 games which includes 40 games on pay-per-view to 138.
There will also be a greatly- enhanced highlights programme on offer and the chance for channels to show delayed transmission of full games.
The league believes the new deals will see more televised matches on Saturdays, fewer on other days of the week, yet it will continue to protect the Saturday 3pm-5pm slot from live transmission.
The money paid for the new deal will affect the whole future of English football.
BSkyB paid £1.1billion for exclusive live rights to Premier League games for the last deal, from 2001 to 2004, with ITV paying £183million for highlights.
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