Three of the Big Six who could get an early season jump on their rivals 

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

They always say you can't win anything in August. But 2022-3 is an unusual season – so, don’t believe the myth.

The Community Shield is in July this year, staged at Leicester not Wembley, and the season begins on August 5th at the height of the summer holidays when there are still four full weeks until the transfer window closes.

All clubs have five fixtures in the opening month, and with 15 points at stake it has never been more important to get off to a good start.

The question is, who can take advantage?

Here we pick three of the big six who will be most happy with how the fixtures panned out in month one of season 2022-23:

Manchester City 

There's a tough start for the champions at increasingly ambitious West Ham. But they have the advantage of playing in the Community Shield a week earlier, when any rustiness can be addressed, and they won 5-0 at the same venue on the opening day of the 2019-20 campaign.

The rest of the month, with three home games out of five, should leave manager Pep Guardiola reasonably comfortable.

Those home fixtures include newly promoted Forest and Bournemouth, with no match ups against any of the big six until Spurs at home in mid-September.

In fairness, Liverpool's fixture list looks similar, and they also have three at home. But their away games include a trip to Old Trafford.

Chelsea 

Under new owners and with new money invested, Chelsea have an opportunity this season to disrupt the top two.

Look out for Saturday August 20th when Liverpool are away at Manchester United, City face a tough trip to Newcastle – and Chelsea are at Leeds United. Someone is going to slip up, you suspect. but Chelsea’s task is the least onerous.

There are also winnable away game at Southampton and Everton along with tougher home games against Spurs and Leicester. But if Chelsea are on it, they could take advantage.

Arsenal 

The Gunners never quite play it by the form book, but on paper they have the easiest August of any of the big six.

Only one of their five opponents, Leicester, finished in the top 10 in the Premier League last season and the list includes two promoted sides, Fulham at home and Bournemouth away. If they can win a tough opening night at Crystal Palace it could set the tone for a strong start to the season. But that's 'if'.

August Fixtures:

Man City: August 7: West Ham (a) 13: Bournemouth (h) 20: Newcastle (a) 27: Crystal Palace (h) 31: Nottingham Forest (h) 

Liverpool: 6: Fulham (a) 13: Crystal Palace (h) 20: Man United (a) 27: Bournemouth (h) 31: Newcastle (h) 

Chelsea: 6: Everton (a) 13: Tottenham (h) 20: Leeds United (a) 27: Leicester (h) 31: Southampton (a) 

Arsenal: 5: Crystal Palace (a) 13: Leicester (h) 20: Bournemouth (a) 27: Fulham (h) 30: Aston Villa (h) 

Tottenham: 6: Southampton (h) 13: Chelsea (a) 20: Wolves (h) 27: Nottingham Forest (a) 31: West Ham (a) 

Man United: 7: Brighton (h) 13: Brentford (a) 20: Liverpool (h) 27: Southampton (a) 31: Leicester (a)