Chelsea have been handed an extremely difficult start to the 2021/22 season after the fixtures were announced on Wednesday morning.
The reigning European champions tackle Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on the opening day before then travelling to Arsenal and Liverpool.
Aston Villa are then the Blues’ next opponents in mid-September following the first international break of the season.
Chelsea’s first six fixtures of the campaign are then rounded off with a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face London rivals Spurs, before a clash with the reigning Premier League champions Manchester City on home soil.
It is of course a testing start for Tuchel as he aims to establish the Blues as genuine title challengers with four of the so-called ‘big six’ to come within a space of a few weeks.
And with three of those games away from home, the difficulty of the Blues' schedule is not lost on Chelsea fans.
Indeed, Blues supporters have been sharing their thoughts throughout the morning.
We take a look at the best of the tweets from Blues’ supporters in response to today’s fixture announcement.
Chelsea will certainly be hoping to avoid a defeat on the opening day for the first time since 2019.
The Blues, recently taken over by Frank Lampard, fell to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have not lost at home on the opening day of the Premier League season since a 3-2 reverse at the hands of Burnley during the 2017/18 campaign and once again will hope to avoid a similar fair this time around.
