Fixtures give Martin's Southampton chance to settle in Premier League

Russell Martin's side learned their schedule for the 2024/25 campaign when the full fixture list was released on Tuesday morning.

They will begin with a tough trip to Newcastle United, who finished seventh in the league last term, on Saturday, August 17.

Saints have only won one of their last 14 matches with the Magpies and their last victory at St James' Park came in January 2015 - thanks to Eljero Elia.

However, Opta stats suggest - across the first five games of the new season - Saints have the third easiest fixture schedule.

Only Liverpool and Newcastle have been handed a kinder start when assessing each opponent based on their difficulty and creating an average.

Opta analyses each team's opening Premier League sequence (Image: Opta)

After visiting Newcastle, Saints host Nottingham Forest and head to Brentford before welcoming Manchester United and Ipswich Town.

After that - in their sixth Premier League match - Saints make the short trip to Dorset side AFC Bournemouth.

It should be said that predicting a team's strength before a season has even started is a difficult task and renders most stats like this dubious.

Yet these fixtures are clearly favourable to being dealt back-to-back trips to Manchester City and Arsenal, for example.

For most teams, it does not matter in what order the matches come. Everybody will play each other twice by Sunday, May 25.

Saints, however, might find themselves in a unique position. They may encounter different pressures in the early stages of the season.

As one of the newly promoted teams, they will be among the favourites to face the drop as they did miserably in 2023.

All three promoted teams were relegated from the Premier League last season (Image: PA)

Martin has never managed in the Premier League and it will also be a new experience for the vast majority of the backroom staff.

Saints had more possession than any team in England last season and they have committed to trying to play the same way again.

Against a different level of opposition, this will sometimes present challenges. Even in the Championship, it took time to work.

Throughout the season, on the rare occasions when Saints did lose back-to-back games, it did not take long for external pressure to build.

They have a busy summer ahead with several positions being targeted for transfers and a trio of key players out of contract.

Club bosses will look to complete business efficiently but they still wield a reduced financial budget when compared to many of their peers.

Should the St Mary's outfit find themselves well beaten numerous times in their early Premier League fixtures, nerves will set in amongst supporters.

The fear of losing the rewards of the Premier League can cause panic - showing early promise and recording early results can put credit in the bank.

Martin, his staff and the players have already earned that credit with their exceptional playoff performances under pressure.

Russell Martin celebrates with his coaching staff at Wembley (Image: PA)

But the Premier League is an all-new ball game and, wrongly, it will not take long for that to go out of the window.

Supporters will have been happy to see Saints have been handed a home tie on Boxing Day.

They will host West Ham United on Thursday, December 26, while both away fixtures on either side are only short trips to London.

They include Fulham's Craven Cottage on Saturday, December 21 and Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park on Sunday, December 29.

They were, however, dealt an imposing end to the season and might hope to have their goals wrapped up before the final three matches.

A trip to Everton's Goodison Park is sandwiched by visits to St Mary's by last season's top two Manchester City and Arsenal.

Although Saints won at Goodison Park under Nathan Jones last season, that was the first victory on the blue of Merseyside this millennium.

It will also be the final competitive match played at Goodison Park with Everton set to move - a historic and potentially motivating occasion.

"We still have a lot to do. Next season will be tough, but by sticking together, we can make St Mary's a fortress," Phil Parsons penned in the Daily Echo.