Which manager will win the 2021/22 Premier League title? Pep Guardiola hot favourite to claim fourth crown ahead of Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp

The European Championships may have only just started but the Premier League managed to wrestle back the spotlight on Wednesday morning through the release of next season’s fixtures (scroll down for full list).

There’s a catalogue of corking clashes to look forward to on the opening weekend (14th August) which will see the new Tottenham manager - likely to be Paulo Fonseca - kick-start their Spurs tenure at home to Pep Guardiola’s defending champions Man City.

Guardiola’s men endured a stuttering start to the previous campaign and were stuck in the bottom-half of the table as late as November, however their immense quality eventually shone through as they went on to win the title by a margin of 12 points.

The Spaniard lifted his third Premier League crown in five seasons in England, and he finds himself as the odds-on 4/6 favourite to bag a fourth in 2021/22, although he does face a testing start as City do battle with Tottenham, Arsenal, Leicester, Chelsea, and Liverpool inside their opening seven top-flight matches.

If Guardiola does triumph he’ll move ahead of Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger - on three apiece - in the all-time rankings, but he’d still be a blip in the distance behind Sir Alex Ferguson who has 13 Premier League crowns in the cabinet.

Opening weekend clashes:

- Thomas Frank (Brentford) vs Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)

- Sean Dyche (Burnley) vs Graham Potter (Brighton)

- Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea) vs TBC (Crystal Palace)

- TBC (Everton) vs Ralph Hasenhuttl (Southampton)

- Brendan Rodgers (Leicester) vs Bruno Lage (Wolves)

- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Man Utd) vs Marcelo Bielsa (Leeds)

- Steve Bruce (Newcastle) vs David Moyes (West Ham)

- Daniel Farke (Norwich) vs Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

- TBC (Tottenham) v Pep Guardiola (Man City)

- Xisco Munoz (Watford) v Dean Smith (Aston Villa)

Thomas Tuchel enjoyed a superb start to life at Chelsea, whom he led to a top-four finish, FA Cup final, and Champions League glory last term. The German, who won a couple of French titles with PSG, will be a popular pick with many and can be backed at 5/1 to lead the Blues to their first league success since 2016/17 under Antonio Conte.

Chelsea come up against Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Man City in their first six games, however they only face one of last season’s top-six in their final 11 matches.

Next in the running is Jurgen Klopp (11/2) who will be gunning to bounce back following an injury-hit 2020/21 season. With the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Joel Matip all expected to be back to full fitness - plus new man Ibrahima Konaté and the improving Nat Phillips - means the Reds boss is now well stocked in defence, while he may decide to freshen things up in midfield and attack as he bids to win back the title.

It’s been eight years since Man Utd last finished at the summit of the table. Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer United have gone from 6th, to 3rd, then 2nd last season, with his side priced at 9/1 to go one step better and win that elusive title in 2022.

They are the four main managerial contenders in the betting, then furtherafield you can find Tottenham at 40/1 - who should be managed by Paulo Fonseca - Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester can be found at 50/1, while Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have a 1.5% chance of winning the title out at 66/1.

Managerless Everton are a three-figure price at 100/1, whereas David Moyes’ West Ham and Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds can both be backed at 150/1.