Champions Liverpool will face promoted Leeds United on the opening day of the 2020-21 Premier League season as they bid to retain their crown. Fixtures for the new season, starting on September 12, were released on Thursday and revealed an intriguing first round. Runner-up Manchester City will be up against Aston Villa, while Chelsea go to Brighton. The new season will be five weeks shorter than usual because of the late end to 2019-20 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and will finish on May 23. As a result, the Premier League has scrapped the winter break because of fixture congestion. Manchester City, who reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and Europa League semi-finalists Manchester United will be given delayed starts even though they appear on the list for the first weekend. With Champions League and Europa League group games arranged for October, November and December, there are no spare midweek dates for the Premier League to slot spare fixtures into until the end of January.