Manchester City begin Premier League defence with Southampton fixture

• Manchester United at Everton on opening day
• Newcastle face Tottenham, West Brom play Liverpool
 

Press Association
guardian.co.uk

Manchester City will begin the defence of their Premier League title with a home fixture against Southampton. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

Manchester City will begin their Premier League title defense with a home match against Southampton face Nigel Adkins's newly promoted side on 18 August at the Etihad Stadium.

United, pipped on the final day of the 2011-12 season by Manchester City, open with a match at Everton before taking on Fulham at Old Trafford the following weekend.

Arsenal, who finished third, start with a home game against Sunderland, before taking to the road with trips to Stoke City and Liverpool.

Two Europa League rivals meet on the opening day at St James' Park, with Newcastle taking on Tottenham Hotspur, currently managerless after the sacking of Harry Redknapp.

Roberto Di Matteo's career as the permanent Chelsea coach starts with a game at Wigan Athletic. Their first home game is against Newcastle.

Brendan Rodgers's Liverpool open at West Bromwich Albion, although the first three Anfield fixtures are more eye-catching, with Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United the visitors. The team Rodgers left, Swansea City, now managed by Michael Laudrup, begin at Queens Park Rangers.

West Ham United's return to the Premier League starts with a home match against Aston Villa, now under the leadership of Paul Lambert. Their fellow newcomers Reading will also have home advantage in their first top-flight game for four years, with Stoke the opening-day opponents.

The other first-day match sees Fulham and Norwich City meet at Craven Cottage in Chris Hughton's first competitive game since replacing Lambert as the Canaries manager.

Boxing Day sees Manchester United face Newcastle, while Sunderland and City meet at the Stadium of Light.

Newcastle against Arsenal is the most notable of the 19 May fixtures, when West Ham and Reading play for what could be three priceless points at Upton Park.

Messi reaches 50 goals in Barca win

Lionel Messi has now scored seven goals this week

(CNN) -- Two more goals from Lionel Messi, taking him to 50 goals in all competitions in a remarkable season, saw Barcelona win 2-0 at Racing Santander on Sunday to close the gap on Spanish leaders Real Madrid back to 10 points.

Fresh from bagging an astonishing five goals in the 7-1 Champions League rout of Bayer Leverkusen in midweek, the Argentine maestro again proved the catalyst for another Barcelona win as the defending Spanish champions kept within range of Jose Mourinho's side, who beat Real Betis 3-2 on Saturday.

Racing appointed Alvaro Cervera as their new coach last weekend in an attempt to arrest a slide that has seen them drop into the relegation zone after going eight matches without a victory.

Messi hits record five in Barcelona rout

However, they always looked second best against a Barca side, who went ahead in the 29th minute when Messi slid home to score from close range after being set up by Cesc Fabregas on the right.

And Fabregas also played a hand in the second goal -- the former Arsenal midfielder earning a 56th minute penalty after being fouled by Domingo Cisma, with Messi making no mistake from the spot.

Barca wasted further chances to extend their advantage, but Messi missed a one-on-one opportunity for his hat-trick, while Juan Cuenca struck the post.

Of his 50 goals this season, Messi has scored 30 in the Primera Liga, meaning he still trails Cristiano Ronaldo by two goals in the Spanish golden boot standings.

Pep Guardiola's side are now a massive 24 points clear of third-placed Valencia, who squandered a two-goal lead before being held 2-2 by Real Mallorca.

Valencia, who have won just one of their last four matches, went ahead through Tino Costa's deflected shot and doubled their advantage early in the second half when a mistake from Mallorca goalkeeper Dudu Aouate allowed Aritz Aduriz to score.

But Emilio Nsue and Victor Casadesus turned things around for the visitors and Valencia ended the match with 10 men after Costa was dismissed for a two-footed challenge.

Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid and Espanyol kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Nigeria international Kalu Uche scored a hat-trick as Espanyol crushed Rayo Vallecano 5-1, while Atletico beat Granada 2-0.

Atletico and Espanyol lie eighth and ninth in the table respectively, a point behind seventh-placed Athletico Bilbao -- who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Osasuna.

Bilbao failed to kick on from Thursday's impressive 3-2 Europa League victory at Manchester United.

Osasuna took the lead when Ander Iturraspe headed a free-kick into his own goal after nine minutes and Raul Garcia doubled the lead before Spain striker Fernando Llorente pulled a goal back for the visitors.

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FERGUSON ADVISES PATIENCE FOR OWEN

Sir Alex Ferguson has urged Michael Owen to be patient in his quest for a starting spot at Manchester United.

Ferguson caused a major summer shock when he snapped Owen up on a free transfer.

The deal immediately started talk of the former Liverpool front man forcing his way into Fabio Capello's World Cup plans, suggestions that gathered pace when Owen ended up top scorer on the Red Devils' Far East tour.

Since then, though, opportunities to impress have dried up.

Owen has started just one Barclays Premier League game - the defeat at Burnley - and scored one goal, in the demolition of Wigan at the DW Stadium three days later.

It seems unlikely he will play in Istanbul tonight either as United open their bid to reach a third successive Champions League final when they take on Besiktas.

"Michael hasn't been involved, and I've explained that to him," said Ferguson.

"The season hasn't really started - and because of the internationals we haven't been playing Saturday and Wednesday, as we normally would.

"So Michael doesn't really come into the equation, because we're still trying to get the blend between Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov."

With Cristiano Ronaldo sold to Real Madrid for a world record £80million, there were some doubts about Rooney's ability to fill the gap.

Such questions are no longer being asked, the England star on target once again at the weekend as United brushed aside Tottenham.

"Wayne has started well with his scoring," said Ferguson.

"We need a couple of players to get us more than 20 goals this season.

"Wayne always wants to score goals. He just needs consistency.

"He scores in bunches of sixes and sevens, then goes quiet for a few weeks. We just need that consistency of goals, like we used to get from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Andy Cole."

The win at Spurs appeared to be a signal United would prosper without Ronaldo.

Yet some continue to claim otherwise, a stance Ferguson finds difficult to understand.

"Some guy at the weekend said this was the worst United team in years," he said.

"That was a beauty. Maybe it is. Maybe we'll only win the league."