Antonio Conte now knows the structure of his Tottenham Hotspur season and the fixtures that are likely to shape his side's destiny, including some awkwardly timed Champions League games.
The Premier League fixtures for the 2022/23 campaign were released on Thursday morning and although some dates and kick-off times will change due to television scheduling and cup matches falling too close to them, Spurs at least know the main shape of their season to come.
Starting with a home match is always the best way to begin a season and, on paper, Tottenham will hope that Southampton present less of a stern test than last season's first visitors Manchester City, although the Lilywhites did win that encounter. It will be Spurs' first Saturday 3pm kick off since December 2019. Conte may also be happy to get the trip to Stamford Bridge out of the way quickly as the second game of the season in the hope that Thomas Tuchel's side will still be trying to stabilise after a summer of flux, with new owners and a number of their experienced players moving on, particularly in defence.
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The first thing to notice from then on is that while the fixture list is spread out quite nicely for Spurs in terms of Premier League opponents, it does unfortunately present some nightmare games to tackle just days after Champions League matches, particularly matches against Manchester City and Liverpool and one north London derby to be played just before a European game.
Spurs will begin their return to the Champions League with the first group stage game coming on September 6 or 7 and then just days later they are currently scheduled to travel to champions City on September 10. The Champions League matches are squeezed into the calendar in two week blocks over less than two months. The second match comes the following week, on September 13/14, meaning big European nights either side of the City game and ahead of the home Premier League match against Leicester City on September 17.
The first north London derby of the season arrives just before the next European date as Conte will take his side to the Emirates Stadium on October 1, the first game after the international break, before a Champions League match on October 4/5, a trip to Brighton that weekend and then another European game on October 11/12 before a home game against Everton that weekend.
Conte's battles with new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag will for some reason come both in evening midweek matches, at Old Trafford on October 19 currently and at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 25.
The final round of Champions League group stage matches arrive on October 25/26 and November 1/2. That places the first one between games at home against Newcastle and away at Bournemouth before the latter comes just days before a tough home game against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.
The final week before the long break for the World Cup is a busy one with the match against Liverpool, Spurs' start in the Carabao Cup in the third round in midweek before the Leeds United home game, currently scheduled for November 12, marks the end of that first pre-World Cup chunk of the Premier League season.
Having two home games before approaching the long six-week break will help to carry over some momentum if Tottenham can impress in the matches, although that long period is going to be something of an unknown for everyone, with the World Cup players heading off to Qatar and the others getting a rest and then a second pre-season of sorts under Conte.
If they have progressed in the Carabao Cup, then Spurs will return to action in the midweek around December 21 for the fourth round of the competition before travelling to Brentford in the Premier League on Boxing Day.
The absence of another quickfire festive game was planned so decided upon so players should not be overworked but the New Year games still come thick and fast soon after with, currently, a New Year's Eve home game against Aston Villa and then a trip to Crystal Palace two days later on January 2.
The FA Cup arrives on the weekend of January 7 and then any potential Carabao Cup fifth round match during that following midweek before the north London derby at home for Spurs. The FA Cup followed immediately by Carabao Cup matches theme continues all the way to the final of the latter competition.
Then comes the February from hell, albeit with three home games, as Spurs welcome Manchester City, West Ham and Chelsea, with a trip to Leicester in between the first two games. On top of that, if they have progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League then the round of 16 first leg matches will be played on February 14/15 or 21/22, either in-between the Leicester and West Ham games or between the Hammers and Chelsea fixtures. If Tottenham have been successful in the Carabao Cup and reached the final, the Chelsea game would be moved.
Moving fixtures aside that February schedule is set to be the defining period of what the run-in will hold for Tottenham and what Conte's men will be fighting for.
March is less painful looking, allied with an international break, and Spurs' fixtures appear better on paper until a week in late April which contains a trip to a new-look Newcastle on April 22, the midweek home game against United and then a visit to Anfield to face Liverpool on April 29. The Newcastle match could be moved if Tottenham manage to reach the FA Cup semi-final as that would be held that weekend.
Once that period is out of the way the final four games - on paper - are not too daunting with a home encounter against Crystal Palace, a trip to Aston Villa, the final match of the season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Brentford, currently on May 20 before a last day trip to Leeds United. The FA Cup final, for whoever is in it, will be played on Saturday June 3 and the Champions League final is on June 10 in Istanbul.
It's worth pointing out that, as it stands, Spurs' final four away games are all at some of the noisiest stadiums in the league, with those trips to Newcastle, Liverpool, Villa and Leeds which will add to the pressure of the encounters.
On the whole the Premier League campaign is evenly spread for Tottenham, other than that February bunch-up and the Champions League fixtures in and around games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal are a quirk of the scheduling that Conte could have done without.
Ultimately though it's a cliché, it's an obvious statement that all teams will have to play each other twice whatever the schedule and when those matches come will also be impacted by injuries, suspensions and more. Whatever the schedule, fate will play its part more than anything else, but at least Conte knows now what he's working with.
