Sky Sports will kick off its biggest ever Premier League season with the three biggest stories of the summer and the best selection of live matches.

Every home in Britain will have free access to David Moyes’ first match as Manchester United manager as Sky Sports offers exclusively live coverage of the champions against Swansea City on the first day of the season.

The other biggest stories of the opening weekend – Jose Mourinho’s return as Chelsea manager and Manuel Pellegrini’s debut as Manchester City boss – will also be exclusively live on Sky Sports.

The selections, made together with the Premier League, are the first of 116 live fixtures on Sky Sports – the most ever in a single season.  In the first round of fixtures, Sky Sports viewers can look forward to:

• 43 live Premier League matches by 1 December – at least three matches every week

• Every team shown by 6 October and at least twice by 1 December

• Every clash between last season’s top four

• 24 of 32 live matches involving top four sides

• Nine derbies including Manchester, north London, north east and south Wales

• All three promoted sides by the end of August

• The three big summer managerial moves all live on opening weekend

• A match from all 20 Premier League grounds

• The only place to watch the Premier League live across Saturday, Sunday and Monday

To celebrate the first day of the Premier League season and the new look schedule, Sky Sports is inviting every home in Britain to enjoy a free day of action on Saturday 17 August. Sky Sports 1 will replace the regular programming on Sky 2 (on Sky and other pay TV services) and Pick TV (on Freeview and You View) meaning millions of home viewers can enjoy a live Premier League match, a Football League fixture, plus a host of other football shows at no cost.

Jamie Carragher, Liverpool legend and new Sky Sports expert, said: “This is the reason why I chose to join Sky Sports.  I wanted to work with the best team on the best line up of live football and that is what we have for the new season. Sky Sports viewers can see all the big stories, more of the massive matches and of course every team at least twice.  We’ve got the action covered and I can’t wait to get started.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “This is our biggest ever season of Premier League football. When you look at the opening fixtures in black and white, you can see that no other broadcaster comes close to the quality that we offer. Sky Sports will show every match between last season’s top four as well as every club at least twice by December. We’ll have more than three times as many matches as BT, and our schedule is even stronger than it was last season. With the best team of analysts, a fantastic new weekend schedule and coverage from the Football League, UEFA Champions League, La Liga and the SPL, this is the best ever football season for Sky Sports viewers.”

The new season on Sky Sports will include a new Saturday schedule, which includes the launch of ‘Saturday Night Football’ for Sky’s 5.30pm Saturday evening Premier League fixture.  The show is part of Sky Sports’ new look ‘weekend of football’ which also includes the new pairing of Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville on ‘Monday Night Football’ and a new Saturday schedule running from Soccer AM all the way through to extended evening highlights of all 3pm matches.

As well as its Premier League coverage, Sky Sports viewers can also enjoy a new showcase for the best matches from the Football League, with FL72 Live each Saturday.  Matches kick off at 12.15pm with the Yorkshire derby between Leeds v Sheffield Wednesday live on 17 August.

All of Sky Sports’ live matches will be available to watch in HD, on demand and on the go through Sky Go, the leading sports mobile TV service in the UK.  Selected matches will also be shown in 3D.  To support the live match experience, Sky Sports customers can also benefit from the innovative Sky Sports smartphone and iPad apps, which offer additional viewing options and analysis.

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