Have the Premier League matches been leaked? Document appears to show the first batch of luminaires in a bundle…but key details suggest it may be a hoax
- The program for the 2023/24 Premier League season will be announced on Thursday
- Nevertheless, a Twitter account today claimed to have ‘leaked’ the opening matches
- Follow the release of the Premier League fixtures at 9am on MailOnline Sport
Premier League fans went berserk when a leaked image on Twitter appeared to reveal the first round of matches for the 2023-2024 season – but one key detail seems to have betrayed the game.
Matches for the new season will be made public on Thursday 15 June at 9am BST, but fans thought they had caught an official when a cropped photo showed a document titled ‘PRESS EMBARGO: STRICTLY NOT FOR RELEASE BEFORE 9AM BST 15 JUNE 2023’.
It showed champions Manchester City starting at Burnley and Manchester United at home to Brighton – but it was Luton Town’s game that suggested the document was in fact a hoax.
The newly promoted Hatters could be forced to play as many as their first three games away from Kenilworth Road, with concerns over the length of time to make improvements to the stadium.
To meet competition requirements, Luton is upgrading the Bobbers Stand on Kenilworth Road to meet these, and the BBC reports that the Premier League is in talks with the club about whether they can play at home for the first few weeks.
A document claiming to show the Premier League’s opening games for the 2023-24 season appeared online – but one key detail quickly convinced fans that the ‘leak’ is a hoax
Brighton was set to play off the document at Manchester United, but it was another team’s game that raised questions about the veracity of the posed list
The leaked document shows Luton at home during the first weekend against Liverpool – which would prove implausible at this point.
“There’s a schedule of about 11-12 weeks of work that needs to be done,” Mick Harford told the BBC.
“It could become a bit of a problem, so we will probably have to play two or three games away from home at the start of the Premier League season.”
It will cost Luton nearly £10 million to knock down the old Bobbers Stand, converted into boardrooms in 1986, at one end of the pitch and replace it with new facilities including a media centre, TV and data analysis studios. toilets and a canteen.
Luton also plans to install some new fan seating and may be able to slightly increase capacity at the ground, where the club has been based since it opened in 1905.
Luton’s stadium problems mean the leak is highly unlikely to be true, with Fulham v Arsenal, Tottenham v Newcastle and Sheffield United v Aston Villa among other notable opening matches on the ‘leaked’ document.
Luton are on the verge of tearing down and rebuilding an entire stand in one summer after securing promotion – but it could mean playing the first few games after promotion on the road
Liverpool are in a similar situation where work at Anfield means playing their opening game on the road.
Work, which started in September 2021, will be completed this summer on the £80 million redevelopment and will add around 7,000 additional seats, bringing Anfield’s total capacity to over 61,000.
But Liverpool have asked to play next season’s opening game away from home to complete preparations.
With test events and possible extra work on the pitch due to the construction work, Liverpool are looking to buy more time to ensure everything is ready to open on the second weekend of the new campaign.
The club made a similar request to the Premier League when they completed the new Main Stand in 2016.