SUNDERLAND will start Dick Advocaat's first full season in charge of the club with a trip to Leicester City on the opening weekend of the 2015-16 season.

The Black Cats kick off the new campaign with a trip to the King Power Stadium on the weekend of August 8, before hosting Norwich City in their first home fixture a week later.

August also sees a home game with Swansea City and a trip to Aston Villa, with Sunderland hosting Spurs after the first international break.

The opening derby of the season comes on October 24, with the Black Cats hosting Newcastle at the Stadium of Light, and December looks being a tricky month with some testing fixtures.

Sunderland head to Chelsea on December 19, travel to Manchester City on Boxing Day and host Liverpool on December 28.

The first game of 2016 sees Aston Villa visit Wearside on January 2, with February seeing a run of three consecutive games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United.

The second derby comes on March 19, with Sunderland visiting St James' Park, and once again, the Wearsiders' run in looks reasonably testing.

The club's final two home games are against Arsenal and Chelsea, with the Black Cats finishing the campaign with a trip to Premier League newboys Watford.

Sunderland's 2015-16 fixtures:

Aug 8 Leicester City (a)

Aug 15 NORWICH CITY (H)

Aug 22 SWANSEA CITY (H)

Aug 29 Aston Villa (a)

Sep 12 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (H)

Sep 19 Bournemouth (a)

Sep 26 Manchester United (a)

Oct 3 WEST HAM UNITED (H)

Oct 17 West Bromwich Albion (a)

Oct 24 NEWCASTLE UNITED (H)

Oct 31 Everton (a)

Nov 7 SOUTHAMPTON (H)

Nov 21 Crystal Palace (a)

Nov 28 STOKE CITY (H)

Dec 5 Arsenal (a)

Dec 12 WATFORD (H)

Dec 19 Chelsea (a)

Dec 26 Manchester City (a)

Dec 28 LIVERPOOL (H)

Jan 2 ASTON VILLA (H)

Jan 12 Swansea City (a)

Jan 16 Tottenham Hotspur (a)

Jan 23 BOURNEMOUTH (H)

Feb 2 MANCHESTER CITY (H)

Feb 6 Liverpool (a)

Feb 13 MANCHESTER UNITED (H)

Feb 27 West Ham United (a)

Mar 1 CRYSTAL PALACE (H)

Mar 5 Southampton (a)

Mar 12 EVERTON (H)

Mar 19 Newcastle United (a)

Apr 2 WEST BROMWICH ALBION (H)

Apr 9 LEICESTER CITY (H)

Apr 16 Norwich City (a)

Apr 23 ARSENAL (H)

Apr 30 Stoke City (a)

May 7 CHELSEA (H)

May 15 Watford (a)