PEP GUARDIOLA’S Manchester City will provide Sunderland with the opposition at the Etihad Stadium when the men from Wearside get their tenth consecutive season in the Premier League underway.

The Black Cats have been handed the exciting start by facing City in Guardiola’s first league match in charge on August 13 in a fixture; that will see Sunderland get another campaign in the top-flight underway after successfully avoiding the drop zone in May.

The first Wear-Tees derby of the season with Middlesbrough will follow seven days later at the Stadium of Light with the return at the Riverside on March 11.

Sam Allardyce, the Sunderland boss, will be looking forward to taking his players to face his former club West Ham when they play at the Olympic Stadium for the first time on October 22.

Sunderland will also have back-to-back away trips on Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve against Manchester United and Burnley respectively.

They will close the campaign with a tough test against Antonio Conte’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on May 21 when Allardyce will hope to have ensured there is no threat of relegation hanging over them comfortably in advance of that date.

The Football League will start a week earlier than the Premier League, with Newcastle United and Hartlepool United's games due to be announced next week. 

SUNDERLAND'S 2016/17 FIXTURES

13/08/2016 Manchester City (a)

20/08/2016 Middlesbrough (h)

27/08/2016 Southampton (a)

10/09/2016 Everton (h)

17/09/2016 Tottenham Hotspur (a)

24/09/2016 Crystal Palace (h)

01/10/2016 West Bromwich Albion (h)

15/10/2016 Stoke City (a)

22/10/2016 West Ham United (a)

29/10/2016 Arsenal (h)

05/11/2016 A.F.C. Bournemouth (a)

19/11/2016 Hull City (h)

26/11/2016 Liverpool (a)

03/12/2016 Leicester City (h)

10/12/2016 Swansea City (a)

13/12/2016 19:45 Chelsea (h)

17/12/2016 Watford (h)

26/12/2016 Manchester United (a)

31/12/2016 Burnley (a)

02/01/2017 Liverpool (h)

14/01/2017 Stoke City (h)

21/01/2017 West Bromwich Albion (a)

31/01/2017 Tottenham Hotspur (h)

04/02/2017 Crystal Palace (a)

11/02/2017 Southampton (h)

25/02/2017 Everton (a)

04/03/2017 Manchester City (h)

11/03/2017 Middlesbrough (a)

18/03/2017 Burnley (h)

01/04/2017 Watford (a)

04/04/2017 Leicester City (a)

08/04/2017 Manchester United (h)

15/04/2017 West Ham United (h)

22/04/2017 Arsenal (a)

29/04/2017 A.F.C. Bournemouth (h)

06/05/2017 Hull City (a)

13/05/2017 Swansea City (h)

21/05/2017 Chelsea (a)

* Fixtures are subject to change.