London, June 19 (IANS) The new season of the Premier League will kick off at the Emirates Stadium in London with defending champions Arsenal playing newly-promoted Coventry City on August 21, with the Gunners hoping to start from where they left off in the 2025-26 season.

The opening weekend will see Hull City host Manchester United for the season’s first Saturday lunchtime game on August 22. There are three Premier League fixtures kicking off at 15:00 — Nottingham Forest will host Leeds United; Crystal Palace will visit Everton; and Ipswich Town will play their first game back in the Premier League against Sunderland. Saturday will finish with Brentford against Tottenham Hotspur.

Then on Sunday, August 23, Manchester City will face AFC Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium while Brighton & Hove Albion will meet Aston Villa at 14:00. This is due to Brighton’s participation in the UEFA Conference League qualification play-offs on the preceding Thursday.

Later on Sunday afternoon, Newcastle United take on Liverpool, and in the first Match Round of the season, will conclude with Fulham v Chelsea on Monday (August 24).

Following an expanded FIFA World Cup featuring 48 teams, the Premier League will start one week later than usual. This will allow for 89 clear days from the end of Season 2025/26, and 33 days from the World Cup Final on July 19.

Season 2026/27 will consist of 33 weekends and five midweek Match Rounds. The Premier League schedule has been designed to avoid domestic competition clashes with UEFA club competition dates wherever possible.

Over the Christmas and New Year period, clubs will have at least a 60-hour break between fixtures. This is in keeping with commitments made to clubs to address the congested festive schedule within the expanded international calendar. There will also be a fuller schedule of Premier League fixtures on Boxing Day.

The season will finish on May 30, 2027, with all matches kicking off at 16:00.

The Premier League will have nine of its clubs participating in UEFA competitions again this season. While this is a mark of success for the League and its clubs, supporters should be aware of the knock-on effect this will have on the scheduling of Premier League games.

“We will endeavour to announce fixtures with as much notice as possible, but as we saw last season, there will be changes made at shorter notice than desired if clubs progress into the latter stages of European competitions,” the Premier League said in a statement on Friday.

Last season marked the beginning of new four-year UK broadcast agreements with Sky Sports and TNT Sports. Sky Sports will show a minimum of 215 matches, and TNT Sports will cover 52 matches.

–IANS

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