Premier League 2026/27 fixtures, dates, schedule: Arsenal face Coventry and Liverpool at...

Defending champions Arsenal will kick off the 2026/27 Premier League season at home to Coventry on Friday August 21, live on media. The curtain-raiser will see Mikel Arteta's Gunners - fresh from celebrating their first title triumph in 22 years - play host to Frank Lampard's Championship winners in an 8pm kick-off at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal then face tricky tests at Aston Villa and home to Xabi Alonso's Chelsea in their next two fixtures. There will be six Premier League games live on media across the opening round, including Andoni Iraola's first match in charge of Liverpool. The Reds go to Newcastle on Sunday August 23 in a 4.30pm kick-off. Liverpool then have Man City and Arsenal showdowns in October before taking on rivals Manchester United and Everton back-to-back in November. | Get media London derbies Brentford vs Spurs (Saturday August 22, 5.30pm) and Fulham vs Chelsea (Monday August 24, 8pm) are also among the highlights of the opening round of fixtures, live on media. Spurs fans - who have seen their side finish 17th in the past two seasons - will also have a hard end to the campaign in the back of their minds. Their final five matches include a trip to Arsenal (May 1), home games against Chelsea (May 8) and Manchester United (May 23), with their final match of the season at Aston Villa on May 30. Man City's new era without Pep Guardiola begins at the Etihad Stadium against Bournemouth at 2pm on Sunday August 23. However, their first meetings with last season's top five are all away from home. Championship play-off winners Hull City welcome Manchester United to the MKM Stadium on their Premier League return at 12.30pm on Saturday August 22, while fellow promoted side Ipswich begin at Portman Road with Sunderland at 3pm. Everton vs Conference League winners Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest vs Leeds are scheduled as 3pm kick-offs on Saturday August 22, with Brighton vs Europa League holders Aston Villa on Sunday August 23 at 2pm. Who has the toughest and easiest start? Man Utd have statistically the easiest start to the season as Michael Carrick looks to build on their third-place finish in 2025/26 - although an Old Trafford Manchester derby on September 12 features among their opening fixtures. After Hull City on the opening day, United face Ipswich (h), Everton (a), Man City (h), Fulham (a) and Tottenham (h). At the other end of the scale, Sunderland have the trickiest opening games based on last season's league positions, while new Bournemouth boss Marco Rose looks to have a difficult opening run of games. Man City, Chelsea and Spurs also have notably tough fixtures to start the new season. Festive fixtures and European schedules 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 this season. The final dates and kick-off times are to be confirmed but the current line-up for December 26 is: Aston Villa vs Leeds United Coventry City vs Chelsea Crystal Palace vs Arsenal Everton vs Sunderland Fulham vs Brighton Hull City vs Liverpool Ipswich Town vs Brentford Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest Newcastle United vs Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth The Premier League will have nine of its clubs participating in UEFA competitions again this season. The Premier League has warned that, while this is a mark of success, supporters will have to look out for fixtures being changed to accommodate European games. The Premier League said: "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." Here is the first round of fixtures for the 2026/27 Premier League season: Arsenal vs Coventry City - Friday August 21, kick-off 8pm - live on media Hull City vs Manchester United - Saturday August 22, kick-off 12.30pm Everton vs Crystal Palace - Saturday August 22, kick-off 3pm Ipswich Town vs Sunderland - Saturday August 22, kick-off 3pm Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United - Saturday August 22, kick-off 3pm Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur - Saturday August 22, kick-off 5.30pm - live on media Brighton vs Aston Villa - S