Premier League 2026/27 fixtures, dates, schedule: Arsenal face Coventry and Liverpool at Newcastle in opening round
Arsenal kick off their title defence at home to Championship winners Coventry on Friday August 21 - one of SIX games live on Sky Sports across the opening round of Premier League fixtures; Sky Sports will show a minimum of 215 live Premier League matches in 2026/27.
Friday 19 June 2026 11:24, UK
Defending champions Arsenal will kick off the 2026/27 Premier League season at home to Coventry on Friday August 21, live on Sky Sports.
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 Sky Sports 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.
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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 Sky Sports.
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, live on Sky Sports.
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
Interestingly, Arsenal have been spared a hectic travel schedule over the busy festive period with a run of nine consecutive Premier League games taking place in London between November 28 and January 6. Their away games in that period, listed below, are all against London opposition.
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."
The opening weekend games
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 Sky Sports
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 Sky Sports
Brighton vs Aston Villa - Sunday August 23, kick-off 2pm - live on Sky Sports
Manchester City vs Bournemouth - Sunday August 23, kick-off 2pm - live on Sky Sports
Newcastle United vs Liverpool - Sunday August 23, kick-off 4.30pm - live on Sky Sports
Fulham vs Chelsea - Monday August 24, kick-off 8pm - live on Sky Sports
Opening Sky Sports live fixtures in full
Arsenal vs Coventry City - Friday August 21, kick-off 8pm
Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur - Saturday August 22, kick-off 5.30pm
Brighton vs Aston Villa - Sunday August 23, kick-off 2pm
Manchester City vs Bournemouth - Sunday August 23, kick-off 2pm
Newcastle United vs Liverpool - Sunday August 23, kick-off 4.30pm
Fulham vs Chelsea - Monday August 24, kick-off 8pm
The final weekend games
The final round of Premier League games will take place on May 30, 2027. All games will be 4pm kick-offs.
Arsenal vs Brighton and Hove Albion
Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea vs Brentford
Coventry City vs Nottingham Forest
Crystal Palace vs Leeds United
Hull City vs Newcastle United
Ipswich Town vs Everton
Liverpool vs Bournemouth
Manchester United vs Fulham
Sunderland vs Manchester City
Your club's Premier League fixture list
Follow the new Premier League season with Sky Sports!
Sky Sports is the home of domestic club football in the UK & Ireland and will broadcast over 1,500 live matches across the Premier League, WSL, EFL and Scottish Premiership next season.
Sky Sports will show a minimum of 215 live Premier League matches in 2026/27.
Sky Sports has first pick of matches each week and will continue to show multiple games at 2pm on Sunday on a number of weekends.
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What are the key dates for the 2026/27 season?
The 2026/27 season is due to start on Saturday August 22.
That is a week later than the 25/26 season, to help player recovery following the 2026 World Cup.
The Premier League has confirmed the final match round will be played on Sunday May 30 2027, with all games live on Sky Sports.
The Carabao Cup will start for EFL clubs on the weekend of August 7-9 but dates for the later rounds have not yet been confirmed. The FA Cup third round is scheduled around the weekend of January 9-10 2027 and the competition will culminate with the final at Wembley on Saturday May 22 2027.
The Champions League league phase begins on September 8-10 and will finish on January 27, 2027. The Europa League league phase starts on September 16-17 2026, with the Conference League beginning on October 15 2026.
