Manchester United will host Arsenal at Old Trafford in a blockbuster fixture on the opening weekend of the 2025/26 Premier League, which officially begins with a Friday-night fixture as champions Liverpool start their title defence at home to AFC Bournemouth.
After finishing runners-up the past three seasons, Arsenal will look to go one better this campaign and will start their quest to end a 22-year title drought on Sunday 17 August with a trip to Old Trafford, where they have won only twice in the league in the last 18 years.
Arsenal will face a Man Utd team who struggled last season, finishing 15th, but head coach Ruben Amorim has already boosted his squad with the signing of forward Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
United are also the club with the best record in the Premier League on opening weekends.
Arsenal have yet to announce a signing but Mikel Arteta has called the summer window a big one for the club. The Gunners face a tricky start, with all three of their opponents after a Matchweek 2 home match with Leeds United finishing in the top seven last season.
Liverpool start title defence at Anfield
Liverpool’s opening match is against AFC Bournemouth, a team they have an excellent record against. They are unbeaten at home, winning seven of eight matches against the Cherries at Anfield, including a 9-0 victory in August 2022.
Like Arsenal, Arne Slot’s team have been handed a tough set of opening fixtures. They travel to Newcastle United in Matchweek 2, host Arsenal the following weekend, then have a home Merseyside derby and travel to Chelsea inside the opening two months of the season.
Burnley test for Frank's Spurs debut
New Tottenham Hotspur head coach, Thomas Frank, will take charge of the club for the first time in the league at home to Burnley, who boasted the meanest defence in the country last season, conceding only 16 goals on their way to an instant return from the Championship.
The two other promoted teams from the Championship open their returns to the Premier League at home. Sunderland host West Ham United, while Leeds United will face Everton at what will be a raucous Monday night under the lights at Elland Road. Everton will have to wait until Matchweek 2 for their first Premier League fixture at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium, against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Man City start at revitalised Wolves
After relinquishing a four-year streak of Premier League titles to Liverpool, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City face a tricky opening match, travelling to Wolverhampton Wanderers, whose resurgence since the appointment of Vitor Pereira in December was transformed from relegation candidates to one of the top seven form sides in the league.
Elsewhere in Matchweek 1, there are three different head-to-heads between teams who finished in the top 11 last season.
Aston Villa host Newcastle in the early fixture on Saturday. These two teams met in Matchweek 1 two seasons ago, when Newcastle won 5-1. Later on Saturday, Brighton host Fulham and Brentford start life after Frank with a trip to Nottingham Forest.
The first of 42 London derbies this season will be on Sunday 17 August as Chelsea host FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.
The 2025/26 season will consist of 33 weekends and five midweek match rounds, with the final round played on Sunday 24 May 2026, when all matches will kick off simultaneously.
2025/26 Matchweek 1 fixtures (all times BST)
Friday 15 August 2025
20:00 Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth
Saturday 16 August
12:30 Aston Villa v Newcastle United
15:00 Brighton & Hove Albion v Fulham
15:00 Nottingham Forest v Brentford
15:00 Sunderland v West Ham United
15:00 Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley
17:30 Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City
Sunday 17 August
14:00 Chelsea v Crystal Palace
16:30 Manchester United v Arsenal
Monday 18 August
20:00 Leeds United v Everton
New broadcasting deal
This season marks the beginning of a new four-year UK broadcast rights cycle, with Sky Sports and TNT Sports. For the first time, all matches taking place outside of the Saturday 15:00 "closed period" – a minimum of 267 games – will be broadcast live in the UK.
The increase in matches broadcast in the UK comes predominately from Sky Sports showing the fixtures displaced to the Sunday 14:00 slot due to clubs’ participation in European competitions the previous week. Sky Sports will show a minimum of 215 matches and TNT Sports will cover 52 matches.
The Premier League understands the need to confirm fixture date and times as early as possible. Our fixture announcements will continue to provide around six weeks’ notice ahead of fixtures prior to January, and five weeks thereafter.
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