Fixture release day. The closest thing football fans get to Christmas in June. Schedules are dropped, calendars are marked, and dreams (or nightmares) are born. Derbies get circled in red, away days are plotted, and newly promoted fans start pricing hotel rooms for the big six clashes. Of course, it’s all likely to be torn up and shuffled around for TV anyway… but hey, let us have our fun.
The 2025/26 Premier League season kicks off with a bang as reigning champions Liverpool welcome Bournemouth to Anfield on Friday 15 August. A word of warning for the Cherries: Mohamed Salah loves an opening weekend. The Egyptian King has more opening-day goals (9) and goal involvements (14) than anyone else in Premier League history. First-day fireworks incoming?
History also says: get off to a flyer, or get ready for a scrap. Only one of the last 12 title-winners lost their opening game – Pep’s Man City in 2021–22. On the flip side, 100 teams have won their first two games... but just three of them still went down. (Sorry Wolves, Hull, and West Brom. We remember.)
The headline act of Matchday 1? That would be Manchester United vs Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday 17 August – a fixture that screams ‘90s nostalgia and Twitter meltdowns. It’s the ninth straight season United kick off at home – a Premier League record – and only the second time they’ve started against Arsenal, the first being a 4-1 win back in 1989. No pressure, lads.
Here’s how Matchday 1 lines up:
Friday 15 August
Liverpool vs Bournemouth
Saturday 16 August
Aston Villa vs Newcastle
Brighton vs Fulham
Nottingham Forest vs Brentford
Sunderland vs West Ham
Tottenham vs Burnley
Wolves vs Man City
Sunday 17 August
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Man Utd vs Arsenal
Monday 18 August
Leeds United vs Everton
Now, let’s talk fixture difficulty. Thanks to the brainiacs at Opta, we can crunch the numbers using their Power Rankings – a system that rates over 15,000 teams worldwide (yes, really). Liverpool currently sit top of the football food chain with a perfect 100. Sunderland… well, they’re ranked 123rd globally, with a Power Rating of 82.3 – the 'easiest' opponent in the Premier League this season. Sorry, Black Cats.
Based on these ratings, Manchester United have drawn the short straw. Their first five opponents have an average Power Rating of 94.6, making it the toughest start of any team. United begin with Arsenal, then travel to Fulham, host promoted Burnley, visit noisy neighbours City, and round it off with Chelsea at Old Trafford. Good luck, Ruben Amorim – you’re going to need it.
Arsenal’s opening run isn’t exactly a cakewalk either: Old Trafford on MD1, Elland Road on MD2, Anfield on MD3, Forest at home on MD4, and then City at the Emirates on MD5. Arteta might want to fire up the hairdryer early.
As for Liverpool, they had the easiest opening run last season and rode it all the way to the title in Arne Slot’s debut campaign – only the fifth manager to do so in their first Premier League season. This year? Their first five opponents average a Power Rating of 93.3 – still tricky, but not quite as brutal as what’s facing United.
So, whether you’re circling revenge matches, planning away days, or already calculating how many points you'll need to avoid the drop – welcome to the 2025/26 Premier League season. It's going to be wild, unpredictable, and probably rescheduled.
But we wouldn't have it any other way.
