Cliff Notes – Arsenal open at Man United both face tough starts
- Arsenal’s Premier League campaign begins with a challenging away match against Manchester United, followed by tough fixtures against Liverpool, Newcastle, and Manchester City in their first six games.
- Both Manchester United and Manchester City face difficult starts to the season, with United also set to travel to Anfield in mid-October.
Premier League fixtures Arsenal open at Man United both face tough starts
Arsenal begin their Premier League campaign with a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United and then face away games against Liverpool and Newcastle United and a home clash with Manchester City in their opening six games of the 2025-26 season.
United and Manchester City, two sides that struggled last season, also have difficult starts to the season.
After an opening-day test against Arsenal, Ruben Amorim will be looking to get points on the board against Fulham and Burnley before facing City and Chelsea in a difficult opening run. United travel to Anfield on Oct. 18 with the return fixture against Liverpool at Old Trafford on May 2.
Pep Guardiola’s revamped side, who are competing in the Club World Cup this summer, begin at Wolverhampton Wanderers and then face Tottenham Hotspur, United and Arsenal in their first five games.
Premier League champions Liverpool will begin their title defence against AFC Bournemouth at Anfield and play the season’s curtain raiser with the game kicking off on Friday, Aug. 18, at 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET).
Liverpool then travel to Newcastle and host Arsenal in their opening three games before hosting Everton, United and travelling to Chelsea by mid-October.
Following the opening round of the Champions League, Liverpool host Everton in the first Merseyside derby of the campaign and City travel to Arsenal. After subsequent Champions League rounds Arne Slot’s side travel to Chelsea, Brentford and City. Arsenal have home games after the first three rounds of the flagship European competition.
Thomas Frank will begin his reign as Tottenham manager with a home game against newly promoted Burnley before travelling to City in the second game. He faces former side Brentford twice in December, but it is a run of games in November that looks particularly tricky. After completing October against Aston Villa and Everton, Spurs then face Chelsea, United, Arsenal in a row.
Chelsea start with four fixtures against London clubs in a row — Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Fulham and Brentford — but things get harder at the end of the season with Arsenal, Villa, Newcastle, City, United, Liverpool and Spurs all to come from the end of February.
City face a tough spell in early 2026 with five of eight games against top opposition. Their run from Jan. 3 is against Chelsea, Brighton, United, Wolves, Tottenham, Liverpool, Fulham and Newcastle.
The season is set to finish on May 24. Players will have less than three weeks to prepare for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, which is scheduled to begin on June 11.
– Full Premier League fixture lists:
– Arsenal
– Chelsea
– Liverpool
– Manchester City
– Manchester United
– Tottenham