The Premier League Is Back Tonight — and Champions Arsenal Get Lampard's Coventry First
The 2026/27 season kicks off at the Emirates on Friday night, 33 days after the World Cup final, with the defending champions hosting a Coventry City side back in the top flight for the first time in 25 years.
The wait is over. The 2026/27 Premier League season opens tonight, with Arsenal v Coventry City kicking off at 20:00 UK time at the Emirates — the champions of England raising the curtain against the champions of the Championship.
A season squeezed by a World Cup
This campaign starts a week later than usual. The league confirmed the dates to leave 33 clear days between the FIFA World Cup 26 final and opening night, an acknowledgment of how much football this summer took out of the game's biggest names. The trade-off comes at the other end: final day is Sunday 30 May 2027, with all 10 games kicking off simultaneously, a week before the Champions League final on 5 June. There is also a nod to sanity in the winter schedule: no fixtures on 24 December.
The opener that writes itself
Arsenal begin the defence of the title they won last season, ending a 22-year wait to be champions again. Across the touchline stands Frank Lampard, whose Coventry City side won the Championship title to return to the top flight after a 25-year absence — a rise that earned Lampard the Championship Manager of the Season award. The Sky Blues last played top-division football in 2001; their reward for coming back is a Friday night under the lights against the best team in the country.
The rest of the weekend
Saturday brings promoted Hull City hosting Manchester United, plus Everton v Crystal Palace, Ipswich v Sunderland, Forest v Leeds and Brentford v Tottenham. Sunday's headline act is Newcastle v Liverpool, before Fulham v Chelsea closes Matchweek 1 on Monday night, per the official fixture list.
Nine months of this start now. Enjoy it.