We may be mid-World Cup but Premier League excitement can begin with the fixtures being released on Friday morning.
The 2026/27 season is set to start on Saturday August 22. That is a week later than the previous campaign as domestic bosses look to ensure maximum player recovery following the World Cup in North America. The upcoming season will consist of 33 weekends and five midweek rounds. We will also see the return of Boxing Day football with December 26 falling on a Saturday this year.
The Premier League has stated that over the Christmas and New Year period, no two match rounds will take place within 60 hours “to address the congested Christmas and New Year schedule within the expanded international calendar”.
Arsenal will go into the season as defending champions for the first time since 2004/05 – that year they finished second. This will also be the first season in a decade where Manchester City are not led out by Pep Guardiola.
Elsewhere there’s plenty of intrigue around Liverpool and Chelsea, who both begin the campaign with new managers. Manchester United will also hope to continue with the momentum they built under Michael Carrick.
Mirror Football will bring you everything from fixture release day.
New UpdatesToday09:06 BST
Fast starts are always on the agenda, but they aren’t the be all and end all.
Liverpool win their first five games last season and some were already talking them up as champions. That was before they enjoyed one of the biggest drop offs in recent memory.
They fell away and had to battle to simply finish fifth, which ultimately cost Arne Slot his job.
Arne Slot was sacked after a difficult second season at Anfield(Image: Getty Images)
We’ve got some brilliant subplots to eye throughout the season.
Iraola going back to Bournemouth, Alonso going back to Liverpool and – maybe – Maresca going back to Chelsea, should he get the Man City gig.
Lampard going back to Chelsea will also be an emotional occasion.
(Image: James Marsh/Shutterstock)
Frank Lampard’s Coventry City were promoted from the Championship as champions and Ipswich only had to endure one year outside of the top flight. The problem for them – they don’t have a manager. Kieran McKenna has just stepped down, so they need to act.
The play-offs were full of drama as SpyGate took centre stage, but it was Hull who beat Middlesbrough come the final. They need to act quick though as PSR fears could still see them start the year with a points deduction!
(Image: BEN STANSALL, AFP via Getty Images)
We’ve not been short of these in the Premier League era.
Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd in 2004 – heralding the beginning of Jose Mourinho.
Wigan 0-4 Blackpool in 2010 – as good a feel good story as we’ve seen.
Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool in 2016 – a bonkers game between two of the heavyweights.
More of the same please.
Samuel MeadeToday07:59 BST
For the first time ever we get to see Xabi Alonso as a manager in the Premier League with the Spaniard taking charge at Chelsea.
Many expected him to be leading Liverpool, but they went for Andoni Iraola after axing Arne Slot.
Michael Carrick will finally look at Man Utd and say ‘this is my team’ after securing the job permanently.
Xabi Alonso will face his former club as a manager(Image: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
The Premier League fixture list can either be kind or not, depending on the time or year.
There’s nothing like a fast start, and often that is aided if you’re dodging your rivals for a few weeks.
Equally, those in the hunt of the title or scrapping for survival don’t want to be playing at Anfield on the final day.
It all factors in, so let’s see who gets a kind start this time round.
Samuel MeadeToday07:25 BST
We all love our derbies. North London, Merseyside, Manchester.
This season is maybe not as clear as others, especially with Pep Guardiola gone. Will Arsenal vs Man City be the games that decide the season?
I’m sure the opening few weeks will tell us a lot more.
Pep Guardiola has left Manchester(Image: Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
We’re just under three hours away from finding out how every team’s season will run.
10am is the magic time to put in your diaries for today.
Samuel MeadeToday07:06 BST
Frank Lampard proved to be the man who ended Coventry’s 25 year spell out of the top flight.
They’d been absent since their relegation in 2001 but claimed the Championship title in style.
They’ll be out to prove themselves – just like their manager.
Frank Lampard has taken Coventry City back into the Premier League(Image: Dan Mullan, Getty Images)
Arsene Wenger had been the last Arsenal boss tasked with defending a Premier League title – but Mikel Arteta will now adopt that challenge .
The Gunners go in as defending champions and can become only the second club since 2009 to retain their title.
(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images For Premier League)
We’ll find out every Premier League fixture this morning – we’ll keep you across it as we get them.