Premier League 2026/27: A New Season, New Managers and Plenty of Questions

It feels like we’ve only just packed away the football shirts and put the kettle on after the summer.

But tonight, the Premier League is back.

The 2026/27 season gets underway at 8pm on Friday 21 August, with champions Arsenal hosting newly promoted Coventry City. And after a summer dominated by the World Cup, transfers and managerial changes, there is plenty to get excited about.

For football fans, that familiar Friday night feeling is returning.

The fixtures are on the fridge.

The fantasy football team has probably been changed 17 times.

And somewhere, someone is already convinced their club is going to win the league.

So what can we expect from the new Premier League season?

Arsenal start as champions

After waiting 22 years to win the Premier League again, Arsenal finally got their hands on the trophy last season.

Mikel Arteta’s side finished seven points clear of Manchester City, ending three consecutive seasons as runners-up and securing their fourth Premier League title.

Now comes the difficult bit.

Defending it.

Arsenal begin at home against Coventry City, so Arteta’s side will be expected to start with three points.

But the pressure is different now.

They aren’t chasing the champions anymore.

They are the champions.

And everyone else wants what they’ve got.

Manchester City without Pep

Perhaps the biggest storyline of the entire season is happening at Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola is no longer in charge.

After an extraordinary spell that changed English football, Guardiola has moved on and former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has taken over at the Etihad.

That makes City one of the most fascinating teams to watch.

The players haven’t suddenly forgotten how to play football. There is still an enormous amount of quality in the squad.

But replacing Guardiola is about as difficult a managerial job as you could possibly imagine.

Maresca has experience of the City setup, having previously worked as a coach there, but this is a completely different challenge.

Can City immediately challenge for another title?

Or will there be a period of adjustment?

Liverpool have a new manager too

Liverpool are also starting a new chapter.

Andoni Iraola has replaced Arne Slot after a successful spell at Bournemouth, taking over one of the biggest jobs in English football.

Iraola has already shown at Bournemouth that he can build an exciting, energetic side.

Now he has the pressure of doing it at Anfield.

Liverpool begin the season away at Newcastle United on Sunday, which is hardly the gentlest introduction.

That’s one to watch.

Chelsea and Xabi Alonso

Chelsea have made one of the most intriguing managerial appointments of the summer.

Xabi Alonso is now in charge at Stamford Bridge.

As a player, he knows the Premier League well from his Liverpool days. As a manager, he built an extraordinary reputation at Bayer Leverkusen before moving to Real Madrid.

Now he gets his first Premier League managerial challenge.

Chelsea have plenty of talent.

The question is whether Alonso can turn that talent into a consistent challenge at the top.

And with Chelsea starting at home to Fulham on Monday night, we won’t have to wait long to see his Premier League side in competitive action.

Manchester United are worth watching

There is also plenty of interest around Manchester United.

Michael Carrick has been handed the permanent job after taking over in January and guiding United to third place last season.

For Carrick, this is the chance to build something properly.

There’s a huge difference between taking over partway through a season and having an entire summer to prepare your squad, establish your ideas and work on recruitment.

United begin away at newly promoted Hull City on Saturday lunchtime.

It’s exactly the sort of fixture where expectations will be high.

Spurs are starting another new chapter

Tottenham have Roberto De Zerbi in charge.

The former Brighton and Marseille boss arrived towards the end of last season and helped Spurs avoid relegation.

Now he gets a full campaign to put his stamp on the team.

Tottenham fans will be hoping this is the beginning of something rather more positive.

Their first challenge is Brentford away on Saturday evening.

Not an easy place to go.

Three clubs are back

The Premier League also welcomes three new clubs.

Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City have been promoted from the Championship, replacing Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley and West Ham United.

For Coventry, the return is particularly significant.

They’ve been away from the Premier League for 25 years and their reward is an opening-night trip to the home of the champions.

Imagine getting that fixture as your first Premier League match in a quarter of a century.

It doesn’t get much bigger.

Ipswich return after their promotion and begin at home against Sunderland.

And Hull City face Manchester United.

All three will know that survival is the immediate objective.

But every promoted club dreams of doing what Sunderland managed last season.

Sunderland have something to prove

Sunderland were one of the stories of last season.

They finished seventh and qualified for the Europa League, completing a remarkable rise that had looked highly unlikely at the start of the final day.

Now comes the difficult part.

Doing it again.

European football brings extra matches, extra travelling and a lot more pressure.

Sunderland’s first game is against Ipswich, meaning one of the opening weekend’s newly promoted sides will immediately have a very different target from the other two.

Seven clubs, seven new managers

There has been an enormous amount of change in the Premier League’s dugouts.

Seven clubs begin the season with new managers, including Arsenal’s title rivals and several sides looking to move up the table.

That creates a fascinating unknown.

Some teams will click immediately.

Others may need months.

And there is always one manager who starts badly, wins three games in a row and suddenly becomes a genius again.

That’s football.

The opening weekend has plenty to offer

The first weekend alone gives us plenty to talk about.

Friday

Arsenal v Coventry City

Saturday

Hull City v Manchester United
Everton v Crystal Palace
Ipswich Town v Sunderland
Nottingham Forest v Leeds United
Brentford v Tottenham

Sunday

Brighton v Aston Villa
Manchester City v Bournemouth
Newcastle United v Liverpool

Monday

Fulham v Chelsea

And there’s no shortage of big fixtures later in the season either.

Arsenal host Manchester City on 28 November, Manchester United face Liverpool in January and the Manchester derby arrives at the Etihad in March.

And then there’s the World Cup hangover

The summer has already been unusual because of the expanded FIFA World Cup.

The Premier League starts a week later than usual, with the league deliberately allowing more recovery time after the tournament. The season will run until 30 May 2027.

That could make the opening months particularly interesting.

Players have had very different summers.

Some have played an enormous amount of football.

Others have had a proper rest.

Managers will have to balance fitness, form and squad rotation from the beginning.

Who will win it?

That’s the question nobody can resist answering.

Arsenal deserve to start as favourites after winning the title last season.

Manchester City have the squad to challenge anyone, but the Guardiola question makes them difficult to judge.

Liverpool have a new manager.

Chelsea have Xabi Alonso.

Manchester United are hoping Carrick can build on last season.

And then there are always the clubs who suddenly put together a brilliant campaign when nobody expects them to.

That’s the beauty of the Premier League.

You can make your predictions in August.

By October, you’ll probably be questioning your own sanity.

Here we go again

For all the money, transfers, tactics and endless debates, there’s still something wonderfully familiar about the start of a new Premier League season.

The first Friday night game.

The new shirts.

The optimism.

The predictions.

The fantasy football team.

The first argument with your mates about a referee.

And that feeling that this could be our year.

For 20 clubs, the next nine months offer the chance to create a new story.

For the rest of us, it means weekends are sorted.

The Premier League is back.

And tonight, Arsenal and Coventry get to start it all over again.