The 2026/27 Premier League season gets underway on Friday night, with defending champions Arsenal welcoming newly promoted Coventry City to the Emirates.
That kicks off a bumper Gameweek 1, with 10 fixtures spread across four days from Friday to Monday.
The Premier League as a whole has already splashed £2 billion – and counting – on transfers, while nine clubs begin the campaign with a new manager.
From managerial milestones and unwanted records to sizzling streaks, here’s a Premier League stat for each Gameweek 1 fixture.
Premier League stats you might see in Gameweek 1
Arsenal vs Coventry City
- Mikel Arteta (249 matches) could become the fifth fastest manager to reach 150 Premier League wins.
Arsenal will be looking to begin their title defence with a fifth consecutive opening weekend victory. The defending champions face Coventry in the Premier League for the first time since February 2001.
The Gunners are unbeaten in their last 45 home games against newly promoted teams. On top of that, they have won 17 and drawn one of their last 18 home-and-away meetings against promoted sides.
Victory would make this a landmark day for Mikel Arteta. He is chasing his 150th Premier League win from 249 games in charge of Arsenal. If successful, the Spaniard would become the fifth-fastest manager to reach this milestone, behind Pep Guardiola (204 games), Jose Mourinho (231), Jurgen Klopp (237) and Sir Alex Ferguson (247).
Coventry, meanwhile, will be chasing a major upset as they look for their first Premier League victory since April 2001. Only two visiting teams have won on their first league trip to the Emirates: West Ham in 2007 and Hull City in 2008.
Hull City vs Manchester United
- If Manchester United win they will have the most Premier League points in 2026 (44 from 20 matches).
Michael Carrick’s Manchester United will be looking to transfer over their superb form from the second-half of last season into the new campaign. The Red Devils have accumulated 41 points from 19 matches so far in 2026.
No side has accumulated more opening weekend wins than Man United’s 22. While they have never lost any of their 10 Premier League games against Hull City (W8 D2).
Sergej Jakirovic will make history this weekend. The Hull boss will become the first Bosnian to manage in the Premier League – the 28th different nationality. But, none of the last eight ‘new’ nationality managers won their opening game (D3 L5).
READ – Who will be the first Premier League manager to leave?
Nottingham Forest vs Leeds
- Oliver Glasner could become the seventh straight Nottingham Forest manager to lose their opening Premier League game.
It’s been all change once again in the Nottingham Forest dugout. This summer has seen Oliver Glasner become the club’s fifth manager in under a year.
It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for the four different managers who oversaw the trigger-happy club last season. All four lost their opening Premier League game, as did the two Forest managers before them. The last Tricky Trees boss to claim a win in their first Premier League game was Dave Bassett in 1997.
That means Glasner could become the seventh consecutive Nottingham Forest manager to lose his opening Premier League game. On a more positive note, the Austrian has won his first league game at four of his five previous clubs.
Ipswich Town vs Sunderland
- Ipswich could become just the third Premier League club to lose 10+ successive Premier League home games.
Ipswich return to the Premier League hoping to make a much bigger impact than they did in 2024/25, when they were relegated after just one season.
Portman Road proved to be a happy hunting ground for visiting teams last time around. Ipswich failed to collect a single Premier League point in front of their own fans in 2025, losing their final nine home games. They could now join Sunderland and Watford as the only Premier League clubs to lose 10+ successive home games.
The Tractor Boys are now under the management of Gary O’Neil. He will be desperate to end that losing run when they host last season’s surprise package, Sunderland, on Saturday afternoon.
Everton vs Crystal Palace
- Everton could become the first English top-flight club to lose, without scoring, in their opening game for five consecutive seasons.
Everton will be determined to start the season on a bright note. The Toffees suffered a deflating end to 2025/26, when they failed to win any of their last seven games.
The problem is, Everton have been defeated to nil in their first game in each of the last four seasons. No top-flight side has ever done that five years in a row.
On the plus side, Everton have lost only one of their last 23 matches against Saturday’s opponents Crystal Palace. The Eagles head to Merseyside under the tutorship of new boss Pierre Sage. The Frenchman is looking to become only the third Palace manager in the last 17 to win their opening Premier League game.
Brentford vs Tottenham
- Tottenham’s only two goalless draws in their last 158 Premier League games have both come at Brentford.
Tottenham, buoyed by an impressive transfer window, will be determined to start firing at the top end of the table following back-to-back 17th-place finishes.
Tottenham have only drawn 0-0 twice in their last 158 Premier League matches. Both of these stalemates have come away to Brentford.
So, if you’re looking to back a rare Spurs goalless draw, Saturday evening at the Gtech could be the time to do so!
Manchester City vs Bournemouth
- Erling Haaland needs one more goal to draw level with Ian Wright on 113 Premier League goals.
Enzo Maresca’s opening match in charge of Manchester City didn’t exactly go to plan. They got stuffed 3-0 by Arsenal in the Community Shield.
The Italian will hope Erling Haaland and co spring into life for his first Premier League game at home to Bournemouth.
After all, Haaland has scored 112 goals in just 132 Premier League matches. If the Norwegian scores against the Cherries he will draw level with Ian Wright on 113 goals in the all-time list. His next target would then be Steven Gerrard on 120 goals.
READ: Who will win the Golden Boot?
Brighton vs Aston Villa
- Aston Villa are looking to claim their ninth win from their last 11 games against Brighton.
It’s been all change at Aston Villa since their Europa League triumph. Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans have both departed, while Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa have also been linked with moves away.
Villa have brought in the likes of Johan Manzambi, Joao Gomes and Zion Suzuki, while 17-year-old Brian Madjo has generated plenty of buzz.
Unai Emery will hope the new arrivals settle quickly. His Villa side can take confidence from their record against Brighton, having won eight of their last 10 meetings with the Seagulls.
If Brighton lose again, they will have suffered three straight Premier League defeats for the first time since March 2022, under Graham Potter.
Newcastle vs Liverpool
- Newcastle’s miserable recent record in this Premier League fixture could be extended to 20 games without a win.
Newcastle head into the new season without Eddie Howe, Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, and Anthony Gordon. All four – and others – exited during a deflating summer.
In comes new boss Matthias Jaissle – and a number of new faces – who will be hoping to rewrite the script when it comes to Newcastle’s clashes against Liverpool.
The Toon have, alarmingly, failed to win any of their last 19 league meetings (D5 L14) against the Reds dating back to December 2015 when Steve McClaren was in charge.
Fulham vs Chelsea
- Chelsea’s search for a clean sheet could extend to 17 Premier League matches.
West London neighbours Fulham (Alvaro Arbeloa) and Chelsea (Xabi Alonso) both head into the new season with new managers at the helm.
Arbeloa has the tricky task of attempting to continue the fantastic work of Marco Silva at Fulham. Meanwhile, fellow former Real Madrid boss Alonso will attempt to spearhead a new era at the Blues, after becoming their seventh permanent appointment since Frank Lampard first left in 2021.
Alonso will need to sort out a confidence-lacking defence that has failed to keep a clean sheet in an eye-popping 16 successive Premier League matches since 17th January.
We’ll be back on Monday with the Premier League stats that actually happened in Gameweek 1.
