Arsenal begin dia title defence as Premier League start dis weekend - oda tins you gatz sabi for di new season

Di new Premier League season go start on Friday, 21 August 2026 wit di title holders Arsenal.

Dem go jam wit Frank Lampard im promoted team Coventry City for di Emirates Stadium.

Dis na di opener for di 2026-27 season bifor oda teams like Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs and odas go jam on Saturday 22 August till Monday 24 August.

Teams wey neva finish dia preparations bin dey put finishing touches, dose wey still get players to sign, continue to dey pursue dose players bifor di transfer window go close by 1 September.

Already many teams don sign new players to improve dia squad, odas don replace players wey comot di club for di off-season.

Arsenal already sama Manchester City 3-0 to win di Community Shield, dat game na one of di most one-sided games between di two teams as City no create any proper threat for di whole game.

Dia new coach Enzo Maresca already begin im new job afta Pep Guardiola don comot di club, wit ogbonge defeat.

Critics bin dey worry say di Italian manager no fit fill di shoes of Pep for di club, di first game wit Arsenal already make City fans dey shake.

But Maresca say di team go learn from di Arsenal defeat and prepare for di season ahead, even as City lose players like Rodri, Nathan Ake, Tijan Reijnders, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and James Trafford.

Match day one full fixture schedule

Dis na di full fixtures for di first match-day weekend for di new season

Friday, 21 August 2026

20:00 Arsenal vs Coventry City

Saturday, 22 August 2026

12:30 Hull City vs Manchester United

14:00 Everton vs Crystal Palace

14:00 Ipswich Town vs Sunderland

14:00 Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United

17:30 Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur

Sunday, 23 August

14:00 Brighton & Hove Albion vs Aston Villa

14:00 Manchester City vs AFC Bournemouth

16:30 Newcastle United vs Liverpool

Monday, 24 August

20:00 Fulham vs Chelsea

Arsenal fit defend dia title?

Di Gunners bin end dia 22-year wait for di Premier League last season wen dem win di title wit 85 points, seven points more dan Manchester City wey bin pursue dem for di final 10 games.

Mikel Arteta im team also reach di Champions League final wey dem lose to Paris Saint Germain.

Di London club now sign players wey go improve dia team ahead of di new season.

Dem sign Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle and Greek winger Christo Tzolis from Club Brugge.

Arsenal also dey on di verge of signing Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa as William Saliba dey injured for many months.

"Wen I look di players for eye, I dey see di fire, di desire and di will to do beta evri day. Na dat be di only tin I dey care about," Mikel Arteta tok Sky Sports ahead of dia season opener.

For di last 20 years, only three teams wey win di Community Shield bin go ahead to win di league for di season.

Arsenal dey under pressure to become di fourth team to win di league afta dem win di Community Shield.

Beyond di Premier League, Arteta also put eye for di Champions League – last two seasons, dem bin reach di semifinals wey dem play for di finals last season.

Fans and players go now hope say di London club fit go one step further to win di UCL for di first time for dia history.

Di top teams dey ready for di new season wit new coaches and fresh signings

Manchester United don sign some new players – afta dem confam Michael Carrick as permanent coach for di new season.

Di Red Devils don sign Brazilian Andrey Santos from Chelsea, Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa wey Marcus Rashford don return to di club from im loan spell for Barcelona.

Dem also sign Leeds United keeper Karl Darlow to become deputy to Senne Lammens wey dem confam as dia first team keeper.

Di club dey hope to sign anoda midfielder bifor di transfer window go close to position diasef to fight for trophies dis season.

Chelsea bin sign new coach – Xabi Alonso, wey dem sign as many as 12 players.

Four players don comot di team – Andrey Santos, Marc Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah and Tyrique George.

But di club sign players like Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace), Marco Palestra (Atalanta), Geovany Quenda (Sporting CP), Valentin Barco (Strasbourg).

Dem also sign Danny Welbeck (Brighton), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Pep Chavarria (Rayo) among odas.

Some players fit comot di club on loan dis season but Alonso dey hope to challenge for domestic titles since dem fail to qualify for European competitions dis season.

Liverpool select new coach to replace Arne Slot for di new season- Andoni Iraola dey take ova di club afta dia trophyless 2025/26 season even though dem bin sign ogbonge players like Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremy Frimpong and Alexander Isak.

Di club decide to sign Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo on loan and left winger Victor Munoz from Osasuna afta club legend Mohammed Salah bin comot di club afta nine years; Defender Konate also bin join Real Madrid for free transfer.

Iraola go hope say im team fit challenge for titles again, as to how many titles dem fit win, na time go tell.

Tottenham Hotspurs bin survive relegation last season - Di club bin hire Roberto De Zerbi to lead di club to survival, wey dem finish 17th for di table.

Management of di club don decide say dis season dem go spend money to sign ogbonge players to fight for titles.

Di club don lose dia captain Christian Romero to Atletico Madrid and Djed Spence to Inter Milan bifor dem loan keeper Guglielmo Vicario to Juventus.

Dem now sign midfielder Sandro Tonali from Newcastle, Mateus Fernandes from West Ham and defender Marcos Senesi from Bournemouth.

Spurs also confam signing of Jan Paul Van Hecke from Brighton, Andy Robertson from Liverpool and Martin Dubravka from Burnley.

Di club still bin dey try to sign more players wey include Savinho, Omar Marmoush and Cody Gakpo.

Longest-serving coaches for dis season

Di Premier League don dey see new coaches evri season.

Clubs bin dey fire dose wey no perform well, to hire odas wey dem tink say dem go do beta job.

Some of di coaches no dey last di whole season sef – some dey chop sack afta months if results no dey come.

But for di new season at least five coaches don dey coach dia teams for at least two years, wey di odas bin dey in charge for less dan two years.

Dis na di list of longest-serving managers as at 19 August 2026

New rules for di new season

Football authorities bin introduce new rules wey dem use for di 2026 Fifa World Cup.

Some of dose rules go dey active for di new Premier League season.

Five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal kicks – Di referee go use di five-second countdown wen players suppose throw di ball or keeper gatz take goal kick.

If any player or di keeper delay di kick or throw-in, di ref go award corner kick to di opponent and throw-in for di oda team.

Dis na to check time-wasting.

Handling di ball inside di area – Last season, Gabriel bin touch di ball wit hand against Bayern Munich afta goalkeeper David Raya bin kick di ball give am from goal kick.

For di 2024 season, Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings bin concede penalty wen im touch di ball afta goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez bin kick di ball give am.

For di new season, di ref go judge any kick from di keeper or defender na so any touch by defender wit dia hand, go dey awarded as penalty or indirect freekick if di keeper use hand to touch di ball from im own player back pass.

10-second limit for substitutions - Players wey bin dey comot di game gatz comot within 10 seconds. If player no comot wey di 10 seconds don pass, di substitute player no fit enta di park until di first stoppage afta one minute don pass.

Dis rule na for players to hurry and comot di park to avoid wasting time.

Goalkeeper tactical timeout - For dis season authorities bin dey try dis rule to see how e go work. If goalkeeper dey hurt wey di ref don stop di game, di coach gatz select one outfield player to comot di park immediately.

Dat player go dey off di park for at least one minute afta di game don restart.

Authorities bin dey use dis rule to deal wit cases wia dem dey use goalkeeper injury to scata momentum or slow down di game or create chance for tactical instruction to some players.

VAR go check second yellow card – VAR go fit review situation wia di ref don give second yellow card to player wey end up for red card. But dis na only wen di second yellow card be wrong. VAR no fit review potential second booking for players wey already get yellow card.