The 2026/27 season will kick off this week with Arsenal playing against newly promoted side, Coventry City in London.
At Emirates Stadium, Arsenal will welcome Frank Lampard’s Coventry City, Championship 2025/26 Winners, for the Premier League 2026/27 on Friday 21 August, 2026 at 20:00 (WAT).
The showdown against the Gunners will be Coventry City’s first top flight game since 2001, they dropped as far as League Two by 2017, but, fought back through the Football League and last season, former Chelsea manager, Lampard, guided back to the Premier League.
So, what changed in the Premier League?
The New Clubs
Three new entrants into the Premier League, England’s top tier Football League System. They are Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City.
The Sky Blues finished top of Championship 2025/26, Ipswich Town finished runners-up to grab the second automatic promotion spot. Manager Kieran McKenna, who guided the Tractors Boys left his managerial position at the conclusion of the season.
The position of manager of Ipswich Town has been taken by Gary O’Neill.
And, Hull City carted the third promotion spot after emerging victorious in the Championship play-off final, big thanks to Ollie McBurnie’s 95th-minute goal, beating Middlesbrough by a lone goal.
Managed by Coach Sergej Jakirovic from Bosnia, the Tigers have found their way back to the Premier League for the first time since 2017. Hull City will open their Premier League campaign with a game against Michael Carrick’s Manchester United on Saturday 22 August, 2026 at MKM Stadium in Kingston.
New Managers
As the new season kicks off on Friday night, a whopping nine (9) managers are ready to get their incumbency up and running.
After Spanish manager, Pep Guardiola, parted ways with Manchester City after a decade with the Blues, Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has now become the longest-serving manager in the English top four tiers.
Former Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, has taken over managerial duties at Etihad Stadium.
Also, Liverpool former players, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa, have returned to the Premier League, this time as managers; Alonso and Arbeloa take over at Chelsea and Fulham respectively. Both served as managers at Real Madrid, who finished behind Hansi Flick’s Barcelona in the La Liga 2025/26.
Andoni Iraola, Spanish manager, left AFC Bournemouth and moved to Liverpool, with Marco Rose replacing him at Vitality Stadium.
German Matthias Jaissle takes over at Newcastle United after English manager, Eddie Howe, left, while Oliver Glasner ended his relationship with Crystal Palace for Nottingham Forest.
The Eagles went for Pierre Sage, former Manager of French Ligue 1 side, Lens, while, O’Neill takes the head coach role at Ipswich Town.
Rules
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that supervises the laws of the game, has made some rule changes that will be apparent in the Premier League.
According to arsenal.com, the changes include:
To reduce time-wasting, when a physio treats an injured player, they will now be required to leave the pitch for at least one minute, up from 30 seconds
Teams will have five seconds to take throw-ins (except long throws) and goal-kicks if they’re spotted to be dallying, and if the time limit is exceeded, a throw-in will be given to the opposing team, or a corner awarded at a goal-kick.
A 10-second time limit will also be imposed for players being subbed off, which, if exceeded, means the substitute cannot enter until the first stoppage after one minute has elapsed.
VAR can now be used to check the decision leading to a player receiving a second yellow card, but won’t check for incorrectly awarded corners
Refereeing
Decisions by match officials are now expected to be more transparent in the new season, with the full judgements made by the Key Match Incidents Panel shared with supporters for the first time.
