When does the Premier League start? | Key dates for the 2025/26 Season

Jonathan Victoria • 06 Aug 2025 Features

Happy fixture release day!

A brand new Premier League season is almost upon us and we can’t wait!

The 2024/25 campaign may not have been the absolute most exciting, but this year is promising to be thrilling in every area of the table.

With the start of the new season coming up quickly, we’re starting our flurry of Premier League content by looking at when it all gets underway, plus the key dates for the season ahead.

When does the Premier League start?

The first Premier League game will be held as usual on a Friday, specifically Friday 15th August, with reigning champions Liverpool taking on consistent tricky customers Bournemouth at Anfield.

Also as standard, the season will run for nine months from that first Friday until the final round of games, which will be played on Sunday 24th May 2026.

Week 1 matchups

That Friday will kick things off for the year, with the rest of the weekend playing out like a normal Premier League weekend, with one early kick-off on Saturday, followed by three 3pm games (fitting, right?), rounded off with a late kick-off that day.

Super Sunday will feature three games – two at 2pm and one at 4:30pm – while the remaining fixture of Matchday 1 will be played that Monday night.

Here is the full list of fixtures for matchday 1:

Friday 15th August

• Liverpool vs Bournemouth, Anfield – 8pm on Sky Sports

Saturday 16th August

• Aston Villa vs Newcastle United – 12:30pm on TNT Sports
• Brighton vs Fulham, The Amex – 3pm
• Sunderland vs West Ham, Stadium of Light – 3pm
• Tottenham Hotspur vs Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – 3pm
• Wolves vs Manchester City, Molineux Stadium – 5:30pm on Sky Sports

Sunday 17th August

• Chelsea vs Crystal Palace, Stamford Bridge – 2pm on Sky Sports
• Nottingham Forest vs Brentford, City Ground – 2pm on Sky Sports
• Manchester United vs Arsenal, Old Trafford – 4:30pm on Sky Sports

Monday 18th August

• Leeds United vs Everton, Elland Road – 8pm on Sky Sports

As always, the 3pm fixtures each Saturday for every matchday during the season will not be shown live in the UK.

Thankfully, the best games of the weekend have been saved for TV, with our pick of the week for the first time of the season being Manchester United vs Arsenal. 

United are a far cry from the powerhouse they were 15 years ago but every year presents a new opportunity for improvement, and a victory against the runners-up for the last three years would be the perfect starting point.

That may be asking a lot though, as Man United have the hardest start to the league according to Opta Analyst’s statistics, ranking the Red Devils at the top for fixture difficulty for the first five games with an opponent average rating of 94.6.

The easiest start comes for Aston Villa, who has a 90.9 opponent average rating, which is still rather high considering that last year, the team with the hardest start was Brentford with a 89.6.

Key games in the year

Credit: The Manchester Derby's GREATEST goals featuring Beckham, Aguero & more! (Sky Sports Premier League, YouTube)

Throughout the year, there will be games that have elevated importance, be that a title contenders clash or a storied rivalry.

Manchester Derby

One of the most famous derbies in the world. While City has been in another class to United for the last few seasons, they do often produce interesting clashes, and this year should be no different.

• Man City vs Man United, Etihad Stadium – Sunday 14th September 2025
• Man United vs Man City, Old Trafford – Saturday 17th January 2026

North London Derby

Arguably London’s biggest rivalry, the North London enemies Arsenal and Tottenham are no stranger to a fierce duel in this matchup.

Spurs’ league campaign last year was one of their worst in history, but they were still able to find victory in Europe as they claimed their first major trophy for some time with the Europa League title.

They will be hoping for more in the league this season with Thomas Frank now at the helm, while Arsenal will be aiming to go one better than the last three seasons and finally lift the title once more.

• Arsenal vs Tottenham, Emirates Stadium – Saturday 22nd November 2025
• Tottenham vs Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – Saturday 21st February 2026

Merseyside Derby

Everton will be welcoming their biggest rivalry to their new home this season, with the Hill Dickinson Stadium now ready for operation.

The final game at Goodison Park last season ended up as a fairytale ending, the Toffees’ captain scoring a stunning dying moments equaliser to send the home fans into an ecstatic uproar.

• Liverpool vs Everton, Anfield – Saturday 20th September 2025
• Everton vs Liverpool, Hill Dickinson Stadium – Saturday 18th April 2026

Manchester United vs Liverpool

The neighbouring cities of Manchester and Liverpool have harboured a strong rivalry with their two historically main teams.

Man United and Liverpool are two of England's most successful clubs of all time, and their rivalry runs deeper than many others.

• Liverpool vs Manchester United, Anfield – Saturday 18th October 2025
• Manchester United vs Liverpool, Old Trafford – Saturday 2nd May 2026

Tyne-Wear Derby

For the first time in the Premier League since 2016, Newcastle and Sunderland will meet to add two new chapters to their historic Tyne-Wear Derby.

Back then, both were bottom half sides who were tricky customers on their day but weren’t challenging for Europe. Now, one has spent years building to get back to the top while the other is aiming to establish themselves as a legitimate top four side. 

Their matchups may have the added derby day flair, but in terms of competitiveness, it may not be the closest game…

• Sunderland vs Newcastle, Stadium of Light – Saturday 13th December 2025
• Newcastle vs Sunderland, St James’ Park – Saturday 21st March 2026

Transfer window dates

The transfer windows are the most exciting time of the year for news. Keeping up with Fabrizio Romano and seeing what rumours are swirling about your team is a massive part of the fun!

The summer transfer window is currently open and has been since Monday 16th June. It will then close on Monday 1st September at 7pm BST.

The winter window will then come as standard during January, officially beginning Thursday 1st January 2026 and ending on Monday 2nd February 2026. Official opening and closing times are yet to be confirmed.

International breaks

There will be several Internationals breaks throughout the season to break it up, with the first coming at the start of September, shortly after the season has just started (major buzzkill).

International breaks may not be fun, but this time around there may be a bit more excitement to them considering the major tournament that will be coming next summer – the 2026 World Cup.

The International breaks, therefore, will be competitive matches as they will be World Cup qualifiers, with the potential exception of the fixtures in March which may either be friendlies or qualifying playoffs, depending on where England (or whoever your team may be) finishes in the group.

The qualifying stage has already gotten underway, Three Lions currently going perfect with three wins from three games, six goals scored and none conceded. They’ll aim to keep that up and stroll into the tournament next year.

Back to the main matter, here are the dates for the International breaks during the season:

• 1st-9th September 2025
• 9th-14th October 2025
• 13th-18th November 2025
• 26th-31st March 2025

Will there be a winter break?

To accommodate for the mid-August start, there is no winter break scheduled for the upcoming season.

Once again after being introduced last season, the clubs have been assured that they will not play twice in less than 60 hours over the course of the Christmas and New Year period, which is notoriously known for its busy schedule due to league games, Carabao Cup and FA Cup fixtures.

FA Cup dates

Speaking of the FA Cup, the third round, the stage which all the Premier League clubs are introduced in, will take place on the weekend of Saturday 10th January 2026.

Premier League on Sky Sports

Sky Sports have retained the rights to show the majority of games this season – in fact, they haven’t only retained the rights but have expanded their coverage, going from 128 games to 215 games shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League.

This includes all Friday and Monday night fixtures, as well as the 5:30pm kick-offs on Saturdays, and Super Sunday (two fixtures every Sunday, 2pm & 4:30pm).

If you’re not already a Sky customer and want to enjoy the Premier League this season without having to always be going down to your local pub, you’ll need to get Sky Sports for your TV at home.

There are multiple options for you to choose from so you can enjoy the services that Sky has to offer.

With any Sky Sports package, you won’t just get Premier League football, but all Sky Sports channels, which includes a total of 12 channels and features exclusive sports such as Formula 1, PGA Tour golf, ATP & WTA Tour tennis and more.

Premier League on TNT Sports

Sky Sports isn’t the only provider to be showing games this season. TNT Sport is the only channel that will show the early kick-off games on Saturdays, plus they’ll have some midweek games at points throughout the campaign.

You can check out the TNT Sports packages we have available, or TNT Sport can be added to your Sky Sports package if you are looking to customise it.