So here we are: less than a month after the 2024-25 Premier League concluded, we have the fixture list for the 2025-26 campaign.
I have already spoken about the excitement and economics that drive English
football’s top-flight and those debates will continue to rage on.
One thing that doesn’t change though, is that, once the fixtures are released, fans up and down the country begin to look at our Premier League 2025 betting odds and wonder what lies in store.
A friend of this SBOTOP scribe was mildly amused when his friend, in his mid-50s, messaged him 10 minutes before the list came out, expressing his disbelief he was, and I quote, “trembling with excitement.”
I knew what he meant and now we await to see who our club signs, who we let go and ponder about the level of Premier League 2025 highlights to come.
What has the fixtures’ computer thrown up for the opening weekend in August?
Well, second-tier champions Leeds begin at home to Everton. At the same time, play-off drama kings Sunderland host West Ham – matches that fall into the “might be handy to win this category”, even if it’s literally the first game of the season. As for the other newly promoted club, Burnley, they go to Thomas Frank’s Tottenham.
Scott Parker’s transformation of the Clarets was one of last season’s most intriguing tales. Having gone down with 78 goals (2.05 per game) conceded under Vincent Kompany (who was rewarded with the Bayern Munich job), they turned to Parker, a manager not widely regarded as a catenaccio master. The Clarets were instantly transformed into one of Europe’s best defensive sides, letting in 16 goals in 46 games (0.35 per game).
As mentioned on these pages a few times, there is a growing chasm of resources and opportunity between England’s top two divisions, and this will be the real test for the promoted trio.
The opening weekend has thrown up an obvious blockbuster. For almost a decade, Manchester United and Arsenal went toe-to-toe as the country’s greatest teams, and they will lock horns at Old Trafford on Sunday, August 17.
Despite some new top-flight rivalries in the ensuing years, nothing has been able to match the level of tribal warfare that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger’s charges produced. The fact United go into next season on the back of their worst season for half a century still can’t mask the magnitude of the fixture, while the Gunners – without a title since 2004 – are hoping to be fourth time lucky after three successive seasons as runners-up.
The clash marks a pretty tough start for the Red Devils up to and immediately after the October international break, and there will be no hiding place for manager Rubem Amorim, who has to hit the ground running after a poor first six months in charge.
The other big game of the opening weekend will see Aston Villa host Newcastle, the side that pipped them to Champions League qualification by the narrowest of margins on the final day of last season.
Of the other early contests to look out for, Everton’s first Premier League match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium comes against Brighton the following weekend.
As things stand, two decisions disappoint me. There are no fixtures scheduled for Boxing Day, with the first round of top-flight games following Christmas Day falling on December 27.
Yet again, this is another part of the tradition of the English game which authorities appear to have little understanding or appreciation of.
The Premier League has explained that this decision is in keeping with its “commitment to providing a greater rest period over the Christmas and New Year period” and that some games could still be moved to Boxing Day for “live broadcast.” Let’s hope so.
In addition, and in another decision which shows little respect for tradition or the dedicated followers up and down the country, fans have been warned that fixtures could be moved at “relatively short notice” because of the number of teams playing in Europe.
A record nine top-flight clubs have qualified for European competitions and the League says there is an “increased likelihood” games will be rescheduled if English teams reach the latter stages.
Either way, those scenarios can be accommodated much earlier with proper planning between the League and the television companies that pay an exorbitant amount for broadcasting rights.
By scheduling their opening game for a Friday night on Merseyside, the Premier League has shown disdain for Bournemouth fans who have to travel from one end of the country to the other just to watch their team live.
The release of the football fixtures may fuel fanaticism all over again but, at times, the fans appear an afterthought.
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