Liverpool starts Premier League title defense against Bournemouth while Man U hosts Arsenal
Liverpool players celebrate with the winner's trophy after the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
LONDON (AP) — Liverpool will begin its latest Premier League title defense at home to Bournemouth on Aug. 15, while Manchester United will host Arsenal in the opening round of next season.
The Premier League released its fixture schedule for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday, giving teams and their fans a chance to start planning less than a month since the last campaign finished.
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Liverpool will be bidding for a third league championship in six years, likely with Florian Wirtz in its squad, and will play the first match of the season in a Friday night start at Anfield against a Bournemouth team that finished in ninth place.
It's quite a tough beginning for Arne Slot's champions, with a trip to Newcastle in the second round followed by a home match against Arsenal — another team in the Champions League — a week later.
Arsenal, which finished second for a third straight year last season, heads to Old Trafford for its first game and will play Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle in its opening six matches.
Everton bade farewell to its long-time home at Goodison Park at the end of last season and the first game in its state-of-the-art, 53,000-capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will be against Brighton on Aug. 23.
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Thomas Frank 's first Premier League game in charge of Tottenham will be at home to promoted Burnley on Aug 16. That comes three days after Frank's competitive debut with Tottenham, the Europa League champion, against Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup.
Sunderland's first Premier League game since the 2016-17 season is at home to West Ham, while Leeds hosts Everton first after returning to the top flight following a two-year absence.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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