Premier League fixtures out on Wednesday morning

On Wednesday, Liverpool find out who they will begin their Premier League title defence against

The 2025-26 Premier League fixtures are being released on Wednesday - and you can read them on the BBC Sport website and app as soon as they are announced.

It is less than a month since Liverpool lifted the trophy on the last day of the 2024-25 campaign, and the release of the fixtures marks the beginning of the countdown to a new season.

Arne Slot's side will discover who they begin their title defence against as the Reds bid for a third league title in six years.

Sunderland are back in the top flight for the first time since 2016-17 after earning promotion through the play-offs, while Championship winners Leeds return after a two-year absence.

Burnley were promoted at the first time of asking and are back for a ninth season in the Premier League.

When will the Premier League 2025-26 fixtures be released?

All 380 fixtures will be released at 09:00 BST on Wednesday, 18 June.

Fans will be able to see who their side face to start the 2025-26 Premier League season, how the festive schedule looks and who they have to contend with during a potentially crucial run-in.

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Simply choose a team from the list here. If you are using the BBC Sport app, follow your team to add them to MySport and select the bell icon to sign up for your club's notifications, including news, goals and results.

When does the Premier League season start?

The opening day of the 2025-26 season is Saturday, 16 August - by which time 83 days will have passed since there was last any Premier League action.

In previous years, the curtain-raiser has been moved to the Friday night.

Regardless of when the first match is played, no doubt hope and optimism will be in the air as supporters of all 20 clubs dream of what might be in the months to come.

The exact date and time at which individual matches are played during each weekend will be determined at regular intervals throughout the season, based on TV selections made by broadcasters.

In total, the campaign will consist of 33 weekends and five midweek rounds of fixtures.

It all concludes with the final round of fixtures on Sunday, 24 May 2026.

Who is in the Premier League next season?

After three consecutive second-place finishes, Arsenal will be among the sides hoping to dethrone Liverpool.

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City will also be aiming to put themselves back in the title picture after a rare trophyless season.

Newcastle and Tottenham ended their trophy droughts in 2025 and both are back in the Champions League, as are Chelsea, and all will hope their squads are up to the challenge of competing on multiple fronts.

The same goes for Europa League qualifiers Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, as well as Nottingham Forest, who are in the Conference League.

A dismal campaign in 2024-25 means Manchester United have not qualified for Europe, so Ruben Amorim will hope the extra time on the training ground proves beneficial.

After all three promoted sides went straight back down last year, newly promoted trio Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland will be doing all they can to avoid the same fate.

Meanwhile, Everton may be an ever-present in the top flight during the Premier League era but, after bidding farewell to Goodison Park in May, this will be their first season at the new 52,888-capacity Hill Dickinson Stadium.

A season between World Cups

An increasingly hectic football calendar means this season is bookended by a pair of World Cups - the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup this summer, and the more familiar international tournament in 2026.

As ever, keeping players fit will be crucial for managers across the league and with nine Premier League clubs competing in Europe as well this year, for almost half of them, that will be even more tricky.

"The start date of 16 August allows for the maximum player rest time available - 83 clear days - from the end of the 2024-25 season," the Premier League said.

"The season end date of 24 May 2026 ensures the Premier League season finishes ahead of the Fifa 2026 World Cup call-up period."

But not all clubs will get those 83 clear days.

Should Manchester City or Chelsea reach the Club World Cup final, they could be faced with playing the first game of the 2025-26 season just 34 days after ending the 2024-25 one.

There should at least be some respite over Christmas and new year with the schedule ensuring no two rounds of fixtures take place within 60 hours of each other - and no matches on Christmas Eve.