The wait is over for Premier League fans, with the 2025/26 fixtures now released.
All eyes will be on a fast start when the opening match round starts on Friday 15 August 2025.
But when it comes to setting the tone, history tells us there are certain clubs you really want to avoid on the first weekend of the new season.
Man Utd strong starters
Despite a challenging few campaigns, Manchester United are historically the opening-weekend specialists - and that spells bad news for Arsenal, who head to Old Trafford on Sunday 17 August.
United have the best points-per-game record of any team who have played more than one Matchweek 1 fixture.
The Red Devils have won the most opening-day matches, with 22 victories - a 66.7 per cent success rate - and have lost only seven MW1 fixtures.
While two of those defeats have come in the last five seasons, they kicked off the 2024/25 Premier League season with a 1-0 home victory over Fulham.
Best MW1 records of 25/26 PL clubs
| Team | P | W | D | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MUN | 33 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 66.7 |
| BHA | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 62.5 |
| CHE | 33 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 60.6 |
| ARS | 33 | 19 | 6 | 8 | 57.6 |
| LIV | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 57.6 |
| MCI | 28 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 57.1 |
| NFO | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 50.0 |
| LEE | 15 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 40.0 |
| TOT | 33 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 39.4 |
Brighton & Hove Albion's 3-0 success at Everton last season pushed the Seagulls into second place, boasting five wins from eight matches, with Chelsea the next-best when it comes to strong starts, winning 20 of their 33 matches with a 60.6 per cent opening-day record.
The Seagulls host Fulham on Saturday 16 August in their opening match of the 2025/26 campaign, while Chelsea face FA Cup winners Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge the following day.
But in recent years, no clubs gets close to near-perfect Manchester City, who have won 13 out of their last 14 opening-weekend matches.
Pep Guardiola's new-look City side will aim to extend that run when they visit Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 16 August in the 17:30 BST kick off.
Champions' flying starts
AFC Bournemouth will have their work cut out when they face 2024/25 champions Liverpool in the opening match of the new season on Friday 15 August.
Even though the Reds only have a 57.6 per cent win-rate in MW1, history tells us that champions rarely slip up at the first hurdle.
Champions on opening weekend
| P | W | D | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 83.3 |
The Premier League winners usually start the next season with three points and in the last seven campaigns, only once have they failed to record a victory.
That came when Man City suffered a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in 2021/22.
Prior to that, the last such occasion of the champions being beaten came in 2017 when Chelsea suffered a nightmare start to their Premier League title defence, having two players sent off in a 3-2 loss to Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
In fact, the reigning champions have failed to win only seven times when kicking off the new campaign.
Of course, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has a perfect opening-day record after winning his first match in charge 2-0 at Ipswich Town last August, while Brighton's Fabian Hurzeler also got off to a great start last season, a 3-0 victory at Everton.
But with almost a 90 per cent success rate, Guardiola tops the rankings with eight wins from nine on the season's first day for Man City.
2025/26 managers with best win-rates for MW1*
| Manager | P | W | D | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pep Guardiola | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 88.9 |
| Mikel Arteta | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 80.0 |
| Graham Potter | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75.0 |
| Eddie Howe | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 50.0 |
| Thomas Frank | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Unai Emery | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 50.0 |
*Minimum three matches
Arsenal's Mikel Arteta is the next most successful, followed by West Ham United head coach Graham Potter and his impressive three wins from four.
Nottingham Forest's Nuno Espirito Santo is yet to lose any of his five MW1 fixtures, and could make it six with victory at home to Brentford in their opening fixture, while the Bees' former head coach Thomas Frank is also undefeated, a stat that bodes well for his new club Tottenham Hotspur, who host newly-promoted Burnley.
Aston Villa's Unai Emery and Newcastle United's Eddie Howe, who both boast a 50 per cent win rate in MW1, will meet in the 12:30 BST kick off on Saturday 16 August at Villa Park.
Encouragement for promoted trio
All three promoted clubs - Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland - boast a healthy opening-weekend record in the Premier League.
Between them, they have won 12 times in MW1, almost double the total achieved by Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton, the sides who won promotion the previous year.
Leeds, who finished top of the 2024/25 Championship, have won six of their 15 opening-weekend matches and host Everton on Monday 18 August, while playoff winners Sunderland, have won four and drawn six of their 16, face West Ham at the Stadium of Light on the Saturday.
Scott Parker's Burnley face a tricky test at Spurs as they look to improve on their success rate of 22.2 per cent.
If all the promoted teams do win on the opening weekend of the 2025/26 Premier League season, it will be the first time this has happened.
Best players on opening weekend
There are some players who tend to love MW1, too - and none more so than Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian has scored in seven of his eight season openers, a Premier League record, and no other player has netted in more than four successive MW1 fixtures.
Salah has nine goals in total in the first round of fixtures, and last year's strike at Ipswich took him ahead of Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney.
Should Jamie Vardy continue his career in the Premier League, he could match Salah after scoring his eighth opening-weekend goal for Leicester City at home to Spurs last season.
Most MW1 goals
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Mohamed Salah | 9 |
| Alan Shearer | 8 |
| Wayne Rooney | 8 |
| Frank Lampard | 8 |
| Jamie Vardy | 8 |
| Teddy Sheringham | 7 |
| Sergio Aguero | 7 |
| Louis Saha | 6 |
| Didier Drogba | 6 |
Milner to maintain amazing run?
While there will be several new faces experiencing Premier League action for the first time in MW1, James Milner will be aiming to appear in an opening-weekend fixture for the 17th occasion when Brighton face Fulham.
The Seagulls midfielder has currently played in 16 such matches, going level with Jermain Defoe, Phil Neville, and Ryan Giggs after playing 82 minutes of Brighton's 3-0 success at Everton last August.
Milner, 39, is one appearance off Paul Scholes' total of 17 and two behind the leader, Frank Lampard.
Indeed, Milner now needs to play in only 16 more Premier League matches to overtake Gareth Barry's competition record of 653 appearances.
Most MW1 appearances
| Player | Apps |
|---|---|
| Frank Lampard | 18 |
| Paul Scholes | 17 |
| James Milner | 16 |
| Jermain Defoe | 16 |
| Ryan Giggs | 16 |
| Phil Neville | 16 |
| Gareth Barry | 15 |
| Jamie Carragher | 15 |
| Wayne Rooney | 15 |
Also on 2025/26 fixtures
