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Premier League 2025-26: 10 Matches To Kickstart The Season
From promoted sides finding their footing to top-four hopefuls squaring off early, <strong>Karan Pradhan</strong> picks out the most intriguing moments in the season’s opening act.
Team OTTplay
Aug 15, 2025
Let the games begin!
AFTER WHAT FELT LIKE a near-interminable break between seasons, Premier League football returns this Friday. And you can catch all 380 matches of the 2025-26 edition of the league live and exclusive on JioHotStar with your OTTpay Premium subscription, starting with the season opener Liverpool FC vs AFC Bournemouth on Friday night (Saturday, 12:30 am IST).
SETTING THE STAGE
Before a single ball has been kicked, all the buzz surrounding one of Europe’s (and indeed the world’s) most elite football leagues is about the money spent this summer. Despite clubs being at different points in their respective growth trajectories, this was the season a number of them decided to splash out in the market. With an overall outlay of close to £2 billion ($2.7 billion) so far, a number of clubs have been on a tireless quest to secure the best players on the planet.
Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have spent over (comfortably in the case of the Merseyside club) or around £200 million each on assembling their own galacticos. Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike (both Liverpool), Benjamin Šeško, Matheus Cunha and Brian Mbeumo (all Manchester United), and Viktor Gyökores (Arsenal) have been among the biggest acquisitions in this summer transfer window.
For clubs without wealthy owners or sovereign wealth funds, however, this ‘Summer of Splurge’ has further exposed the gulf between the Premier League’s haves and have-nots. To put that into perspective, the so-called Top 6 of the division have spent close to one-and-a-half times the amount of cash as the other 14 teams in the league.
The 25/26 season sees Burnley FC and Leeds United return to the top flight after a year and two years respectively in the second tier of English football. Meanwhile, one-time Premier League regulars Sunderland AFC make their triumphant return to the division after eight years. The club’s time away from the Premier League saw them drop as low as seventh place in the third tier (Division One) at their nadir. But that’s all in the past now, with the Black Cats back in the big time, and raring to prove they belong there.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
With all the money spent in the transfer window, nearly all the clubs will be looking to show off their shiny new players in the opening weekend of the season.
Liverpool vs Bournemouth (August 16, 12:30 am)
And first up will be reigning champions Liverpool. Their ongoing ‘will they-won’t they’ with Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak notwithstanding, the Swede is unlikely to be part of the Reds’ setup in time for this game. And while Liverpool have been strengthening their squad, Bournemouth have watched their formidable defences gutted, with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Everton, Burnley and Liverpool buying up key defenders and a goalkeeper. Despite this obvious setback, Cherries manager Andoni Iraola will back his side (that finished ninth in the league last season) to put up a fight.
Aston Villa vs Newcastle (August 16, 5:00 pm)
Ivorian international Evann Guessand’s arrival is the biggest at Aston Villa thus far and the striker will be keen to hit the ground running. For the Midlands club, it’s been a fairly quiet transfer window, in which they’ve bid farewell to last season’s high-profile loanees (Marcus Rashford and Ascencio) but not lost any major players. Opponents Newcastle have had a far more tumultuous time over the past couple of months despite signing winger Anthony Elanga, defender Malick Thiaw and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. Not only have a number of key transfer targets not panned out, but their talismanic striker Isak appears to be on strike. Rough times ahead for manager Eddie Howe and Co. Villa will be eager to capitalise on this unsettled mood in the Newcastle camp.
Brighton vs Fulham (August 16, 7:30 pm)
Having bid goodbye to key players Joao Pedro, Simon Adingra and Pervis Estupiñán, Brighton and Hove Albion (despite a handful of incomings) appear on paper as slightly weaker than they were last season when they finished eighth. Under Fabian Hürzeler (who, last year, at 31 became the youngest-ever Premier League manager), however, the Seagulls have consistently punched above their weight and will look to do more of the same this time around. Fulham, on the other hand, have retained a majority of the side that saw the West London club finish in 11th place. Under the stewardship of Marco Silva for the past four seasons, the Cottagers have demonstrated a great deal of stability, which should serve them well in the coming campaign.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Burnley (August 16, 7:30 pm)
Sacking Ange Postecoglou days after the manager ended Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought wasn’t the greatest start to the North London club’s break between seasons. However, the appointment of Brentford FC’s longtime manager Thomas Frank soon after, felt like a masterstroke by the club. The addition of Mohammed Kudus and João Palhinha to the squad is set to strengthen the side. But, the departure of Son Heung-min and longterm injury to James Maddison has left them a little light in attack. Burnley FC have been particularly busy in the transfer window, snapping up some tidy deals including a trio of Chelsea players. After an abysmal run in the 23-24 season that saw the Clarets pick up a measly 24 points (with only five wins), they’ll be looking to improve massively on that figure and pull off some big upsets along the way. And what better place to start than White Hart Lane?
Sunderland vs West Ham (August 16, 7:30 pm)
The other newly-promoted team to feature on Saturday afternoon (evening IST) is Sunderland, who welcome Premier League football to the Stadium of Light for the first time in eight seasons. The Black Cats have been busy in the transfer market, filling their squad with a mix of youth and experience (primarily veteran midfielder Granit Xhaka). West Ham have made some key additions to their squad, however have haemorrhaged experienced campaigners in this particular window. That said, the absence of Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell, Danny Ings, Michail Antonio and others could be a blessing in disguise, as it allows manager Graham Potter to build his own team shorn of players from earlier eras. As it stands though, this is a great opportunity for Sunderland to notch up three points.
Wolves vs Manchester City (August 16, 10 pm)
Saturday night’s final fixture sees Rayan Aït-Nouri make an extremely swift return to his former hunting ground, having departed Wolves for Manchester City in the summer. Alongside him, Matheus Cunha, Nélson Semedo and Pablo Sarabia among others also made their respective exits from the Molineux. Wolves have recruited a variety of players to replace their outgoings, but it’s going to be a tough season for them with virtually every other team not just replacing players, but adding to their squads. Take opponents City for example. Aside from Aït-Nouri, the former treble-winners have added Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, James Trafford and Norwegian wunderkind Sverre Nypan to their roster, and they seem far from done. A tricky season for Wolves will get off to an extremely tricky start.
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace (August 17, 6:30 pm)
Current Club World Cup champions Chelsea have more players than they likely know what to do with. With a long list of incomings, loan returnees and outgoings (with plenty more to come from the sounds of things), variety is the one thing that isn’t lacking at the club. At the time of writing, Crystal Palace have yet to make any major moves in terms of buying or selling, but if the Community Shield win over Liverpool on August 10 is anything to go by, the South Londoners are still enjoying the rich vein of form that saw them win the FA Cup at the end of last season. On paper (which as we’re constantly reminded, isn’t where the game is played), Chelsea appear firm favourites in the season’s first London Derby, but unlike the settled Palace side, the Blues are yet to zero in on a system that works with their tranche of new players. And that’s where the game could be won or lost.
Nottingham Forest vs Brentford (August 17, 6:30 pm)
Since their promotion to the top flight in 2022, Nottingham Forest have experienced a variety of highs and lows, but their biggest high will have been securing European football at the end of last season. The club will naturally be expecting to improve on their performance this time around, and have added Dan Ndoye, Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha to aid in that effort. Meanwhile, Brentford face a potential crisis of personnel with manager and key players (Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Nørgaard, Mark Flekken and Ben Mee) departing this season, with the future of Yoane Wissa still undecided. The Bees have recruited a handful of new players, but whether or not they fill the hole left by the departing Brentford veterans remains to be seen. And the first test for new manager Keith Andrews will come at the City Ground.
Manchester United vs Arsenal (August 17, 9 pm)
Benjamin Šeško versus Viktor Gyökores, Ruben Amorim versus Mikel Arteta, the North versus the South, Manchester United versus Arsenal. This is unarguably the standout marquee fixture of the league’s opening weekend. The teams finished at nearly opposite ends of the table last season with Arsenal ending in second and United languishing in 15th. The summer has seen both clubs strengthen quite significantly, including snapping up one very highly-rated European striker apiece. And their first (of a minimum of two) meetings this season should be a blockbuster. It may well spark the fuse and revive a rivalry that seems to have faded away since its glory days in the early 2000s.
Leeds United vs Everton (August 19, 12:30 am)
The very last match of the first gameweek sees Leeds, one of the brightest lights of English football in decades past, run headlong into Everton, one of the doughtiest and most resilient Premier League sides in the modern era. The former have marked their promotion to the top flight with a bunch of (pragmatic, if not flashy) transfers, while the latter have announced their ambitions with a couple of big transfers topped with the loan for Manchester City’s Jack Grealish. For Leeds, this season will be all about survival and hanging on in the Premier League, but for Everton, if the English international’s arrival is anything to go by, major strides up the league table are on the agenda.
Karan Pradhan is editor-in-chief of Story Mode a gaming and gaming-adjacent magazine. Follow him on X/Twitter @karanpradhan_
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