Arsenal looking to defend their title after ending their 22-year drought (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal will begin the defence of their Premier League title against newly-promoted Coventry City on the opening day of the new season in August.
The opening round of fixtures in the English top flight fall on the weekend of 22 and 23 August – a week later than usual due to this summer’s World Cup.
Mikel Arteta’s side clinched their first title in 22 years last term having seen off Manchester City in a tight title race. City’s first game without Pep Guardiola at the helm is against Bournemouth.
Manchester United, who finished third after Michael Carrick’s arrival in January, are in action away to newly promoted Hull City.
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Andoni Iraola’s first competitive game in charge of Liverpool is away to Newcastle United.
Chelsea also have a new man in the dugout with Xabi Alonso tasked with lifting them from their slump after a dismal 10th place finish last season. They start the new campaign away to Fulham in a west London derby.
Tottenham, after surviving relegation on the last day back in May, take on Brentford.
Arsenal's first 10 games of 2026-27 season
Coventry City (H) Aston Villa (A) Chelsea (H) Sunderland (A) Brighton (A) Leeds (H) Nottingham Forest (A) Everton (H) Liverpool (A) Hull (H)
Man City's first 10 games of 2026-27 season
Bournemouth (H) Crystal Palace (A) Coventry (H) Man Utd (A) Sunderland (H) Liverpool (A) Ipswich (H) Aston Villa (A) Brighton (H) Nottingham Forest (A)
Man Utd's first 10 games of 2026-27 season
Hull City (A) Ipswich Town (H) Everton (A) Man City (H) Fulham (A) Tottenham (H) Leeds (A) Bournemouth (H) Chelsea (A) Aston Villa (H)
Scotland face their biggest test of the World Cup so far as they prepare to take on Morocco.
Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith are joined by former Scotland international Charlie Adam to preview a huge match for Steve Clarke's side.
German football journalist Raphael Honigstein joins Rick & Lloyd in Santa Monica to look back on the opening round of group games and separate the genuine contenders from the early overreactions. Are Spain already out of the running after their draw with Cape Verde? Should Portugal be worried? And will Cristiano Ronaldo ever score a World Cup goal?
Raph also praises Thomas Tuchel's man management and reflects on the unique challenge of covering a tournament spread across three countries, before Rick and Lloyd discover that shopping in Beverly Hills can be a humbling experience.
Thomas Tuchel was unhappy with the scrum of photographers blocking his view during England’s national anthem (Getty)
FIFA has agreed to change where photographers are positioned during national anthems in response to Thomas Tuchel’s complaint this week.
Tuchel was unhappy with the scrum of photographers stood just a few metres away from England’s bench when God Save the King was played before the 4-2 victory over Croatia on Wednesday.
In a video that captured Tuchel’s stand-off with photographers, the German was heard saying: ‘Very close guys, you’re very close. You’re very close I cannot see anything.’
Speaking after England’s victory, Tuchel then called on FIFA to make a change to benefit coaching staff at the World Cup.
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Lionel Messi’s hat-trick. Cape Verde’s heroics. Those Scottish fans.
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‘I have to tell you something, I am begging FIFA to change the position of the photographers in the national anthem because I could not see my team in the national anthem,’ Tuchel said.
Thomas Tuchel called on FIFA to make a change (PA)
‘I was waiting for this moment. It was a very, very special moment today and I was standing in front of a wall of 50 photographers, half a metre away, and I could not see one single player and it ruined a little bit my experience today.
‘It is very emotional. When I was young and when I started coaching, this was too big to dream of to have this kind of career.’
Photographers were positioned to the side during the anthems for Czech Republic and South Africa on Thursday (Shutterstock)
FIFA has now agreed to move photographers in order to allow coaching staff to have a better view of the pitch and the players during the national anthems.
World Cup coaching staff will also be allowed to move from in front of the dugouts for an unobstructed view.
For the Czech Republic’s game against South Africa in Group A on Thursday, photographers were positioned on the corner of the dugouts, allowing the coaching staff to see the pitch.
Ismael Kone suffered a broken leg during Canada’s win against Qatar (Getty)
Canada midfielder Ismael Kone suffered a broken leg during Canada’s 6-0 win over Qatar following a challenge from Assim Madibo.
The tackle occurred in the 52nd minute of the Group B match in Vancouver as Madibo caught the back of Kone’s left leg with his foot.
Broadcasters did not show a closer replay of the challenge but microphones positioned near the pitch caught a player shouting, ‘his leg is hanging off’.
Both sets of players formed a protective barrier around Kone as medical staff raced in to help the Canada midfielder, who was able to sit up and wave to the crowd as he was taken off the pitch on a stretcher.
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Lionel Messi’s hat-trick. Cape Verde’s heroics. Those Scottish fans.
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Madibo was given a red card for the challenge, reducing Qatar to nine players following Homam Ahmed’s dismissal in the first half.
Medical staff raced in to help Ismael Kone (Reuters)
‘It happened right in front of the bench. We could all hear it. I knew right away,’ Marsch said.
‘It was right in front of us, and everyone could hear the bone snap.
‘Your heart goes out to [Kone], and everybody’s a little shaken by the whole experience, because of the nature of the injury, and also because Ismael is a big part of the heart of our team.
‘It will be a big loss for us. He’s been an amazing player these last two games.’
Ismael Kone waved to the crowd as he left the pitch on a stretcher (Getty)
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch embraced Ismael Kone as he left the pitch (The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada striker Jonathan David, who scored a hat-trick against Qatar, questioned the need for Madibo’s tackle on Kone.
‘If there’s a play where you cannot win the ball, there’s no point. It’s just to hurt people,’ David said.
Canada’s players were furious with Assim Madibo after his challenge (Reuters)
‘I saw his leg, I saw that something wasn’t right, and I just wanted for the medical staff to get in as quick as possible,’ said Canada midfielder Stephen Eustaquio, who was one of the closest players to Kone when the challenge was made.
‘They tried to defend their players, and we tried to defend ours. I think it’s normal, they still want to go far in this competition, but at the same time it’s a clear red. Like, there’s no debate in that he basically broke his leg. They want a yellow, but for me it makes no sense.’
It was not a perfect display, with questions over the defensive strength of Thomas Tuchel’s side, but it was an exciting one for England fans.
Kane and Bellingham were particularly impressive and the win against the best opposition England will face in the group stage sets them up perfectly to progress to the knockout rounds in style.
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Lionel Messi’s hat-trick. Cape Verde’s heroics. Those Scottish fans.
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World Cup winner Vieira was impressed, but urged England fans not to get too carried away just yet, reminding them that there are better teams in the tournament, especially his own country.
‘It was a really good performance. I think for the first game of a big tournament like that, you can say there were a lot of question marks on England and they answered them quite well,’ Vieira said on The Rest is Football.
‘But you don’t want to build too much excitement. It’s good and I don’t want to take it away, it was a huge performance, a really good performance.
Harry Kane took his England goal tally to 81 (Picture: Getty Images)
‘I think it was one of the best performances so far in the World Cup. On the same level of the French team and Argentina. But there’s still a long way to go.’
Asked how England would do against France if they met, Vieira was dismissive, saying: ‘That’s a real question?
‘The team to beat is France, there’s no doubt about it, I think that is the best team in the competition and I believe they will go to the end and win the World Cup.
‘But I think that England, with what they showed in this first game, can hurt France, yes. But not win it.’
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Tuchel admitted he was not thrilled with the first half display, with the game level at 2-2 at the break, but did enjoy the increased attacking intent and aggression in the second half.
Vieira was impressed with the pace of play England showed, allowing them to overwhelm the ageing Croatia side.
‘I think it was refreshing to see England with a positive attitude and try to dictate the tempo of the game and win the game,’ he said. ‘I think the tempo of the game was so high that I think in the second half, physically they [Croatia] dropped and then England went to dominate and create those situations and score those goals.
‘If they manage to improve the defensive side I think they will be a difficult team to play against.’
Jude Bellingham scored a brilliant third goal straight after half-time (Picture: Getty Images)
Bellingham was also singled out as vital to England’s hopes of winning the World Cup, with the former Arsenal captain saying: ‘To win the World Cup your best player has to play at their best. England are not going to win the World Cup if Bellingham is not at the top of his game.’
Explaining Tuchel’s half-time message, Kane told the BBC: ‘The boss said at half-time to up the tempo, go man for man and completely take the game to them, and that is exactly what happened.
‘You saw us at our best level, both with and without the ball and we could have scored three or four goals in that 20-minute spell in the second half.’
England are back in action on Tuesday night, taking on Ghana in Foxborough, Massachusetts at 9pm UK time.
