Which team has the hardest start to the 2026-27 season? Here’s a friendly ranking of every team’s first five Premier League games.
The Premier League fixtures for the 2026-27 season are finally here! That means it’s time to rank each club’s first five games from the easiest to the toughest. This should be fun.
On Friday morning, fans who love the buzz of fixture release day (not everyone gets it, but some of us do!) were excitedly marking key dates for the new season.
The defending champs, Arsenal, kick things off at home against newly promoted Coventry on August 21. The next day, Manchester United head to MKM Stadium to face another newcomer, Hull City. Then on August 23, Manchester City will host Bournemouth, managed by Marco Rose, while Newcastle welcome Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool to St James’ Park. To round off Matchday 1, Chelsea travel to Fulham on August 24.
Here’s a quick look at those opening games:
– Arsenal vs Coventry City (21 August)
– Brentford vs Tottenham (22 August)
– Everton vs Crystal Palace (22 August)
– Hull City vs Manchester United (22 August)
– Ipswich Town vs Sunderland (22 August)
– Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United (22 August)
– Brighton & Hove Albion vs Aston Villa (23 August)
– Manchester City vs Bournemouth (23 August)
– Newcastle United vs Liverpool (23 August)
– Fulham vs Chelsea (24 August)
Now, what do the first few weeks look like for each team? According to Opta’s Power Rankings, Michael Carrick’s Manchester United have the easiest start, facing Hull City (H), Ipswich (H), Everton (A), Manchester City (H), and Fulham (A).
At the other end, Bournemouth have the roughest start, with an average opponent rating of 93.3. Their opening fixtures include Manchester City (A), Everton (H), Newcastle (A), Brentford (H), and Liverpool (H).
Here’s a quick rundown of team difficulty based on their first five games:
– Bournemouth: Manchester City (A), Everton (H), Newcastle (A), Brentford (H), Liverpool (H) – Opponent average rating: 93.3
– Sunderland: Ipswich (A), Fulham (H), Brentford (A), Arsenal (H), Manchester City (A) – 93.2
– Coventry City: Arsenal (A), Hull City (H), Manchester City (A), Brighton (H), Nottingham Forest (A) – 92.8
– Brighton: Aston Villa (H), Chelsea (A), Leeds (H), Coventry (A), Arsenal (H) – 92.6
– Tottenham: Brentford (A), Newcastle (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Everton (H), Aston Villa (H) – 92.2
…and so on.
We also gave our own difficulty scores out of 10, based on last season’s performances and our first impressions:
– Bournemouth: Difficulty 9.7
– Hull City: 9.5
– Fulham: 9.2
– Sunderland: 9.2
– Coventry City: 9.0
– Brighton: 8.8
– Tottenham: 8.5
…and down the list to Manchester United with 6.9.
So, who do you think has the hardest start to the new season? Drop your thoughts in the comments—we’d love to hear from you!