Arsenal begin the defence of their Premier League title at home to Coventry City on Friday night, an eight o'clock kick-off that opens the 2026-27 season. They won the last one with 85 points from 26 wins and a goal difference of plus 44, seven clear of Manchester City. Coventry come up as Championship winners on 95 points, eleven clear of Ipswich Town in second, and play their first top-flight match in 25 years.
The clubs have not met in the league since 3 February 2001, when Arsenal won 1-0 in Coventry. Their most recent meeting of any kind was an FA Cup tie in January 2014, which Arsenal won 4-0.
What Arsenal are attempting is rarer than the fact of being champions suggests. No Arsenal side has retained the English title since 1934-35, and last season's win ended a 22-year wait for it. "We've never done it at this club, to win it again," Mikel Arteta said after the Community Shield. "We know that it's going to demand something special and we are ready for it."
The evidence from Cardiff was encouraging. Arsenal won it 3-0 against Manchester City, Riccardo Calafiori scoring after 24 seconds, Kai Havertz adding the second and Martin Ødegaard the third just after half-time, with Christos Tzolis, a £34m summer signing from Club Brugge, involved in all three goals. "Of course, last year we won the league," Ødegaard said. "But this year we want more."