Who has the toughest start to 2026-27? Ranking every team's opening five Premier League fixtures

The Premier League fixtures for the 2026-27 season are out, which means it's time to rank every club's opening five games from easiest to toughest. Right, this could get interesting.

On Friday morning, those who appreciate the beauty of Premier League fixture release day (not everybody does y'know) were in their element as they picked out landmark dates for the upcoming campaign.

Defending champions Arsenal will welcome newly-promoted Coventry to the Emirates on August 21, while Manchester United travel to the MKM on August 22 to take on another set of newcomers, Hull City.

A day later, on August 23, Manchester City will host Marco Rose's Bournemouth before Newcastle welcome Andoni Iraola's Liverpool to St James' Park.

To cap off an exciting Matchday 1, Chelsea will make the short trip to Fulham on August 24.

Premier League Matchday 1

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)

Arsenal will try and win back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1930s. Image credit: Getty

So, what does the opening few weeks look like for every team?

According to Opta's Power Rankings system, Michael Carrick's Manchester United have the easiest start after being pitted against Hull City (H), Ipswich (H), Everton (A), Manchester City (H) and Fulham (A).

Bournemouth, on the other hand, have been handed the most difficult run-in with an opponent average rating of 93.3. They will take on Manchester City (A), Everton (H), Newcastle (A), Brentford (H) and Liverpool (H).

Opta ranks 'fixture difficulty' of opening five Premier League games of the season

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) – Opponent average rating: 93.2

Coventry City: Arsenal (A), Hull City (H), Manchester City (A), Brighton (H), Nottingham Forest (A) – Opponent average rating: 92.8

Brighton: Aston Villa (H), Chelsea (A), Leeds (H), Coventry (A), Arsenal (H) – Opponent average rating: 92.6

Tottenham: Brentford (A), Newcastle (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Everton (H), Aston Villa (H) – Opponent average rating: 92.2

Hull City: Manchester United (H), Coventry (A), Aston Villa (H), Chelsea (A), Newcastle (A) – Opponent average rating: 92.1

Fulham: Chelsea (H), Sunderland (A), Crystal Palace (H), Liverpool (A), Manchester United (H) – Opponent average rating: 92.0

Ipswich: Sunderland (H), Manchester United (A), Liverpool (H), Crystal Palace (A), Everton (A) – Opponent average rating: 91.7

Leeds: Nottingham Forest (A), Brentford (H), Brighton (A), Newcastle (H), Crystal Palace (H) – Opponent average rating: 91.7

Chelsea: Fulham (A), Brighton (H), Arsenal (A), Hull City (H), Brentford (A) – Opponent average rating: 91.4

Aston Villa: Brighton (A), Arsenal (H), Hull City (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Tottenham (A) – Opponent average rating: 91.2

Nottingham Forest: Leeds (H), Liverpool (A), Tottenham (H), Aston Villa (A), Coventry (H) – Opponent average rating: 91.1

Arsenal: Coventry (H), Aston Villa (A), Chelsea (H), Sunderland (A), Brighton (H) – Opponent average rating: 90.9

Manchester City: Bournemouth (H), Crystal Palace (A), Coventry (H), Manchester United (A), Sunderland (H) – Opponent average rating: 90.9

Everton: Crystal Palace (H), Bournemouth (A), Manchester United (H), Tottenham (A), Ipswich (H) – Opponent average rating: 90.8

Crystal Palace: Everton (A), Manchester City (H), Fulham (A), Ipswich (H), Leeds (A) – Opponent average rating: 90.8

Brentford: Tottenham (H), Leeds (A), Sunderland (H), Bournemouth (A), Chelsea (H) – Opponent average rating: 90.8

Liverpool: Newcastle (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Ipswich (A), Fulham (H), Bournemouth (A) – Opponent average rating: 90.7

Newcastle: Liverpool (H), Tottenham (A), Bournemouth (H), Leeds (A), Hull City (A) – Opponent average rating: 89.9

Manchester United: Hull City (A), Ipswich Town (H), Everton (A), Manchester City (H), Fulham (A) – Opponent average rating: 89.3

Many believe Manchester United have the easiest start to the 2026-27 Premier League campaign. Image credit: Getty

SPORTbible ranks opening five Premier League games of the season from hardest to easiest

Now it's our turn. We're going to rank every team's first five fixtures based on performances from last season, as well as how we initially reacted to the set of fixtures. We'll rank each team's start out of 10.

Bournemouth: Manchester City (A), Everton (H), Newcastle (A), Brentford (H), Liverpool (H) – Difficulty rating: 9.7

Hull City: Manchester United (H), Coventry (A), Aston Villa (H), Chelsea (A), Newcastle (A) – Difficulty rating: 9.5

Fulham: Chelsea (H), Sunderland (A), Crystal Palace (H), Liverpool (A), Manchester United (H) – Difficulty rating: 9.2

Sunderland: Ipswich (A), Fulham (H), Brentford (Away), Arsenal (H), Manchester City (A) – Difficulty rating: 9.2

Coventry City: Arsenal (A), Hull City (H), Manchester City (A), Brighton (H), Nottingham Forest (A) – Difficulty rating: 9

Brighton: Aston Villa (H), Chelsea (A), Leeds (H), Coventry (A), Arsenal (H) – Difficulty rating: 8.8

Tottenham: Brentford (A), Newcastle (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Everton (H), Aston Villa (H) – Difficulty rating: 8.5

Ipswich: Sunderland (H), Manchester United (A), Liverpool (H), Crystal Palace (A), Everton (A) – Difficulty rating: 8.4

Leeds: Nottingham Forest (A), Brentford (H), Brighton (A), Newcastle (H), Crystal Palace (H) – Difficulty rating: 8.2

Chelsea: Fulham (A), Brighton (H), Arsenal (A), Hull City (H), Brentford (A) – Difficulty rating: 8.2

Aston Villa: Brighton (A), Arsenal (H), Hull City (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Tottenham (A) – Difficulty rating: 8.2

Nottingham Forest: Leeds (H), Liverpool (A), Tottenham (H), Aston Villa (A), Coventry (H) – Difficulty rating: 8.1

Arsenal: Coventry (H), Aston Villa (A), Chelsea (H), Sunderland (A), Brighton (H) – Difficulty rating: 8

Everton: Crystal Palace (H), Bournemouth (A), Manchester United (H), Tottenham (A), Ipswich (H) – Difficulty rating: 7.9

Crystal Palace: Everton (A), Manchester City (H), Fulham (A), Ipswich (H), Leeds (A) – Difficulty rating: 7.8

Brentford: Tottenham (H), Leeds (A), Sunderland (H), Bournemouth (A), Chelsea (H) – Difficulty rating: 7.8

Manchester City: Bournemouth (H), Crystal Palace (A), Coventry (H), Manchester United (A), Sunderland (H) – Difficulty rating: 7.5

Liverpool: Newcastle (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Ipswich (A), Fulham (H), Bournemouth (A) – Difficulty rating: 7.4

Newcastle: Liverpool (H), Tottenham (A), Bournemouth (H), Leeds (A), Hull City (A) – Difficulty rating: 7.3

Manchester United: Hull City (A), Ipswich Town (H), Everton (A), Manchester City (H), Fulham (A) – Difficulty rating: 6.9

Who do you think has the toughest start to next season's Premier League campaign? Let us know in the comments.