The Premier League is back! After a summer filled with World Cup action, we’re already gearing up for the 2026-27 season, which begins on Friday as champions Arsenal host newly promoted Coventry City.
If you’ve missed much of the wheeling and dealing in the transfer window, consider this a great way to catch up as ESPN reporters chronicle and assess the likely starting XIs for Matchday 1: in short, how all the big clubs will line up this weekend to begin their 38-game battle toward the title.
The exercise not only shows you the kind of starting power the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City boast, but also where they might still need to strengthen before the summer window closes at 6 p.m. ET (11 p.m. BST) on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
So let’s get into it: How will each big club line up this weekend?
Arsenal’s 3-0 Community Shield win over Manchester City provided valuable minutes for England stars Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice upon their return from a summer break. Manager Mikel Arteta will no doubt be hugely tempted to throw them in for the Premier League opener now — especially as new signing Bruno Guimarães was withdrawn against City at halftime and emerged with a huge icepack on his thigh, and Noni Madueke failed to impress.
Christos Tzolis excelled on the left wing and has surely earned a league debut for his new club, Myles Lewis-Skelly excelled in midfield and should keep his spot, while Cristhian Mosquera is the clear pick in defense to cover the injured William Saliba.
Most encouraging of all, Martin Ødegaard put on a remarkable show against City and looks fully ready to captain their title defense. — Sam Tighe
Unai Emery’s opening day XI largely picks itself due to a sheer lack of options.
Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne left the club this summer; Amadou Onana, João Gomes, Johan Manzambi and Brian Madjo are injured; while Alejandro Garnacho sustained a concussion in preseason and Tammy Abraham limped out of the final preseason friendly.
On top of that, Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa did not play a single minute in preseason due to their extended involvement in the 2026 World Cup, while Emi Martínez has been engaged in talks with Juventus and faces an uncertain future. If Abraham can’t recover, Emery might have no choice but to start Watkins anyway — as he did off the back of zero preseason minutes in 2024.
The silver lining here is all of these absences open up opportunities for the likes of 19-year-old George Hemmings, who impressed greatly in the UEFA Super Cup defeat against Paris Saint-Germain. — Tighe
Xabi Alonso has used preseason to gradually move Chelsea away from a back-four defensive system and toward a back three. That, plus a long list of late returnees from the 2026 World Cup and Wesley Fofana‘s suspension from the final game of last season, means it’s very difficult to know how the Blues will shape up for the Premier League opener.
Is one preseason appearance for Rogers, Reece James, Enzo Fernández and Maxence Lacroix enough to earn them a starting nod? Or will Alonso be more cautious? It’s a luxury that a squad bursting at the seams with players does have if needed.
Alonso will at least be able to count on a fully rested and fit Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill, while striker João Pedro looks sharp and scored seven goals in preseason. — Tighe
If Liverpool’s 2-0 preseason victory over Como on Sunday taught us anything, it’s that head coach Andoni Iraola is in desperate need of more players. The Reds’ starting XI can go toe-to-toe with anyone, but the lack of options on the bench in recent weeks has been glaring. As such, the team for this weekend’s clash with Newcastle United pretty much picks itself.
Alisson Becker will start in goal while Milos Kerkez and Virgil van Dijk are shoo-ins in the back line. With Conor Bradley still sidelined with a knee injury, Jeremie Frimpong is expected to continue at right back, leaving only the position of Van Dijk’s center back partner up for grabs. While £60 million summer signing Jérémy Jacquet shone in his first appearance for the club against Como, Iraola is likely to be careful with him after he missed the second half of last season with a dislocated shoulder and so fellow new arrival Ronald Araújo — who joined on a seasonlong loan from Barcelona last week — seems the likeliest candidate to start at St James’ Park.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz are all expected to feature, with Alexis Mac Allister having only recently returned from his post-World Cup break and Curtis Jones edging closer to a move to Inter Milan. Although Cody Gakpo has been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, he currently looks set to start on the left, with 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha having been trialed on the right in preseason.
Even if progress is made this week in Liverpool’s pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain forwards Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye, Sunday will almost certainly come too soon for either player to be involved. Alexander Isak will complete the starting XI, leading the line in what will be his first appearance against his former club. — Beth Lindop
For the first time in a long time, there are a lot of places up for grabs at City and part of that is down to having a new manager in the dugout. Enzo Maresca has taken over from the legendary Pep Guardiola and even though their tactical ideas are similar, Maresca will have his own thoughts about different players.
Gianluigi Donnarumma and Erling Haaland are certain starters; so is Elliot Anderson after City spent £116 million to land the England midfielder from Nottingham Forest.
Despite a mixed two years for Phil Foden, Maresca has put a lot of faith in the 26-year-old as his No. 10 during preseason. And while Matheus Nunes was first-choice right back last season, Abdukodir Khusanov got the nod against Arsenal in the Community Shield. — Rob Dawson
The dilemma for manager Michael Carrick will be the makeup of his midfield. There’s still a possibility that a third midfielder could arrive before the deadline, but for now it looks like four players are competing for three places.
Bruno Fernandes — captain and creator-in-chief — will start every game as long as he’s fit. Andrey Santos, signed from Chelsea for an initial £48 million this summer, is the only natural deep-lying No. 6 in the squad, which leaves Youri Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo fighting it out for one place. Mainoo was instrumental under Carrick last season when he came in from the cold after Ruben Amorim was fired as manager, while Tielemans offers valuable experience.
Elsewhere, striker Benjamin Sesko is still recovering from injury so it’s likely that Bryan Mbeumo will start up front in between Matheus Cunha and Amad Diallo. Without a new left back arriving, the United back four could have a very familiar look about it with Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw at fullback, and Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martínez at center back. — Dawson
Tottenham
Spurs were terrible for a variety of reasons last season as they nearly got relegated, but chief among those was something that felt beyond their control: the amount of serious injuries — particularly knee injuries — was beyond belief.
Some of those players affected, such as Dejan Kulusevski, Mohammed Kudus and Dominic Solanke, still don’t seem fit enough to play a part in the Premier League opener, but James Maddison should, albeit likely from the bench.
A new center back pairing looks likely to debut as Micky van de Ven has battled injury all summer, while Archie Gray should cover for Pedro Porro at right back, as the Spain star was a very late returner from winning the World Cup.
Mikey Moore is expected to join FC Cologne on loan during August, but the teenage winger has played a big part in preseason and might start this weekend before heading to Germany. — Tighe
