The fact that starts the season

Arsenal are the defending Premier League champions. BBC Sport, in the official fixture coverage, recorded that Mikel Arteta led them to their first Premier League title since 2004.

Their defence begins at home to newly promoted Coventry City on Friday 21 August, 20:00 BST, live on Sky Sports. The Premier League made that the first match of 2026/27.

What they have already won in August

On 16 August Arsenal beat Manchester City 3–0 in the FA Community Shield at the Principality Stadium. The FA named Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard as the scorers, timed the first goal at 24 seconds, and noted Arsenal have now won the Shield for the second time in three years.

The Community Shield is a real trophy and a real result. It is also not a Premier League match. It does not move anyone up a table that has not started.

Who they open against

Coventry City won the Championship. At the Premier League AGM they were entered into the share register as members. BBC Sport says Friday is their first top-flight match in 25 years.

Champions against a club that has waited a quarter of a century: that is the opening night the fixture computer produced. It is not a claim about how easy or hard the afternoon will be.

The rest of their opening stretch is also published

The Premier League released the full opening-round list on 19 June. After Coventry, Arsenal's next published league matches sit on that same calendar — kick-off times later in the season still move for television and for Europe.

This page is about the Friday that actually starts the defence. For the whole confirmed season calendar, including who came up and who went down, use the 2026/27 season guide.

The question this page will not answer

The draft title asked whether anyone can stop Arsenal. That is a season question. Two days before kick-off, nobody has played a league minute.

BRYME will not publish a predicted table, a 'who can stop them' ranking, or an invented injury list. The match page for Arsenal v Coventry will carry the result after full-time. Until then the confirmed record is: they are champions, they have the Shield, and they host Coventry on Friday night.