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Liverpool Starts Premier League Title Defense Against Bournemouth While Man Utd Hosts Arsenal 

Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah celebrates with the Premier League trophy at the end of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 25, 2025. (AFP)
Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah celebrates with the Premier League trophy at the end of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 25, 2025. (AFP)
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Liverpool Starts Premier League Title Defense Against Bournemouth While Man Utd Hosts Arsenal 

Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah celebrates with the Premier League trophy at the end of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 25, 2025. (AFP)
Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah celebrates with the Premier League trophy at the end of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 25, 2025. (AFP)

Liverpool will begin its latest Premier League title defense at home to Bournemouth on Aug. 15, while Manchester United will host Arsenal in the opening round of next season.

The Premier League released its fixture schedule for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday, giving teams and their fans a chance to start planning less than a month since the last campaign finished.

Liverpool will be bidding for a third league championship in six years, likely with Florian Wirtz in its squad, and will play the first match of the season in a Friday night start at Anfield against a Bournemouth team that finished in ninth place.

It's quite a tough beginning for Arne Slot's champions, with a trip to Newcastle in the second round followed by a home match against Arsenal — another team in the Champions League — a week later.

Arsenal, which finished second for a third straight year last season, heads to Old Trafford for its first game and will play Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle in its opening six matches.

Everton bade farewell to its long-time home at Goodison Park at the end of last season and the first game in its state-of-the-art, 53,000-capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will be against Brighton on Aug. 23.

Thomas Frank’s first Premier League game in charge of Tottenham will be at home to promoted Burnley on Aug 16. That comes three days after Frank's competitive debut with Tottenham, the Europa League champion, against Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup.

Sunderland’s first Premier League game since the 2016-17 season is at home to West Ham, while Leeds hosts Everton first after returning to the top flight following a two-year absence.

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Sinner Seeks Australian Open ‘Three-Peat’ to Maintain Melbourne Supremacy

13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
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Sinner Seeks Australian Open ‘Three-Peat’ to Maintain Melbourne Supremacy

13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)

Jannik Sinner returns to the Australian Open targeting a third straight title as the Italian seeks to impose a level of supremacy reminiscent of Novak Djokovic's stranglehold on the year's ​opening Grand Slam.

The 24-year-old will arrive at Melbourne Park under vastly different circumstances from 12 months ago when his successful title defense was partly overshadowed by a doping controversy which saw him serve a three-month ban.

With that storm firmly behind him, Sinner steps onto the blue courts unencumbered and with his focus sharpened after an outstanding 2025 in which he was only seriously challenged by world number ‌one Carlos ‌Alcaraz.

"I feel to be a better player ‌than ⁠last ​year," Sinner ‌said after beating Alcaraz to win the season-ending ATP Finals with his 58th match victory of a curtailed campaign.

"Honestly, amazing season. Many, many wins, and not many losses. All the losses I had, I tried to see the positive things and tried to evolve as a player.

"I felt like this happened in a very good way."

Sinner now sets his sights ⁠on a third straight Melbourne crown - a feat last achieved in the men's game during ‌the second of Djokovic's "three-peats" from 2019 to ‍2021 - and few would bet ‍against him pushing his overall major tally to five.

That pursuit continues ‍to be built on a game as relentless as it is precise, a metronomic rhythm from the baseline powered by near-robotic consistency and heavy groundstrokes that grind opponents into submission.

Although anchored in consistency and control, Sinner has worked ​to add a dash of magic - the kind of spontaneity best embodied by Alcaraz - and his pursuit will add intrigue ⁠to a rivalry that has become the defining duel of men's tennis.

"It's evolved in a positive way, especially the serving," Sinner said at the ATP Finals of his game.

"From the back of the court, it's a bit more unpredictable. I still have margins where I can play better at times.

"It's also difficult because you have to give a lot of credit to your opponent. Carlos is an incredible player. You have to push yourself over the limits."

The "Sincaraz" rivalry has already lit up most of the biggest tennis tournaments but Melbourne remains the missing piece, ‌and all signs point to that changing this year with the Australian Open set for a blockbuster title showdown.

Sports

Record Seeker Djokovic Faces ‘New Two’ Roadblock at Australian Open

13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
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Record Seeker Djokovic Faces ‘New Two’ Roadblock at Australian Open

13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)

Novak Djokovic returns to Melbourne Park looking to roll back the apparently inexorable tide of the "Sincaraz" era and produce an Australian Open triumph that would establish ​him as the most successful Grand Slam champion of all time.

The Serbian clinched his 24th major title at the US Open in late 2023, but Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have since dominated the Grand Slams with a brand of fast-paced tennis that has blown their rivals off the court.

Djokovic, who will be 39 in May, is not impervious to the physical toll two decades on the tour has taken on his body, but only the most foolhardy observer has ever written off one of the mentally toughest players to play the game.

To move out of ‌a tie with ‌Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam singles titles in the ‌Australian's ⁠own ​back yard, ‌though, he looks likely to need to beat one or both of the "New Two" at the business end of the tournament.

Last year, the last survivor of the "Big Three" beat Alcaraz in the quarter-finals only to retire from his semi-final against Alex Zverev with a hamstring tear.

He reached the semi-finals of all four majors in 2025, losing to Sinner in Paris and at Wimbledon, as well as Alcaraz in New York.

"I lost three out of four slams in semis against these guys, so they're just too ⁠good, playing on a really high level," he said after his loss at Flushing Meadows. "Best-of-five makes it very, very difficult for me ‌to play them. Particularly if it's like the end stages ‍of a Grand Slam."

'ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION'

Djokovic pulled ‍out of the warm-up tournament in Adelaide in January but Australian Open tournament director Craig ‍Tiley moved quickly to douse any question over the 38-year-old turning up in Melbourne.

"He'll be here to play 100%," Tiley said at the weekend.

"Just out of the abundance of caution, he just wanted to make sure he's 100% ready. He's won this event 10 times. He wants to go for that record, and this ​is the place that he has the best chance of doing it."

Indeed, Tiley said, it was highly unlikely to be Djokovic's last Australian Open either, tallying with ⁠the player's own ambition to defend his Olympic title in Los Angeles in 2028.

Djokovic's battered body might have other plans, though, and his chances of going deep will probably rely on him staying healthy into the second week at Melbourne Park.

He managed ATP titles in Geneva and Athens last year to take his tally to 101 but his best efforts at the longer Masters events were a Miami final and a semi in Shanghai.

It will be his 21st appearance in the main draw at the Australian Open, a run that started as a qualifier in 2005 when he was thumped by eventual champion Marat Safin.

Melbourne's large community of fans with Serbian heritage will ensure he has plenty of support at a tournament where he has otherwise been more admired than loved.

There is no doubting he ‌will go down as one of the tournament's great champions, however, especially as his 10 triumphs came in the "Big Three" era when Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer were also at their peak.

Sports

Rooney Open to Man United Return if Carrick Named Interim Manager

10 January 2026, United Kingdom, Macclesfield: BBC Sport pundit Wayne Rooney pictured ahead of the England FA Cup third round soccer match between Macclesfield Town and Crystal Palace at the Leasing.com Stadium. (dpa)
10 January 2026, United Kingdom, Macclesfield: BBC Sport pundit Wayne Rooney pictured ahead of the England FA Cup third round soccer match between Macclesfield Town and Crystal Palace at the Leasing.com Stadium. (dpa)
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Rooney Open to Man United Return if Carrick Named Interim Manager

10 January 2026, United Kingdom, Macclesfield: BBC Sport pundit Wayne Rooney pictured ahead of the England FA Cup third round soccer match between Macclesfield Town and Crystal Palace at the Leasing.com Stadium. (dpa)
10 January 2026, United Kingdom, Macclesfield: BBC Sport pundit Wayne Rooney pictured ahead of the England FA Cup third round soccer match between Macclesfield Town and Crystal Palace at the Leasing.com Stadium. (dpa)

Wayne Rooney said he would be open to joining the coaching staff of former teammate Michael Carrick if he ​takes over as interim manager of Manchester United following Ruben Amorim’s departure last week.

Rooney made 559 appearances and scored 253 goals in a trophy-laden 13-year spell as a player at the club. He retired in 2021 and has had management ‌spells at ‌Derby County, DC United, ‌Birmingham ⁠City ​and ‌Plymouth Argyle.

Asked if he would consider joining Carrick's coaching department, the 40-year-old said on the BBC's The Wayne Rooney Show: "Of course I would. It's a no-brainer.

"I'm not begging a job here, by the way.

"Just so everyone knows, ⁠if I was asked to go in of ‌course I would. Appointing the ‍manager is the most ‍important thing."

Following his retirement from football ‍in 2018, Carrick stayed on at United as part of Jose Mourinho's coaching staff and was also part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's set-up ​when the Portuguese was sacked.

Carrick, who had a short stint as caretaker boss ⁠following Solskjaer's dismissal in 2021, spent two-and-a-half years as Middlesbrough manager from October 2022 to June 2025.

"I think it would be a really good fit," Rooney said.

"Michael loves the football club and would step in to do a job if he can.

"He lives and breathes that club - that's what the club needs."

United, who are seventh in the ‌Premier League, face Manchester City on Saturday.