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.



Saudi Arabia and Qatar Gain Home Advantage in Next Asia Qualifiers for 2026 World Cup

File Photo: The World Cup Trophy displayed ahead of the draw of the groups of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. AFP
File Photo: The World Cup Trophy displayed ahead of the draw of the groups of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. AFP
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Saudi Arabia and Qatar Gain Home Advantage in Next Asia Qualifiers for 2026 World Cup

File Photo: The World Cup Trophy displayed ahead of the draw of the groups of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. AFP
File Photo: The World Cup Trophy displayed ahead of the draw of the groups of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. AFP

Saudi Arabia and Qatar drew home advantage in the fourth round of Asia qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday.

In October, Qatar will host Group A that also contains the United Arab Emirates and Oman, The Associated Press said.

Saudi Arabia welcomes Iraq and Indonesia into Group B.

The winner of each round-robin group will take Asia’s last two remaining automatic spots at next summer’s tournament, to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The teams that finish second will then meet, with the winner progressing to inter-confederation playoffs, which are scheduled for March 2026.

Six teams from Asia secured qualification last month: Japan, Iran, South Korea and Australia have all participated numerous times, while Jordan and Uzbekistan will make their first appearance.