Manchester United's new Premier League schedule announced, the first round of home games against Arsenal! Amorim had a devilish start

Manchester United's Premier League fixtures for 2025/26 have been announced, with Ruben Amorim's first full season kicking off with a devil's fixture. The good news is that the Red Devils will play at home in the first round at 16:30 on Sunday 17 August, and the bad news is that they will face Arsenal.

The opening fixture of the new Premier League season will be played by defending champions Liverpool against Bournemouth, with the rest of the fixtures being Aston Villa vs Newcastle United, Brighton vs Fulham, Nottingham Forest vs Brentford, Sunderland at home vs West Ham United, Tottenham vs Burnley, Wolves at home vs Manchester City, Chelsea v Crystal Palace and Leeds United vs Everton.

In the next two rounds, Manchester United faced less formidable opponents, namely Fulham and promoted Burnley. But in the fourth round, they will face tough opponents, this time in the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City. Manchester United will then face another traditional giant, Chelsea, who faced the big three in the first five rounds and were rated as the most difficult team in the Premier League to start the season.

This will naturally be a big challenge for boss Amorim, who will rebuild his squad this summer, but will face a direct test of strong opponents at the start of the season, and there will be no time to slowly integrate and find form through actual combat. If these matches do not have a good record, it can have a negative impact and enter a vicious circle. But if it is played well, the opposite is the case, which can greatly boost the morale of the team. Therefore, challenges and opportunities coexist, depending on how you perform.

The first leg of Manchester United's 'double red tie' with Liverpool is scheduled for Anfield on 18 October, with the second leg moving to Old Trafford on 2 May, which will be the penultimate round of the season.

In the traditional 'festive calendar' from Christmas to New Year, United will travel to Aston Villa, home to Newcastle United and Wolves during the Christmas period, and away to Leeds United after the New Year. In the final round of the season, the Red Devils will travel to Brighton.

There are 380 matches in a full season in the Premier League, and the schedule is arranged by the league in partnership with Glenn Thompson, part of international IT services company ATOS. In April each year, the Premier League asks clubs about any special dates they would like to play at home or away, such as club anniversaries. In other cases, the club will request not to play at home for a certain period of time due to reasons such as home renovation.

Most of the time, local clubs don't play at home on the same weekend or midweek, such as Manchester United at home, Manchester City are sent away to make it easier for the police to arrange security measures, as is Liverpool and Everton, Newcastle and Sunderland. But in the metropolis of London, this is not possible, so it is subdivided into a number of different areas, with Chelsea and Fulham in west London, Arsenal and Tottenham in north London, alternating home and away.

After these special rules are determined, the computer determines the schedule according to the program, which follows some other basic principles: for example, a team cannot play more than two consecutive home or away games, and the team that plays at home on Christmas will go away on New Year's Day, etc.

The final fixtures of the Premier League will also be adjusted according to the dates of the League Cup, FA Cup and European competitions. For Manchester United's Asian fans, the absence of European games next season could be a blessing in disguise, with fans watching more of their games live on Saturday and in the middle of the night. Last season, with Manchester United's Europa League only played on Thursday, most European weekends were played on Sundays, often in the second half of the night.