Fixture list gives Coventry, Hull and Ipswich a daunting Premier League start
On 19 August 2026 Coventry, Hull and Ipswich were handed a difficult opening to the Premier League season, with their early fixtures including matches against last season’s top three and clubs involved in European competition.
Coventry signed off their previous Premier League campaign with a match against Bradford City, the one team to finish below them in 2000-01. They resume top‑flight football away to Arsenal, who were last season’s champions, are described as favourites to retain the crown and are the No 1 ranked side in the world according to Opta. Coventry’s next away trip after that is to Manchester City, and the club’s home meeting with fellow promoted side Hull falls between those two tough assignments; both Coventry’s and Hull’s meetings last season ended as goalless draws.
Hull’s opening sequence presents its own stern test: they start by hosting Manchester United and then welcome Aston Villa to the MKM Stadium in week three. United and Villa are described in the article as a step below Arsenal and City but will be competing in the Champions League this season. Hull’s opponents in weeks four and five are Chelsea and Newcastle, leaving a demanding set of five fixtures before the first international break of the season.
The piece notes that assessing fixture difficulty by recent underperformance can be misleading and that wage bills offer a different measure; using that metric all three promoted sides feature among the seven hardest opening sets. Opta’s average opponent rating, meanwhile, gives Ipswich the easiest first five matches of the promoted sides by that specific measure.
Those numbers do not flatter Ipswich’s early ledger: their first three matches are against clubs that finished in the top seven of the 2025-26 Premier League — Sunderland, Manchester United and Liverpool.
The article contrasts the conventional view that matches against top sides are a “free hit” for newly promoted teams with recent examples of the value of results against higher-ranked opponents. Leeds took 10 points from matches against the top seven last season, five fewer than Arsenal albeit from two extra games; seventh-placed Sunderland took nine points from the sides that finished above them; and Burnley, who were unable to retain their Premier League status, earned eight points in 14 clashes with the top seven.
By comparison the six promoted sides from the preceding two seasons, all of whom were relegated, did not perform as well against the top teams. Ipswich won six points from the leading seven sides in 2024-25, while Leicester and Southampton took one apiece; the season before, Luton claimed five points, Sheffield United two and Burnley one. Collectively, each promoted trio earned eight points, fewer than Leeds or Sunderland alone last season.
The piece adds that Burnley’s eight points against the top seven counted for little when they took 14 from their other 24 matches, and notes Wolves — while not promoted — had a nine–11 points split between facing the top septet and teams eighth or lower. It concludes that starting badly increases pressure on a manager and that the fixture computer has not treated Coventry, Hull or Ipswich kindly.
Coventry open their campaign away to Arsenal, Hull begin at home to Manchester United and Ipswich’s early run includes matches against Sunderland, Manchester United and Liverpool, all scheduled before the season’s first international break.