--- title: "PL 2026/27: Arsenal vs the New City — A Season with No Former Favorites" description: "The new 2026/27 Premier League season opens on August 21 with the Arsenal vs Coventry match. The Londoners remain the main favorites, while City, without Guardiola and having lost key players, enters the tournament with uncertainty." date: 2026-08-21T03:16:02.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/pl-2026-27-arsenal-coventry-mareska-city-preseason-en tags: [arsenal, premier-league, manchester-city, enzo-mareska, mikel-arteta, fa-community-shield, football] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # PL 2026/27: Arsenal vs the New City — A Season with No Former Favorites ![Arsenal players with the Premier League trophy on a celebration bus — title contender for the 2026/27 EPL season](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/21/apl-2026-27-arsenal-coventry-mareska-siti-preseason/apl-2026-27-arsenal-coventry-mareska-siti-preseason-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - The 2026/27 Premier League season starts on August 21 with the Arsenal vs Coventry match at 22:00. - Arsenal is the defending champion (85 points, +44 goal difference) and the main favorite, having strengthened in the summer. - Manchester City without Guardiola is led by Enzo Maresca; the club lost Rodri, Bernardo Silva, and others, losing 0-3 to Arsenal in the Super Cup. - Coaching changes at Liverpool, Chelsea, and Newcastle make the season unpredictable. The English Premier League returns: on Friday, August 21, 2026, at 22:00, the new season will open with a match between Arsenal and Coventry. From the start, it feels like we are facing one of the most unpredictable tournaments in recent years. The structure of English football, which seemed almost unchanging for years, is undergoing a profound restructuring: the main coaches of several top clubs have left, and with them, the usual hierarchy. The only team that appears to enter the season with a clear understanding of its goal is Mikel Arteta's Arsenal. ### Arsenal: From Three Second Places to the Championship and Beyond The Londoners finally won the championship after three consecutive second places, scoring 85 points and finishing the previous season with a goal difference of +44. However, the Premier League victory was not seen as a full stop within the club: the management and the head coach clearly "did not agree." In the summer, the squad was strengthened by Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle, Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, and Piero Incapie from Bayer Leverkusen, who spent the previous season on loan in London. The team has become deeper, and Arteta now has the opportunity to vary the lineup more widely. The main advantage of the "Gunners" is stability: the team has been working with the same coach for over six years, key players are at their peak, and the game structure was built over the years. Now, Arteta faces a more complex task — to prove that the title was not the culmination of a separate cycle. ### The End of the Guardiola Era at Manchester City For more than a decade, City has been associated with one coach. Guardiola won six championship titles during his tenure, and more than half of all major trophies in the club's history were won under his leadership. Now on the sidelines is Italian Enzo Maresca, a student of Pep, who performed well at Chelsea. But the first attempt was a failure: in the FA Community Shield match, City lost to Arsenal 0-3, looked uncertain, and did not demonstrate their usual control. Moreover, the Italian has already lost several key players: Rodri moved to Barcelona, Bernardo Silva to Real Madrid, the team was left by John Stones, Nathan Aké, and Tijjani Reijnders, and the defensive structure has undergone serious changes. ### The "Citizens'" Resources and Changes Among Competitors It would be wrong to say that Maresca is working on ruins: the squad still includes Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Ryan Sercu, Jeremy Doku, Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guehi, Nico O'Reilly, and Abdukodir Khusanov — a blend of experience, youth, and unquestionable talent. There is only a "small detail" left — to replace Guardiola in the post, and Arne Slot and the legion of successors to Sir Alex Ferguson will happily tell Maresca about this. Changes have affected others as well: Liverpool said goodbye to Arne Slot after a failed season and entrusted the team to Andoni Iraola, Chelsea hired Xabi Alonso, Manchester United continues its experiment with Michael Carrick, Newcastle let go of Eddie Howe and several key players, and Tottenham, after two seasons in 17th place, is trying to start from scratch. ### Injury Risks vs Squad Depth The only problem for the "Gunners" could be injuries: Bukayo Saka had problems with his Achilles tendon, Declan Rice was undergoing treatment for physical problems during the World Cup in the USA, and William Saliba suffered a back injury and will likely miss the start of the season. It is most difficult to find replacements for such key players. However, last season the "red-and-whites" survived the epidemic of injuries worthily, and now the depth of their squad has only improved. Thus, the intrigue of the new Premier League season revolves around the confrontation between the stable champion and the restructuring City against the backdrop of general instability among the other giants. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Arsenal's Dynasty, End of an Era at City, and More: PL Season Preview](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/football/dinastiya-arsenala-kinets-epohi-siti-i-tilki-1787264836.html) - Основной источник превью: чемпионство «Арсенала», смена тренеров, трансферы и потери «Сити». - [Arsenal vs Coventry, August 21, 2026](https://www.sport-express.ru/football/england/apl/fbl_match-arsenal-koventri-442491/) - Подтверждает дату и участников матча открытия сезона 21.08.2026. - [English Championship. Premier League. Matchday 31](https://www.sport-express.ru/football/england/apl/fbl_match-koventri-arsenal-442794/) - Подтверждает дату и участников матча открытия сезона 21.08.2026. - [2026/27 PL Calendar: Kick-off August 21, Derbies by Round, and Full Boxing Day — All Key Season Dates](https://www.sports.ru/football/blogs/3430154.html) - Подтверждает старт сезона 21 августа 2026 года. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: When and with which match does the 2026/27 Premier League season open? **A:** The season opens on Friday, August 21, 2026, at 22:00 with the Arsenal vs Coventry match. ### Q: Who is the main favorite for the new season and why? **A:** Arsenal is considered the main favorite: the club won the championship (85 points, +44 goal difference), maintained squad stability, and strengthened in the summer, unlike the restructuring competitors. ### Q: What happened to Manchester City before the new season? **A:** Guardiola was replaced by Enzo Maresca, the club lost Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Stones, Aké, and Reijnders, and lost 0-3 to Arsenal in the FA Community Shield.