26/27 by month: Cup ties, European dates & derbies | Feature | News

The 2026/27 Premier League fixtures have dropped, and excitement can start to build ahead of us heading into the season as defending champions.

Gooners around the world will be poring over the list of games trying to plan their movements and trips across the next 12 months, so to help you, we’ve pulled together a month-by-month guide to the action, including all our cup competitions and the international breaks:

AUGUST

After our pre-season programme is complete, the competitive action will get underway when we face Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, August 16. The first silverware of the season will be up for grabs at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Five days later, we begin the defence of our Premier League title with a Friday night clash against Frank Lampard’s Coventry City, to get the entire top-flight campaign underway. A week later we head to their Midlands rivals Aston Villa for our first away game.

Another key date will be Thursday, August 27, when the draw will take place to uncover which eight teams we’ll face in the Champions League.

16: Manchester City (N) – Community Shield
21: Coventry City (H)
29: Aston Villa (A)

SEPTEMBER

The European action soon gets underway, with matchday one taking place between September 8-10, after we host Chelsea in our first London derby of the campaign.

We’ll enter the Carabao Cup at the third round stage during the month, before an away trip to Brighton brings an end to domestic affairs for three weeks. That’s because the first international break of the season will begin on September 21, and will be longer than usual, allowing national teams to play four games instead of two.

5: Chelsea (H)
8-10: UCL MD 1
12: Sunderland (A)
15-16: Carabao Cup third round
19: Brighton & Hove Albion (A)
21-6 Oct: International break

OCTOBER

We’ll finally return to club action after the break when we face Leeds United in N5, with league games sandwiched between cup games in a busy month.

Two more Champions League games will be held as well as potentially a Carabao Cup fourth round clash, while the month closes with a trip to Anfield to face Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool.

10: Leeds United (H)
13/14: UCL matchday 2
17: Nottingham Forest (A)
20/21: UCL matchday 3
24: Everton (H)
27/28: Carabao Cup fourth round
31: Liverpool (A)

NOVEMBER

A first meeting with Hull City since 2016 is followed by our longest domestic journey of the season as we make the trek up to Newcastle United, while another month ends with a blockbuster contest as we do battle with Manchester City at Emirates Stadium.

Once again, there are two more Champions League matches in October, squeezed between the second international break of the campaign, albeit a shorter one than the first.

3/4: UCL matchday 4
7: Hull City (H)
9-17: International break
21: Newcastle United (A)
25/26: UCL matchday 5
28: Manchester City (H)

DECEMBER

The final month of the year sees us remain in London for all our Premier League matches, and after a trip to Brentford, the first north London derby of the campaign will be held at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where we’ll hope to claim a fifth successive win.

The Champions League wraps up before Christmas with matchday six on December 8 or 9, leaving us to concentrate on domestic affairs for the remainder of 2026. A tasty looking fixture with Manchester United kicks off the festive period, which sees us make the short trips to Crystal Palace and Fulham to round off the year.

Our game against Bournemouth is set to be moved from its current Saturday slot as they’ll be in Europa League action the preceding Thursday.

2: Brentford (A)
5: Tottenham Hotspur (A)
8/9: UCL matchday 6
12: Bournemouth (H)
15/16: Carabao Cup fifth round
19: Manchester United (H)
26: Crystal Palace (A)
30: Fulham (A)

JANUARY

2027 kicks off with potentially our busiest month of the season, as should we reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals, we’ll be in action nine times.

What is certain is that the Champions League league phase concludes with the final two matchdays, including all 36 teams in action on January 27, as we hope to book our spot in the knockout phase.

We also get our FA Cup campaign underway as Premier League and Championship teams enter the mix, while in the league we’ll make our first trip to Hull City since September 2016 and finish with a trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City.

2: Ipswich Town (H)
6: Brentford (H)
8-11: FA Cup third round
12/13: Carabao Cup semi-final first leg
16 Hull City (A)
19/20: UCL matchday 7
23: Newcastle United (H)
27: UCL matchday 8
30: Manchester City (A)

FEBRUARY

Cup competitions will again dictate how busy February is, with a minimum of four games and a maximum of eight.

If we finish between ninth and 24th in the Champions League table, then we’ll require a two-legged play-off game to ensure our place in the last 16. That will take place in the second half of the month, following a potential FA Cup fourth round fixture.

We could also book our spot in the Carabao Cup final with the conclusion of the semi-final kicking off the month, while big league games see us tackle Liverpool and Manchester United.

2/3: Carabao Cup semi-final second leg
6: Liverpool (H)
10: Ipswich Town (A)
12-15: FA Cup fourth round
16/17: UCL knockout phase play-off first leg
20: Fulham (H)
23/24: UCL knockout phase play-off second leg
27: Manchester United (A)

MARCH

Whether we require a play-off or finish in the top eight positions, we’ll aim to be in the last 16 of the Champions League, and March will see the round of 16 take place on consecutive weeks.

The FA Cup fifth round will also take place towards the beginning of the month, with the Carabao Cup final held at Wembley before March concludes with the season’s final international break.

3: Crystal Palace (H)
5-8: FA Cup fifth round
9/10: UCL round of 16 first leg
13: Chelsea (A)
16/17: UCL round of 16 second leg
20: Sunderland (H)
21: Carabao Cup final
23-30: International break

APRIL

The cup competitions also begin to heat up, with the best eight teams in Europe battling it out to reach the semi-finals, with potentially three massive continental clashes taking place in April. The FA Cup will also determine its finalists with the quarters and semis held during the month.

In the Premier League, we’ll make our first-ever appearance at Coventry’s CBS Arena before hosting Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium in what we’ll hope will be a jam-packed month.

2-5: FA Cup quarter-finals
6/7: UCL quarter-final first leg
10: Coventry City (A)
13/14: UCL quarter-final second leg
17: Aston Villa (H)
24: Bournemouth (A)
24/25: FA Cup semi-finals
27/28: UCL semi-final first leg

MAY/JUNE

As usual, the biggest prizes will be dished out in the final few weeks of the season, but it all kicks off with our home north London derby when we host Spurs on May 1. The Premier League concludes on Sunday, May 30 when we face Brighton & Hove Albion.

The FA Cup final will be held at Wembley the week before on Saturday, May 22 as we hope to still be in contention for a record-extending 15th triumph.

Should we emerge victorious from the semi-finals at the start of May, then we’ll head to Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium for the final on Saturday, June 5, hoping to go one step further than last season and clinch our first Champions League title.

1: Tottenham Hotspur (H)
4/5: UCL semi-final second leg
8: Leeds United (A)
15: Nottingham Forest (H)
22: FA Cup final
23: Everton (A)
30: Brighton & Hove Albion (H)
Jun 6: UCL final