Man United have the easiest start to the new Premier League season, City and Chelsea don't

[Myles95]

With the 2026-27 fixture list now locked in, analysts have ranked every club's opening run based on last season's finishing positions, with newly promoted Coventry, Ipswich and Hull treated as finishing 18th, 19th and 20th respectively. Manchester United come out with statistically the kindest start, opening away at Hull before hosting Ipswich, then facing Everton away and Man City at home inside their first four games.

Manchester City and Chelsea have come off worse by most rankings, with City opening at home to Bournemouth before a tricky run that includes Man United, and Chelsea starting with a trip to Fulham followed by matches against sides expected to push for Europe. Opta's power rating model has Man United's opening five averaging an opponent rating of 89.3, built around that early trip to bottom ranked Hull.

The usual caveat applies here, since these models lean heavily on 2025-26 form and don't fully account for how much squads have changed over the summer. Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham all underperformed relative to expectations last season and arguably deserve to be rated as trickier opponents than their final table position suggests, while several clubs enter the season with new managers who could shift form quickly in either direction.

Liverpool and Newcastle both rate among the easier starts too. Liverpool opening away at Newcastle before back to back home games against Nottingham Forest and Fulham, while Newcastle's own schedule is softened by a home fixture against playoff winners Hull in gameweek five.

Early season form is always a shaky predictor of where the table settles by May. And the Premier League has a long history of the supposedly easy starters stumbling while a team with a brutal opening run quietly finds its footing, so treat this as an interesting talking point rather than a genuine forecast

Premier League Fixtures Ranked Easiest Hardest Start 2026 27 Seasonwww.espn.co.uk