When Chelsea celebrated an improbable victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final, it officially marked the end of the 2024-25 season — coming some 331 days after the Premier League kicked off with Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Fulham last August.
Enough of that, though: It’s time for a new Premier League season.
Conversations over player welfare and rest times rage on, but all 20 clubs will be taking part in preseason friendlies to gear up for next season.
ESPN takes a look at every team’s schedule and what to look out for as preparation for the 2025-26 season ramps up.
Arsenal
Summer friendly schedule
July 23: AC Milan; Singapore — 12.30pm (BST) 7.30am (ET)
July 27: Newcastle; Singapore — 12.30pm (BST) 7.30am (ET)
July 31: Tottenham Hotspur; Hong Kong — 12.30pm (BST) 7.30am (ET)
Aug. 6: Villarreal; Emirates — 6pm (BST) 1pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Athletic Club; Emirates — 5pm (BST) 12pm (ET)
After a disappointing end to their campaign last season, Arsenal travel to Asia before returning home for two friendlies in preparation for what they will hope is a sustained title challenge.
Mikel Arteta has strengthened his midfield this summer with the signings of Martín Zubimendi and Christian Nørgaard, in addition to Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea as goalkeeping depth, and the north London club could still add Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres to their summer overhaul.
This preseason will be crucial for Arteta to bed in the new arrivals and find his strongest starting XI before they begin their Premier League campaign with an away date with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
AFC Bournemouth
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Bristol City; (behind closed doors) — 1pm (BST) 8am (ET)
July 26: Everton; New Jersey — 9pm (UK) 5pm (ET)
July 30: Manchester United; Chicago — 2.30am (BST, July 31) 9.30pm (ET)
Aug. 3: West Ham; Atlanta — 7pm (UK) 2pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Real Sociedad; Vitality Stadium — 5.15pm (UK) 12.15pm (ET)
Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth broke their club-record Premier League points tally last season with 56, and they travel to the United States this summer for the Premier League summer series in preparation to break the record again.
Of course, that will be a tall order: Iraola has lost three major parts (Kepa Arrizabalaga, Milos Kerkez and Dean Huijsen) of a defence that conceded just 46 goals last season.
They have made attempts to replenish their squad. Goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic comes in from Chelsea in a £25m ($33.5m) deal alongside full-back Adrien Truffert, who will fill in for Kerkez.
A strong preseason will be needed if they are to hit the ground running in what could be the toughest opening game in the Premier League: An away trip to Anfield to face reigning champions Liverpool.
Aston Villa
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Hansa Rostock; Germany — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 26: Eintracht Frankfurt; Kentucky — 12am (BST, July 27) 7pm (ET)
July 30: St Louis City SC; Saint Louis — 1.30am (BST, July 31) 8.30pm (ET)
Aug. 2: Nashville SC; Tennessee — 1am (BST, Aug. 3) 8pm (ET)
Aug. 6: AS Roma; Walsall — 7.30pm (BST) 2.30pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Marseille; Stade Velodrome — 6pm (BST) 1pm (ET)
Aug. 10: Villarreal; Estadio de la Ceramica — 8pm (BST) 3pm (ET)
Aston Villa began a packed preseason schedule with a 1-0 defeat to League Two side Walsall, first-team players Tyrone Mings, Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara were among the 22 that featured.
Villa will play eight friendlies in total across five countries — including a trip to the United States — before returning to host Roma at the Bescot Stadium in Walsall. They then travel to France and Spain for games against European regulars Marseille and Villarreal.
It has been a quiet summer so far, with Turkey international Yasin Ozcan and goalkeeper Marco Bizot having joined the club, but that won’t stop Unai Emery from eyeing a perfect preseason as a springboard for Villa to bounce back from agonisingly missing out on a Champions League place on goal difference last season.
Brentford
Summer friendly schedule
July 25: Gil Vicente; Portugal — 7.30pm (BST) 2.30pm (ET)
Aug. 2: Queens Park Rangers; Loftus Road — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Aug. 8: Borussia Monchengladbach; Gtech Community Stadium — 7.30pm (BST) 2.30pm (ET)
Brentford have never known the Premier League without Thomas Frank in charge, and they go into next season with former set-piece coach Keith Andrews at the helm, in what is his first senior managerial role. It is a gamble, but with the west London side’s well-documented history with successful data-driven decisions, they’ll be hoping he is another proof of concept.
With only three friendlies scheduled to date, Andrews won’t have much time to get to grips with the side before facing Nottingham Forest on the opening day of the season.
With the exciting arrivals of young forward Antoni Milambo and full-back Michael Kayode — both of whom are just 20 years of age — alongside the Premier League experience of Jordan Henderson and Caoimhín Kelleher, Brentford are building a side much bigger than their tag of just a ‘bus stop in Hounslow.’
Brighton & Hove Albion
Summer friendly schedule
Aug. 2: Southampton; St. Mary’s — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Aug. 9: Wolfsburg; American Express Stadium — 5pm (BST) 12pm (ET)
A club on the outside looking in to the Premier League’s traditional ‘Big 6’, Brighton have already played twice this summer, dispatching League One side Wycombe 6-1 and beating Stoke City 3-1 in Marbella.
The youngest manager in the Premier League, Fabian Hürzeler, heads into his second season in England without star man João Pedro, who has enjoyed a stellar start to his Chelsea career. New arrivals Diego Coppola, Maxim De Cuyper and Sunderland playoff hero Tom Watson will be looking to make statements in their first seasons of Premier League football, but they will need good preseasons first.
Teenage Greek forward, Charalampos Kostoulas, cost Brighton £31.4m from Olympiacos, and joins in line with their commitment to having a squad built around young first-team players — they haven’t signed a player over the age of 24 since Hürzeler took over last summer.
Brighton were unlucky to miss out on European football last season, finishing eighth, and Hürzeler will look at preseason this summer as vital in propelling the side one step further next season.
Burnley
Summer friendly schedule
July 26: Huddersfield Town; John Smith’s Stadium — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 26: Shrewsbury Town; Croud Meadow — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Aug. 2: Stoke City; Bet365 Stadium — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Aug. 9: Lazio; Turf Moor — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Burnley are back in the Premier League after a year out. Championship promotion expert Scott Parker needed just one season to get them out of the second tier, and he’s enjoyed a winning start to preseason by beating League Two side Fleetwood Town 1-0 in their first friendly of the summer.
All three promoted sides have been relegated in both the past two seasons — Burnley were a part of this in the 2023-24 season — and in an effort to stay up this time around they have turned towards tried-and-tested Premier League experience with the signings of Jaidon Anthony from Bournemouth, former United defender Axel Tuanzebe and the massive coup of Kyle Walker on a free.
Scott Parker goes into his third crack at the Premier League off the back of a 100-point Championship season. Burnley will mainly play EFL sides this summer, but a marquee final friendly in front of their home crowd on Aug. 9 against European regulars Lazio will be an important fixture for Parker to get his side in shape for a gruelling Premier League season and for the Englishman himself to avoid a third top-flight relegation.
Chelsea
Summer friendly schedule
Aug. 8: Bayer Leverkusen; Stamford Bridge — 7pm (BST) 2pm (ET)
Aug. 10: AC Milan; Stamford Bridge — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
World champions Chelsea — fresh off the high of dominating Champions League winners PSG — will play two friendlies at home against European opposition in August.
Enzo Maresca knows that maintaining the level they showed in the U.S. over the course of a Premier League season will be a wholly different challenge, and defender Levi Colwill believes they have what it takes.
New forward João Pedro showed in the Club World Cup that he is up to the level, while Liam Delap will be looking to break Chelsea’s dreaded No. 9 curse.
A lot was learned about Maresca’s Chelsea during the summer but — as ever with Todd Boehly at the helm– they haven’t been shy in the transfer market. Summer arrivals Estêvão and Jamie Gittens will be looking to make an impact in preseason to nail down a starting spot.
Crystal Palace
Summer friendly schedule
July 25: Crawley Town; Broadfield Stadium — 7.30 pm (BST) 2.30pm (ET)
July 29: Mainz; Austria — 1pm (BST) 8am (ET)
Aug. 1: Augsburg; Austria — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
The preseason talk around Crystal Palace has been dominated by their demotion to the Europa Conference League, after UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body ruled that they were too closely linked to Lyon. It’s a body blow to Palace and takes the shine off their first-ever season competing in Europe.
They have been quiet in the transfer window as of yet, only bringing in goalkeeper Walter Benítez on a free and Borna Sosa from Ajax. Their summer could go from bad to worse if star man Eberechi Eze leaves the club amid interest from Arsenal.
Still, a positive preseason for Palace can set the right tone, and a 1-0 win over London rivals Millwall in their first friendly of the summer would help do just that. Boss Oliver Glasner will now have to pick his squad up for a trip to Austria.
Everton
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Blackburn Rovers; Ewood Park — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 26: AFC Bournemouth; New Jersey — 9pm (BST) 4pm (ET)
July 30: West Ham United; Chicago — 11.30pm (BST) 6.30pm (ET)
Aug. 3: Manchester United; Atlanta — 10pm (BST) 5pm (ET)
Aug. 9: AS Roma; Hill-Dickinson Stadium — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
For the first time in 133 years, Everton go into preseason away from Goodison Park when they officially move into the Hill-Dickinson Stadium (Bramley-Moore Dock), their new 52,000 seater home.
Everton are another side that will jet off to the U.S for the Premier League summer series before coming back to Liverpool to face European giants Roma in their new stadium. The match will be a friendly, but for everyone in the stadium it will be seen as so much more: the curtain-raiser before the first Premier League season at the Hill-Dickinson.
David Moyes begins another full season as Everton manager — 13 years on from his last — and with new €35m striker Thierno Barry joining from Villareal alongside Carlos Alcaraz’s loan at the club being made permanent, the games across the Atlantic will be crucial for the Scottish boss to start forming his starting XI for next season.
Fulham
Summer friendly schedule
July 26: Nottingham Forest; Portugal — 8pm (BST) 3pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Eintracht Frankfurt; Craven Cottage — 5pm (BST) 12pm (ET)
Marco Silva’s Fulham only have two friendlies scheduled to date, facing fellow Premier League side Forest in Portugal, before coming back home to west London to play Frankfurt before the season gets underway.
It has been a strange summer for Fulham as they are yet to announce any incomings and said goodbye to Willian and Carlos Vinícius. However, they have tied down Tom Cairney until next summer as the club legend embarks on his 11th season at Craven Cottage.
They did achieve a club-record high Premier League points total last season (54), finishing in 11th place, and they were in European contention for the majority of the campaign.
Silva will want his side to take that next step into Europe this season, but a couple of friendlies await first.
Leeds United
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Manchester United; Stockholm — 2pm (BST) 9am (ET)
Aug. 2: Villarreal; Elland Road — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Aug. 9: AC Milan; Dublin — 12pm (BST) 7am (ET)
After a dominant season in the Championship last time out, Leeds United are back in the Premier League. To prepare, they have arranged three testing friendlies: First up, they face rivals United and then Villarreal before a clash against AC Milan in their final game before the season starts.
Leeds have stuck with the man who got them to 100 points in the Championship, Daniel Farke, who will be at the helm of a Premier League side once again after his previous struggles in the division with Norwich City.
With the signings of defenders Jaka Bijol and Gabriel Gudmundsson alongside the arrivals of Sebastiaan Bornauw and Lukas Nmecha, Leeds’ preseason friendlies take up even more importance as Farke tries to mold a Premier League squad that can stay in the division, something a promoted side hasn’t done in two years.
Liverpool
Summer friendly schedule
July 26: AC Milan; Hong Kong — 12.30pm (BST) 7.30am (ET)
July 30: Yokohama F. Marinos; Japan — 11.30am (BST) 6.30am (ET)
Aug. 4: Athletic Club; Anfield — 5pm (BST) 12pm (ET)
Liverpool’s preseason started with an emotional friendly against Preston North End, dominated by tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva who tragically passed away in a car crash near Zamora, Spain on July 3.
Liverpool will travel to Asia in late July for games against AC Milan and Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos in preparation to defend their Premier League crown.
New arrivals Giorgi Mamardashvili, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez all featured against Preston with club-record signing Florian Wirtz yet to play.
Questions remain over how Arne Slot will set up his side. How will Wirtz slot in besides Mohamed Salah? Will Frimpong play the same role as Trent Alexander-Arnold? Does Kerkez replace Robertson right away?
Their preseason fixtures might not answer these questions, but it will definitely go a way in shaping how Liverpool will line up against Bournemouth on Aug.15 in the league’s curtain-raiser.
Manchester United
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Leeds United; Stockholm — 2pm (BST) 9am (ET)
July 26: West Ham United; New Jersey — 12am (BST, July 27) 7pm (ET)
July 30: Bournemouth: Chicago — 2.30am (BST, July 31) 9.30pm (ET)
Aug. 3: Everton; Atlanta — 10pm (BST) 5pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Fiorentina; Old Trafford — 12.45pm (BST) 7.45am (ET)
United officially start their preseason against rivals Leeds in a game where the intensity promises to be higher than a regular friendly. New £62.5m-signing Matheus Cunha could make his first appearance and will surely feature in their Premier League summer series fixtures in the U.S.
After Amorim’s tactics appeared better suited to playing Europe than the Premier League towards the back end of last season, games against Premier League opposition, albeit friendlies, may be of particular note.
With the futures of returning loanees Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Antony and Tyrell Malacia still unclear — and potential moves for Bryan Mbeumo and Arsenal target Gyökeres now looking unlikely — Amorim’s first full preseason at Old Trafford will give a clearer indication of the direction he wants to take this United side.
Manchester City
Summer friendly schedule
Aug. 9: Palermo; Sicily — (TBC)
Manchester City have only announced one preseason friendly to date — a trip to Italy to face City Football Group (CFG) sister club Palermo.
Pep Guardiola lost the most amount of games in a season in his managerial career as City finished third last season, qualifying for the Champions League. What would be seen as a great season for so many Premier League sides was seen as a failure for City.
This summer, after a surprising round-of-16 exit to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal at the Club World Cup, City will be looking to bounce back from their uncharacteristically poor domestic and European campaign. With the signings of Rayan Aït-Nouri, Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders, City are building quite the side to challenge for their seventh Premier League title under Guardiola.
Newcastle United
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Celtic; Celtic Park — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 27: Arsenal; Singapore — 12.30pm (BST) 7.30am (ET)
July 30: K-League Select XI; South Korea — 12pm (BST) 7am (ET)
Aug. 3: Tottenham Hotspur; South Korea — 12pm (BST) 7am (ET)
Aug. 8: Espanyol; St. James’ Park — 7.30pm (BST) 2.30pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Atlético Madrid; St. James’ Park — 4pm (BST) 11am (ET)
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side have a packed preseason schedule ahead of them. They started with a 4-0 win over Carlisle United and face Celtic before heading over to east Asia and finishing with back-to-back games at St. James’ Park.
New £55m-signing Anthony Elanga will have a series of games to settle into the side before the start of the season. They will hope that his Swedish compatriot Alexander Isak will play alongside him after telling Liverpool that he is unavailable. With 23 goals and six assists in the league last season, Isak is the last man Newcastle will want to lose.
They have booked in some high-quality friendlies as Howe and Newcastle look to build on Champions League qualification and a Carabao Cup win last season.
Nottingham Forest
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: AS Monaco; Chesterfield — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 26: Fulham; Portugal — 8pm (BST) 3pm (ET)
July 30: Estoril Praia; Portugal — 7pm (BST) 2pm (ET)
Aug. 2: Birmingham City; St. Andrews — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Aug. 5: Fiorentina; City Ground — 7.45pm (BST) 2.45pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Al Qadsiah; City Ground — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Like Newcastle, Nottingham Forest are a club in danger of losing their best player this summer, with Morgan Gibbs-White set for a move to Tottenham.
Amid all the transfer talk, Forest will head to Portugal where their two new signings from Brazilian side Botafogo, striker Igor Jesus and defender Jair Cunha, could debut after their involvement in the Club World Cup.
Before then however, Forest will host Paul Pogba’s Monaco in Chesterfield, a location a far cry away from the Stade Louis II. They finish with two games at the City Ground before they play Brentford in their league opener on Aug. 17.
Sunderland
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Sevilla; Portugal — 8pm (BST) 3pm (ET)
July 21: Sporting CP; Portugal — 8pm (BST) 3pm (ET)
July 26: Hearts; Tynecastle — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 29: Hull City; MKM Stadium — 7.45pm (BST) 2.45pm (ET)
Aug. 2: Real Betis; Stadium of Light — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Aug. 9: Augsburg; WWK Arena — 2pm (BST) 9am (ET)
Aug. 10: Rayo Vallecano; Stadium of Light — 4.30pm (BST) 11.30am (ET)
After eight years away and a barely believable four seasons in the wilderness of League One, Sunderland are finally back in the big time. They began their most important preseason in the best part of a decade with a draw and a win against non-league sides Gateshead and South Shields.
A popular destination for Premier League clubs, Sunderland will head to Portugal at the back end of July where they face European opposition. Their six signings so far, totalling around £100m, could all debut, including club-record signing Habib Diara and exciting winger Simon Adingra.
Regis Le Bris’ side are taking no prisoners in the transfer window, adding proven young top-flight quality to a side that came up through the play-offs, Le Bris will have seven matches in the space of three weeks to turn this quality into a side that can stay in the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Reading; Select Car Leasing Stadium — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 26: Luton Town; Kenilworth Road — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 31: Arsenal; Hong Kong — 12.30pm (BST) 7.30am (ET)
Aug. 3: Newcastle; Seoul — 12pm (BST) 7am (ET)
Aug. 7: Bayern Munich: Allianz Arena — 5.30pm (BST) 12.30pm (ET)
Europa League winners Tottenham will go into preseason with a new manager — former Brentford boss Thomas Frank has taken over from Ange Postecoglou — and will look to build on the club’s first taste of silverware in 17 years.
Frank will look at preseason as vitally important to ensuring his squad understands the high-intensity, forward-thinking football he will no doubt bring to Tottenham. New arrivals Mohammed Kudus and Japan defender Kota Takai will look to stake starting claims, they could also add Morgan Gibbs-White this summer.
Tottenham’s preseason friendlies — which include a north London derby in Hong Kong — will provide a clearer outlook on how Frank goes about succeeding the man who finally brought a trophy back to the white half of north London.
West Ham
Summer friendly schedule
July 19: Grasshoppers; Switzerland — 2pm (BST) 9am (ET)
July 26: Manchester United; New Jersey — 12am (BST, July 27) 7pm (ET)
July 30: Everton; Chicago — 11.30pm (BST) 6.30pm (ET)
Aug. 3: AFC Bournemouth; Atlanta — 7pm (BST) 2pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Lille; London Stadium — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Rounding off the Premier League summer series sides is West Ham, who will also travel to U.S. for three games. After the departures of Vladimír Coufal, Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Cresswell and Danny Ings as well as Mohamed Kudus’ £55m move to Tottenham, West Ham are in desperate need of some additions.
Michail Antonio’s future is also yet to be confirmed, leaving them particularly light up front.
Midfielder El Hadji Malick Diouf could debut this summer after his £19m move from Slavia Prague. Graham Potter will be looking for more incomings as the summer progresses, but West Ham’s games in the U.S. are opportunities for many to secure and hold on to a starting position ahead of the Englishman’s first full season as West Ham manager.
Wolves
Summer friendly schedule
July 26: Stoke City; bet365 Stadium — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
July 30: Lens; Walsall — 7.30pm (BST) 2.30pm (ET)
Aug. 3: Girona; Spain — 7pm (BST) 2pm (ET)
Aug. 9: Celta Vigo: Molineux — 3pm (BST) 10am (ET)
Wolves’ summer so far has been dominated by key outgoings, with top scorer Matheus Cunha joining United and Aït-Nouri leaving for City. They are yet to replace Aït-Nouri but have brought in forwards Jørgen Strand Larsen and Fernando López from Celta Vigo — who they play at home in their final friendly of the summer. They also look set to land 27-year-old Fluminense forward Jhon Arias, who impressed at the Club World Cup.
Captain Nélson Semedo’s future is yet to be confirmed by the club. Returning loanees Hugo Bueno, Ki-Jana Hoever and Nasser Djiga will need to hit the ground running in preseason to stake first-team claims ahead of a very challenging season opener for Wolves. They play Man City on Aug. 17.
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