GW1 Premier League Season review and Manual Assist Summary

Its finally here, the Premier League season 2026/27

The new Premier League season kicks off tonight.
Arsenal should have things fairly comfortable at home against newly-promoted Coventry, and Manchester United look set for a routine away win at Hull, another side just up from the Championship. Manchester City are strongly fancied at home to Bournemouth. Chelsea head into their trip to Fulham as clear favourites on Monday night. The pick of the weekend, though, is Newcastle hosting Liverpool on Sunday afternoon — a proper early-season litmus test, but the Reds go in as the slight favourites for what should be a tight, competitive opener away from home.

Elsewhere the picture’s a lot murkier. Everton-Crystal Palace and Brighton-Villa both look like the home side edging it but nothing like a certainty, while Forest-Leeds is close enough to go either way. The two toughest to call are Ipswich against Sunderland — genuinely anyone’s game between the two promoted clubs — and Brentford’s home clash with Tottenham, which looks far closer than Spurs’ reputation might suggest. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a weekend where the big boys mostly do what’s expected of them, but there’s enough uncertainty in the middle of the table to make for some entertaining, unpredictable football.

9

Nine. A record nine Premier League clubs are starting the 2026/27 season with a new manager — the most in an English top-flight season since 1946/47, the first campaign after World War II.

The new faces include: Marco Rose (Bournemouth), Xabi Alonso (Chelsea), Pierre Sage (Crystal Palace), Alvaro Arbeloa (Fulham), Gary O’Neil (Ipswich Town), Andoni Iraola (Liverpool), Enzo Maresca (Manchester City), Matthias Jaissle (Newcastle) and Oliver Glasner (Nottingham Forest).

Notably, three of the league’s traditional heavyweights — Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea — are all beginning new eras under different managers, which is a big part of why this season feels so unpredictable. Across all 20 clubs, managers have been in their current jobs for an average of just 474 days heading into this season — the lowest opening-day figure of the Premier League era.

New Rules

There’s a fair bit of tweaking to the Laws of the Game this season (not ours, I might add), most of it aimed at cutting out time-wasting and speeding up the pace of matches. The headline change is around injuries: any player who receives on-field treatment now has to stay off the pitch for at least a minute once play restarts, up from the previous 30-second rule. There’s also a new trial specifically for goalkeeper injuries — if a keeper needs treatment, the manager has to send an outfield player off the pitch too, and that player has to stay off for a minute after the restart, which is clearly aimed at stopping teams using “keeper knocks” to run down the clock or regroup, unless the goalkeeper’s been fouled or collided with someone.

On restarts, referees can now properly penalise stalling: there’s a five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal-kicks, and if a team drags its heels past that, the throw-in goes straight to the opposition, or a goal-kick becomes a corner for the other side. Substitutions get tightened up too — players being subbed off now have just 10 seconds to actually leave the pitch, or their replacement can’t come on until the next stoppage after a minute has passed. There are also clearer disciplinary lines drawn — deliberate, forceful hair-pulling is now a straight red, with lesser incidents getting a yellow, and referees have been told to protect goalkeepers more, penalising attackers who barge into them without a genuine attempt to win the ball. One thing the Premier League has deliberately steered clear of: it isn’t adopting some of IFAB’s optional extras, including giving VAR the power to review incorrectly awarded corners.

Fantasy League Manual assist Summary

Manual Assists Awarded

Arsenal v Coventry 21st August 2026 – Tzolis cross palmed by keeper into Saka, who scores.
Hull City v Man Utd 21st August 2026 – McBurnie shot, saved by keeper and onto post before poked home.
Brentford v Spurs 21st August 2026 – Jensen shot parried by Kinsky before Janelt scores.
Brighton v Villa 22nd August 2026- De Cuyper hits the post and Torres chests in an OG
Newcastle v Liverpool 22nd August 2026- Victor Munoz fouled for the Szobozlai penalty equaliser
Fulham v Chelsea 24th August 2026 – Castagne shot saved by keeper, rebounds to Garcia who scores