TNT Sports and HBO Max place Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham at the centre of the new Premier League season early on
TNT Sports and HBO Max have included Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur among the matches that will define the first weeks of the 2026/27 Premier League season. According to the schedule published by TNT Sports on July 7, 2026, after opening its television offering with the meeting between Hull City and Manchester United, the channel will broadcast Liverpool against Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United against Bournemouth, Sunderland against Arsenal and Tottenham against Aston Villa in August and September. These are matches that combine a strong sporting context, changes in the dugouts and high expectations from supporters, but also an early signal of how the stories of the new season will take shape in the British television schedule.
The official Premier League schedule, published on June 19, 2026, confirms that the new season begins on Friday, August 21, with the match between Arsenal and Coventry City, while TNT Sports has its first broadcast a day later, on August 22, when Hull City host Manchester United in the 12:30 slot according to the British schedule. The same official schedule also states that match dates and times are subject to change due to the television schedule and clubs' European commitments. For that reason, the early selection of broadcasts is not only a list of matches, but also an important framework for supporters, clubs, media companies and international viewers planning to follow the start of the season.
First block of matches: from Hull to north London
According to TNT Sports' announcement, the first Premier League match on TNT Sports and HBO Max in the 2026/27 season will be Hull City against Manchester United, on Saturday, August 22, at 12:30 British time. That clash carries additional weight because Hull enter the season as one of the clubs that have returned to the top tier of English football, while Manchester United begin the campaign with the ambition of confirming the progress made in the previous season. The Premier League lists the same time and television designation for that match on its official website, making it the starting point of TNT's league programme.
One week later, on August 29, TNT Sports and HBO Max will broadcast Liverpool against Nottingham Forest at Anfield. According to TNT Sports, that is Andoni Iraola's first home league match as Liverpool manager. In September, Newcastle United against Bournemouth follows on September 5, also at 12:30, and then Sunderland against Arsenal on September 12 in the evening slot at 20:00. The final match in the first announced block will be Tottenham Hotspur against Aston Villa, on September 19 at 12:30.
Such a schedule shows that TNT Sports and HBO Max are opening the season not only with matches involving the biggest global clubs, but also with fixtures that have clear competitive and narrative reasons for wider attention. Hull City and Sunderland bring stories of clubs trying to stabilise their status in the elite company, Liverpool enter a new era on the bench, Arsenal begin their title defence, and Tottenham and Aston Villa meet in a duel between two clubs whose ambitions stretch far beyond merely making a good start. In the early weeks, when it is still impossible to speak of definitive trends in the table, such matches often shape the tone of the season and public perception.
Liverpool's home premiere under Andoni Iraola
The match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on August 29 stands out in particular because TNT Sports states that it will be Iraola's first home match in the Premier League as Liverpool manager. Iraola previously built his reputation at Bournemouth, and his arrival at Anfield marks one of the most interesting coaching changes ahead of the new season. For Liverpool, a club with a huge global following, the first home match of a new coach is usually much more than a regular league slot: it represents the beginning of a new tactical cycle, the first serious test of the relationship with the Anfield crowd and a measure of the initial energy in the dressing room.
Nottingham Forest also enter the season with their own changes and pressure for results. TNT Sports states that Forest have a new manager, Oliver Glasner, and recalls that the club finished the previous season in 16th place after spending much of the campaign involved in the fight for survival. In that context, a visit to Anfield is not only a demanding start for Forest, but also an opportunity to show, at an early stage, how much the team has stabilised after the changes. For TNT Sports, the Liverpool-Forest duel therefore offers clear television logic: a major stadium, new coaches, a historically strong home side and a visiting team seeking a new identity.
Liverpool's match also comes after a demanding schedule for the club, because the official Premier League schedule states that Liverpool open the season away to Newcastle United on August 23, before hosting Nottingham Forest six days later. Such a start gives Iraola very little room for gradual adjustment. Already in the first two rounds he must provide answers against opponents of different profiles: Newcastle in a demanding away environment and Forest at Anfield, where the expectations of the crowd will be high from the first whistle.
Arsenal as champions and an evening test at Sunderland
Arsenal's away match at Sunderland on September 12 at 20:00 according to the British schedule is the most prominent evening slot among TNT's announced early broadcasts. The Premier League officially confirmed that Arsenal won the title in the 2025/26 season and ended a 22-year wait, so the new campaign begins for the north London club with a different kind of pressure. Instead of the role of challenger, Arsenal enter the season as the team opponents will be especially eager to beat, and every early result will be interpreted through the question of whether the team can withstand the burden of defending the title.
According to the official Premier League schedule, Arsenal open the season with a home match against Coventry City on August 21, then visit Aston Villa on August 31, and travel to the Stadium of Light on September 12. TNT Sports also highlights Sunderland's story from last season and states that the club exceeded expectations after returning from the Championship and secured qualification for the UEFA Europa League. If such a rise is confirmed in the new season as well, Arsenal's visit will not be merely a duel between the champions and a nominal outsider, but a test against a team that has already shown the ability to disrupt the usual hierarchies.
The evening slot further increases the visibility of the match. Saturday matches in a later slot often attract international attention because they fit more easily into viewing habits across multiple time zones, although broadcast availability always differs from market to market. For Arsenal, that match comes after the opening rounds in which the public will look for confirmation that the 2025/26 title was not a short-term peak but the beginning of a more stable period. For Sunderland, the match against the reigning champions is an opportunity to further strengthen the status of a club that does not want to be a fleeting story of a return to the Premier League.
Tottenham against Aston Villa as an early test of ambitions
TNT Sports and HBO Max have also announced the broadcast of the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa on September 19 at 12:30 according to the British schedule. In its preview, TNT Sports emphasises that Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham want a positive start after a problematic 2025/26 season. For the north London club, such a match comes at a moment when early expectations are already beginning to turn into concrete assessments: after several rounds, it is no longer only about the impression from pre-season, but about the first points, the rhythm of play and the ability to settle high-intensity matches without major fluctuations.
Aston Villa enter this television framework as an opponent whose sporting importance in recent seasons has been much broader than the role of an awkward visitor. In its general season preview, TNT Sports states that Villa won the UEFA Europa League in the previous campaign and could be among the clubs aiming to attack the very top. Such a context makes the match against Tottenham important beyond the effect of the individual points. Early meetings between clubs with European ambitions often create an advantage in a psychological sense, because victory in such a duel can quickly change the tone of the debate about the reach of the season.
For viewers, the duel between Tottenham and Aston Villa has another dimension: it is a meeting of styles and coaching ideas that could significantly influence the fight for places in European competitions. Tottenham must show stability after a period of inconsistency, while Villa are trying to capitalise on European success and maintain continuity of results. That is precisely why this match is a logical choice for an early television slot, especially in a phase of the season when the balance of power is not yet known, but ambitions and weaknesses can already be recognised.
HBO Max as TNT Sports' new streaming home in the United Kingdom
The announcement of the matches is also important because of the change in the way TNT Sports is watched on the British market. Warner Bros. Discovery announced in March 2026 that HBO Max had launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland and that HBO Max was becoming the new streaming home of TNT Sports in the United Kingdom. WBD's official announcement states that TNT Sports on HBO Max includes broadcasts of the Premier League, the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Conference League and other sports content.
This means that the Premier League schedule on TNT Sports and HBO Max should be read primarily as information for markets where those rights and that platform are available in that form. Warner Bros. Discovery explicitly states that TNT Sports is available on HBO Max only in the United Kingdom, while the official list of Premier League rights holders shows that television rights differ by territory. For the 2025/26-2027/28 cycle, the Premier League lists Sky Sports and TNT Sports in the United Kingdom, and NBC Sports in the United States of America. In Ireland, according to the same list, the rights holders are Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Premier Sports.
For a global audience, this is an important note because the name of the platform does not automatically mean the same availability of sports broadcasts in every country. Viewers in different countries should check the local rights holder, even when the same clubs and the same kick-off times circulate in international sports news. The Premier League sells audiovisual rights territorially, so one schedule of British broadcasts may be relevant for information about the selection of matches, but it does not necessarily mean that the same fixtures will be shown on the same services in other countries.
Why early television selections carry more weight than the schedule itself
Early television selections often say which stories media partners consider most attractive at the start of the season. In this case, the emphasis is clearly placed on clubs with large international audiences, but also on teams entering the season with changes or a special competitive context. Liverpool under a new coach, Arsenal as reigning champions, Tottenham searching for a more stable direction and Aston Villa after European success form a set of themes that goes beyond the usual list of big matches. In that sense, the selection by TNT Sports and HBO Max acts as an editorial cross-section of the most important questions that will be asked from August onward.
At the same time, the official Premier League schedule is a reminder that the entire season is much broader than the first few television slots. In the first month of competition, matches already appear that can influence perceptions of the title race, European positions and survival in the league, but the Premier League remains a 380-match competition in which early assessments often change. Television slots nevertheless have real importance because they increase the visibility of individual clubs, create additional pressure and give the international audience a clear map of events worth following.
By September 19, when TNT's first announced block ends with the match between Tottenham and Aston Villa, it will be clearer whether the early assumptions were justified. Liverpool will already have their first impressions of the Iraola era, Arsenal will show how they carry the status of champions, and Tottenham and Villa will be able to measure how much their ambitions are backed up by results. Until then, the TNT Sports and HBO Max schedule sets the stage for the start of a season in which television visibility, coaching changes and sporting pressure will be closely connected.
Sources:
- TNT Sports – preview of the matches involving Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur on TNT Sports and HBO Max in August and September (link)
- TNT Sports – guide to Premier League matches on TNT Sports and HBO Max and information about the schedule and viewing plans (link)
- Premier League – official schedule of all 380 matches of the 2026/27 season and note on possible changes to kick-off times (link)
- Premier League – official list of audiovisual rights holders by territory for the 2025/26-2027/28 cycle (link)
- Premier League – confirmation of Arsenal's title in the 2025/26 season and the end of a 22-year wait (link)
- Warner Bros. Discovery Pressroom – official information on the launch of HBO Max in the United Kingdom and Ireland and the move of TNT Sports to HBO Max in the United Kingdom (link)