Very exciting news.
The new season of Premier League action on Sky Sports will begin with Arsenal’s record signing Alexandre Lacazette’s first competitive game for the Gunners, against Leicester.
It will be the first time the Premier League season has begun on a Friday night.
The top six teams from 2016/17 - Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United - will all be shown live in the first two weeks of the campaign, with all six sides also featuring on Sky Sports’ schedule of Saturday 3pm fixtures, only available to customers in Ireland.
These include: Chelsea v Burnley (12 August), Liverpool v Crystal Palace (19 August), Newcastle vs West Ham (26 August), Arsenal v Bournemouth (9 September), Watford v Man City (16 September), Southampton v Man United (23 September) and Man United v Crystal Palace (30 September).
Sky Sports will broadcast all 20 Premier League sides by the end of September, visit 19 different grounds and bring fans the big head-to-heads, including Tottenham’s first league match at Wembley Stadium, against champions Chelsea.
The battle between last year’s top two sides is one of a number of key matches on Sky Sports, which also features Liverpool v Arsenal, Manchester City v Liverpool and Chelsea v Arsenal.
Following Arsenal v Leicester on the opening weekend, the cameras head to Vicarage Road as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool face a tricky trip to Watford. And on Super Sunday Newcastle’s return to the Premier League sees them take on Tottenham, before Manchester United host West Ham at Old Trafford.
Sky Sports Head of Football Gary Hughes said: “Showing Arsenal’s record-signing in the first match of the season - under the Friday night lights – is an exciting way to kick things off. In the opening seven weeks Sky Sports will show every club, four of the early head-to-heads and get to 19 grounds – we can’t wait for the season to start.”
In their first season in the top tier of English football since 1972, Huddersfield Town’s opening home game in the Premier League will be broadcast live, when they host Newcastle.
Elsewhere, the first Monday Night Football of the season sees Ronald Koeman’s new-look Everton travel to Manchester City while Bournemouth will host fellow south-coasters Brighton in the second Friday Night Football of the campaign.
