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Chelsea’s 2025-26 fixtures: Key dates for your diary

We take a closer look at Chelsea’s fixtures for the 2025/26 Premier League campaign with key dates for your diary including a huge clash with Liverpool.

by
Max Akpan
July 5, 2025

Following a memorable maiden campaign under Enzo Maresca, Chelsea will aim to elevate their standards when the Premier League resumes this August.

Securing Champions League qualification and lifting the UEFA Conference League trophy during 2024-25 marked notable accomplishments for the West London club. Still, with their prestigious legacy of collecting trophies, those achievements alone won’t suffice. Chelsea are expected to offer much more on the field if they’re serious about narrowing the gap between themselves, reigning champions Liverpool, and rivals Arsenal.

Interestingly, the early part of Chelsea’s fixture list is heavily London-based, which could ease the physical strain of travel. Their season kicks off at Stamford Bridge with a visit from Crystal Palace, who themselves earned silverware by winning the FA Cup—a triumph that secured them direct passage to the Europa League. After that, Maresca’s men face consecutive local derbies against West Ham, Fulham, and Brentford.

The condensed travel schedule is beneficial, especially with momentum being such a crucial factor. Starting strong isn’t just a cliché—it has historically shaped seasons. While it’s vital for clubs fighting relegation, it’s equally critical for ambitious sides like Chelsea, who are trying to hit the ground running. Out of all clubs that have begun a campaign with consecutive wins, exactly 100 have accomplished the feat. However, Chelsea hasn’t done so since Thomas Tuchel’s time in the 2021-22 season, and they’ll be eager to correct that in the upcoming season.

Although Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest narrowly missed out on a Champions League berth, they capped off a brilliant season by qualifying for European competition for the first time in three decades, sealing a spot in the Conference League. Chelsea, on the other hand, went all the way in that very tournament, defeating Real Betis in the final to claim the silverware and lay the groundwork for a promising new chapter under Maresca’s leadership.

Fixtures overview

Chelsea are set to open a new Premier League season in unfamiliar fashion—engaging in four consecutive London clashes to begin their campaign, a sequence never before experienced in the club’s top-flight timeline.

Enzo Maresca’s men will kick things off at home to Crystal Palace, a team they dispatched 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend of the 2021-22 season. After that, they’ll journey east to take on West Ham United, return to host Fulham, and wrap up this capital-based stretch away at Brentford. The first showdown with one of the so-called ‘big six’ follows, as they head to Manchester United.

What makes this start even more unique is the compact geography—something that could work in Maresca’s favour, considering Chelsea’s curtailed pre-season, a result of their extended break following participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.

If Chelsea are once again battling for a spot in the Champions League or eyeing a title pursuit, their schedule towards the end of the season could present significant challenges.

From the end of February, they’re pitted against each of the seven teams that, along with them, made up the top eight during the 2024-25 season. One daunting away trip will be to Anfield, where we will face the reigning champions, Liverpool, in their penultimate away fixture.

Meanwhile, supporters of the Blues will have to wait unusually late for the highly anticipated clash with Tottenham Hotspur, with that fierce derby scheduled as Chelsea’s final home outing of the season.

Key dates for the 2025-26 season

Between June 1 and June 10, an exclusive pre–Club World Cup transfer window was held—a short-lived market that preceded the standard summer trading period.

Following that early activity, the regular summer window resumed operations on June 16 and will run until 11 pm BST (6 pm ET) on Monday, September 1. Notably, the financial deadline for the 2024–25 Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) will arrive on June 30, marking the end of the current fiscal evaluation period.

Looking ahead, the winter transfer market will reopen on Thursday, January 1, and remain active until Monday, February 2.

The 2025–26 Premier League campaign is scheduled to commence over the weekend of August 15–17, following the Community Shield showdown a week earlier on August 8, where the reigning league holders, Liverpool, are set to meet the FA Cup champions, Crystal Palace.

The season will conclude on Sunday, May 24, 2026, with the traditional simultaneous kickoff across all ten fixtures on the final day.

As usual, Premier League clubs will join the FA Cup in the third round, beginning on Saturday, January 10. The Carabao Cup starts in mid-August, with teams not competing in European tournaments entering at the second-round stage during the week of August 25. The seven remaining clubs participating in UEFA competitions will automatically advance to round three, scheduled for the weeks of September 15 and September 22.

Despite Chelsea’s current involvement in the Club World Cup, preparations for their domestic campaign are already in motion—the 2025–26 league fixtures have been released and fans are already making plans to buy Chelsea tickets for their key games.

With Enzo Maresca delivering Champions League qualification via a fourth-place league finish and backing it up by lifting the Europa Conference League, expectations at Stamford Bridge are now considerably heightened.

However, the added responsibility of Champions League midweek fixtures—which carry far more significance and visibility than the Conference League did—means that the timing and difficulty of domestic matches around those European dates could be pivotal to their league hopes.

Two particular showdowns are crucial checkpoints in their title ambitions next term.

Manchester City (a)—January 3

Although Chelsea will host two successive home fixtures during the Christmas stretch, their festive schedule begins with a demanding away clash against Newcastle United.

To commence 2025, Enzo Maresca’s side make the journey to the Etihad Stadium. At this venue, they have consistently struggled to secure results, making it a less-than-ideal backdrop to the new calendar year.

Manchester City have dominated recent league encounters between the two sides, maintaining an eight-game unbeaten streak against Chelsea in the Premier League. Since suffering a 2-1 defeat at home in May 2021—a result that temporarily delayed their title celebrations—Pep Guardiola’s men have won six of those meetings and drawn the remaining two.

On the defensive front, Chelsea’s recent record at the Etihad is dismal. In their last 16 Premier League visits, they’ve managed just one clean sheet, which came in February 2014 in a narrow 1-0 win.

Moreover, they’ve failed to find the back of the net in seven of those away trips. That attacking drought extended to the start of the 2024–25 season, when they were defeated 2-0 by City on opening day at Stamford Bridge—a fixture in which they were once again unable to breach Guardiola’s defence.

Liverpool (a)—May 9

By steering clear of any of the previous campaign’s top seven during August and September, Chelsea have been handed a promising platform to open the new season with momentum.

Yet, their involvement in the Club World Cup has shortened their preseason preparations, potentially placing them at a disadvantage in terms of sharpness. As such, contests like this one—against the reigning Premier League champions—may carry high stakes despite being in the early stage of the schedule.

Chelsea secured a victory over Liverpool last time they met. However, that match was played at Stamford Bridge and took place after the Merseyside side had already secured the league title.

This time, the dynamic could be far different if both clubs are in the title race when they meet in May. If silverware contention is still alive for both camps, a clash at Anfield would suit Liverpool, who are renowned for relishing high-pressure atmospheres, especially when honours are on the line. In front of 60,000 fans with Liverpool tickets, the Reds will be favourites at Anfield.

Historically, Chelsea have found results hard to come by against the Reds, who have remained consistent frontrunners in recent seasons. This particular duel is the sternest challenge of the opening stretch for Enzo Maresca’s men.

Across the last 11 matchups with the current league champions in all contests, Chelsea have managed just one victory, with three defeats and seven stalemates to their name. Their hard-earned 2-1 win at the Bridge kept them from matching their longest drought versus the Reds—a game winless spell that spanned from May 1985 to October 1990.

Here’s a full list of Chelsea’s key fixtures and their respective dates.

Chelsea 2025-26 key dates

August 16, 2025: Crystal Palace (h)
August 28: Champions League draw
September 16 to 18: Champions League matchday one
October 4: Liverpool (h)
November 29: Arsenal (h)
January 3: Manchester City (a)
February 28: Arsenal (a)
April 11: Manchester City (h)
May 9: Liverpool (a)

Champions League key dates?

Levi Colwill’s second-half effort proved decisive as Chelsea claimed a narrow 1-0 win at the City Ground, effectively sealing their Champions League qualification at the expense of Nottingham Forest.

Since their last participation in Europe’s elite club tournament during the 2022–23 season—the first whole campaign under Todd Boehly’s ownership—the West Londoners had been absent. But following a consistent presence inside the top five throughout Enzo Maresca’s first year, their objective on the final day was crystal clear.

An electrifying conclusion to the Premier League season saw Chelsea emerge victorious on the road, securing a fourth-place finish courtesy of Colwill’s strike, and with it, a return to Champions League football next term.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Newcastle United will also feature alongside the Blues, with all five Premier League clubs guaranteed direct entry into the league stage. The Champions League draw for that round has been scheduled by UEFA for 28 August.

The culmination of the competition is scheduled to be held at Puskás Aréna in Budapest.

Here are the key dates for the UEFA Champions League, from the draws and group stage to the knockout rounds and the final.