The Premier League fixture list for the 2026/27 season has been revealed.
Chelsea will get their campaign up and running with a trip to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham. The Blues won seven Premier League games in a row against the Cottagers between 2013 and 2021, but tasted defeat at the Cottage back in January.
- 24th Aug 2026: Fulham v Chelsea
- 29th Aug 2026: Chelsea v Brighton
- 5th Sept 2026: Arsenal v Chelsea
- 12th Sept 2026: Chelsea v Hull
- 19th Sept 2026: Brentford v Chelsea
There will be a trip to the Emirates to take on champions Arsenal in September, before an eye-catching double header against Tottenham and Manchester United the following month.
A trip to Coventry will offer a Boxing Day jaunt up the M1, with the return fixture against Arsenal to follow in March.
Should Chelsea have ambitions of winning the title, or at least finishing in the Champions League places, they may need a strong May – trips to Liverpool, Tottenham and Bournemouth, with a final day encounter against Brentford, suggest that it could be a tricky conclusion to the campaign.
Back to the opening day; a chance to see any new signings strut their stuff for the first time, as well as the optimism and expectation that comes with the beginning of a fresh campaign.
Sometimes, Chelsea’s performances have lived up to the billing. Other times, not so much…
Chelsea 6-0 West Brom (2010/11)
| Minute | Goalscorer | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6′ | Florent Malouda | Chelsea | 1-0 |
| 45+1′ | Didier Drogba | Chelsea | 2-0 |
| 55′ | Didier Drogba | Chelsea | 3-0 |
| 63′ | Frank Lampard | Chelsea | 4-0 |
| 68′ | Didier Drogba | Chelsea | 5-0 |
| 90′ | Florent Malouda | Chelsea | 6-0 |
The dreamiest of dream scenarios is an easy win on home soil to get the season up and running.
So we can hail the opening day of the 2010/11 campaign, when Chelsea ran riot at Stamford Bridge against West Brom to frank their title credentials under Carlo Ancelotti.
It was a shame that Roberto Di Matteo was the ultimate victim – he was the Baggies’ boss at the time, but it was good news for Blues fans as Didier Drogba scored a magnificent hat-trick.
Florent Malouda bagged a brace and Frank Lampard also scored in a result that should have laid the foundations for a strong season. Instead, Ancelotti was later sacked and, ironically, Di Matteo replaced him – although that tale would, of course, have a happy ending…
Chelsea 4-2 West Ham (2000/01)
| Minute | Goalscorer | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30′ | Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink | Chelsea | 1-0 |
| 48′ | Paolo Di Canio | West Ham | 1-1 |
| 59′ | Gianfranco Zola | Chelsea | 2-1 |
| 78′ | Mario Stanić | Chelsea | 3-1 |
| 85′ | Freddie Kanouté | West Ham | 3-2 |
| 90′ | Mario Stanić | Chelsea | 4-1 |
Home win? Check. Four goals scored? Check. Beat one of your historic rivals? Double check.
It was a bright new dawn to the 2000/01 season under Gianluca Vialli, with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink netting from the penalty spot in the first half.
Paolo Di Canio equalised for the Hammers, but Chelsea’s class would ultimately tell with Gianfranco Zola and Mario Stanic opening up a two-goal advantage.
It was Stanic who would notch the fourth in a nearly perfect opening day display, although it wouldn’t be long before club legend Vialli was sacked following a series of poor results.
Chelsea 4-0 Sunderland (1999/00)
| Minute | Goalscorer | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20′ | Gustavo Poyet | Chelsea | 1-0 |
| 32′ | Gianfranco Zola | Chelsea | 2-0 |
| 56′ | Gustavo Poyet | Chelsea | 1-0 |
| 77′ | Tore André Flo | Chelsea | 4-0 |
Given how close Chelsea had come to winning the Premier League title in 1998/99, it was only natural that expectations were high heading into the new campaign.
And Sunderland were not about to burst that bubble, with the Blues running out convincing 4-0 winners.
This was champagne football, capped by Gus Poyet’s brilliant scissor kick strike which completed the scoring – Zola and Tore Andre Flo the other Chelsea players on the scoresheet.
It was a high point in a season which also saw us lift the FA Cup, although a fifth-place finish in the Premier League – and quarter-final exit in the Champions League – were not what the doctor ordered.
Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (2004/05)
| Minute | Goalscorer | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14′ | Eiður Guðjohnsen | Chelsea | 1-0 |
Playing against one of the best teams on the planet is perhaps not the optimal way of getting your season up and running.
But Chelsea seized the day against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United to get their campaign off to the best possible start.
This was, you may recall, Jose Mourinho’s first ever game in charge of Chelsea… not a bad way to introduce yourself to the Stamford Bridge faithful.
Two new faces in the Blues starting line-up – Drogba and Petr Cech – made their Chelsea bow, but it was an old hand in Eidur Gudjohnsen that would net the winning goal.
Nine months or so later, Chelsea were Premier League champions and League Cup winners… with a fine run in the Champions League ended at the semi-final stage.
Coventry City 3-2 Chelsea (1997/98)
| Minute | Goalscorer | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39′ | Frank Sinclair | Chelsea | 0-1 |
| 41′ | Dion Dublin | Coventry | 1-1 |
| 42′ | Dion Dublin | Coventry | 2-1 |
| 71′ | Tore André Flo | Chelsea | 2-2 |
| 88′ | Dion Dublin | Coventry | 3-2 |
Of course, it can’t all be dream starts.
Many a football fan will be familiar with the metaphorical air-out-of-the-tyre feeling that comes with an opening day defeat.
Chelsea’s alma mater in that regard, certainly in the Premier League era, came in August 1997, when they were put to the sword by Coventry City.
Things were going okay for the Londoners, with first Frank Sinclair and then Tore-Andre Flo putting us ahead.
But each time Coventry replied, and then came the ultimate sucker punch when Dion Dublin netted the winner for the hosts in the 88th minute.
Ruud Gullit was replaced in charge by Vialli in February 1998, with the Italian going on to hoist both the League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup in a successful first half-season in the dugout.