Premier League PREVIEW 29 Aug 2026: Andoni Iraola's first Anfield league match, and Coventry come home to the top flight

Liverpool host Nottingham Forest at 12:30 BST, and it is Andoni Iraola's first Premier League match at Anfield as head coach, having replaced Arne Slot and arrived from Bournemouth. He was asked about that and did not pretend otherwise: "It's definitely a special moment for me to play your first Premier League game at Anfield. I think it's going to be emotional and I think it has to be like this. It is a special place." His squad is thin in places — Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Joe Gomez are all out, Curtis Jones is a doubt with a groin problem — and with the window shutting on 31 August he was candid about wanting another body: "we are trying to improve or try to fill that position because we don't have the numbers." Forest arrive still without a win under Oliver Glasner, beaten 1-0 at home by Leeds United through an Anton Stach free-kick and then 2-0 by the same opponents in the League Cup, and without Nicolo Savona and Ryan Yates. Neco Williams, who came off injured at Leeds, needs assessing before facing the club he left. Glasner has been blunt about the job: "The fact is that this team had a relegation battle for nine months. I'm no magician, no messiah, just hard work."

Coventry City against Hull City at 15:00 is the fixture with the longest wait behind it: Coventry's first top-flight home match in 25 years, since relegation in 2001. Frank Lampard expects the Coventry Building Society Arena to answer for it — "After 25 years and how our fans are, I expect them to be electric for every game" — while making the point that his side will be measured against opponents like these rather than against Arsenal, who beat them 3-0 on the opening weekend. Coventry won 4-2 at Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Cup on Tuesday with Jack Rudoni and Ephron Mason-Clark back in the squad; Haji Wright, Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Luke Woolfenden are out, the last two for weeks. Hull have the better fortnight to point to, having beaten Manchester United 2-0 at the MKM Stadium through Semi Ajayi and the club-record signing Nobel Mendy, and Sergej Jakirovic brings them here on a six-match unbeaten run in all competitions, though with a long absentee list that includes Jack Butland, Charlie Hughes and Joe Gelhardt.

AFC Bournemouth against Everton, also at 15:00, is Marco Rose's first home match at the Vitality Stadium. Bournemouth lost their opener 2-1 at Manchester City after Marcus Tavernier had put them in front, and are without Eli Junior Kroupi, Amine Adli, Veljko Milosavljevic and Julian Araujo, with Ryan Christie available again after suspension. Rose spent his press conference batting away the deadline: asked whether Alex Scott would still be there on 1 September, he said "I'm not just confident, I'm sure", and put it at "120 per cent". Everton come with the best fortnight of anybody on this card — 2-0 against Crystal Palace, then 4-0 against Preston North End in the EFL Cup, neither goal conceded — and with Thierno Barry on four goals in two matches including a hat-trick against Preston. David Moyes still wants as many as five more signings before Monday, and is short in midfield with Tim Iroegbunam out for weeks and Christian Norgaard unavailable.

Tottenham Hotspur against Newcastle United closes the day at 17:30, and both benches are new. Roberto De Zerbi's side were beaten 3-0 at Brentford on the opening weekend and answered with a 5-1 win over Charlton Athletic in the EFL Cup; Matthias Jaissle's Newcastle drew 2-2 at home with Liverpool and beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 in the same round. Both may hand a debut to a player signed from Manchester City this summer: Savio is in line for his first Tottenham start after scoring and setting one up from the bench in midweek, and Nico Gonzalez is in contention for Newcastle — "Nico has trained with us, he looks sharp. He is an option for Saturday," Jaissle said. The absences are long on both sides. Tottenham are without Xavi Simons, Dejan Kulusevski and Wilson Odobert, with James Maddison out for at least a fortnight with a shoulder fracture and Mohammed Kudus not yet ready after quad surgery; Newcastle are missing Dan Burn, Joelinton, Tino Livramento and William Osula. De Zerbi's summary was that of a manager with a new squad and an early defeat: "We have to fight in a different way, and we need to make results."