STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Fri: Arsenal v Coventry

The Premier League is back, and it kicks off with an intriguing fixture between last season’s Premier League champions and the winners of the Championship title, writes JOE CITRONE.

Arsenal’s goal is clear this season: retain their Premier League crown. And manager Mikel Arteta seems to be in pretty confident spirits regarding their chances heading into this new season.

Although they did miss out on targets like Morgan Rogers and Vinicius Jr, their new additions seem to have bedded in well, particularly new wide-man Christos Tzolis, who looked excellent in the Gunners’ emphatic Community Shield victory over Manchester City last week.

Arsenal v Coventry City
Premier League
20:00 Sky Sports

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
JAN 2014 FA CUP Arsenal 4-0 Coventry City
SEP 2012 LEAGUE CUP Arsenal 6-1 Coventry City
FEB 2001 PREMIER LEAGUE Coventry City 0-1 Arsenal
DEC 1999 PREMIER LEAGUE Coventry City 3-2 Arsenal
APR 1997 PREMIER LEAGUE Coventry City 1-1 Arsenal

ARSENAL
AUG 2026 COMMUNITY SHIELD Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Arsenal 1-1 Como (Arsenal won 4-3 on pens)
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Arsenal 2-3 Borussia Dortmund (Arsenal won 5-4 on pens)
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Arsenal 1-3 Real Betis
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Girona 1-4 Arsenal

COVENTRY CITY
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Coventry City 2-0 Monaco
AUG 2026 FRIENDLY Coventry City 3-1 Espanyol
JUL 2026 FRIENDLY Northampton Town 0-0 Coventry City
JUL 2026 FRIENDLY Watford 0-4 Coventry City
JUL 2026 FRIENDLY Coventry City 3-1 Wrexham

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Coventry are back in the Premier League for the first time in 23 years. As much as the Sky Blues will be in great spirits ahead of their first game, there’s no doubt that they will have to pull off a major shock in order to make a winning return to the top-flight.

Coventry boss Frank Lampard will be desperate to seize this opportunity to return to the Premier League as a manager after a disappointing spell at Everton and disastrous second stint at Chelsea. His record against Arsenal, however, offers little encouragement, with six defeats from his eight meetings with them as a manager.

I’d be surprised to see anything other than an Arsenal victory here, but Coventry’s impressive momentum heading into the new campaign gives me confidence they can get on the scoresheet. At 21/10 with starsports.bet, Arsenal to win and both teams to score looks appealing.

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