Sunderland 2025/26 Premier League fixture list: Date, time, key matches & how they're produced

Sunderland will finally find out their schedule for the upcoming Premier League season on Wednesday morning.

The Black Cats secured a long-awaited return to the top flight last month with a Championship play-off final victory over Sheffield United, and in doing so, ended an eight-year stint in the EFL.

Now, as anticipation builds for the upcoming campaign, all eyes will be on the fixture list when it drops this week...

When will Sunderland find out their Premier League fixtures for the 2025/26 campaign?

The Premier League fixture list will be released in full at 9am BST on Wednesday morning.

What are the key dates for the 2025/26 campaign?

The opening round of Premier League fixtures will kick-off on the weekend of Saturday, August 16th, with the final round being played on Sunday, May 24th, 2026.

The Premier League has confirmed the 2025/26 season will consist of 33 weekends and five midweek match rounds. The schedule continues to allow more rest time for players over the festive period, with no two rounds taking place within 60 hours of each other. This is in keeping with commitments made to clubs to address the congested Christmas and New Year schedule. There will be no Christmas Eve fixture for the second year in a row.

What are the key Sunderland fixtures to look out for?

The 2025/26 campaign will mark the return of the Tyne-Wear Derby, with Sunderland having only played Newcastle United once since their relegation from the Premier League in 2017. As such, the double header will likely be the first set of fixtures that most fans of both clubs are looking out for.

Elsewhere, it will be interesting to see who Sunderland are handed on Boxing Day - and whether that match will be played at the Stadium of Light or on the road. With many expecting a potential battle for survival next term as well, the Black Cats’ final run-in could prove to be pivotal in their bid to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.

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How is the Premier League fixture schedule produced?

According to the Premier League, putting together the fixture schedule takes up to six months. The process is managed by IT company Atos, who are based on the outskirts of Paris, France.

A slew of information about the football calendar – international dates, European match weeks, and the scheduling of the lower leagues – is inputted into Atos’ system. Further information such as policing capacity and geographical proximity are also taken into account.

Once all of the background information has been inputted, clubs are put in a pairing grid, which defines when they will play at home and when they will play away. From there, the system generates a randomised set of fixtures.

The fixture list is manually verified by Atos staff and representatives from the Premier League and Football League. If any issues are spotted, the process is repeated again and a new set of fixtures is generated until one is deemed to satisfy all requirements.

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