Coventry City return to the Premier League after 25 years to face champions Arsenal

Some promotions are celebrated with a trophy and a lap of honor. Others are celebrated simply because the club is still standing. Coventry City's belongs to the second category. This weekend, the Midlands side returns to the Premier League after 25 years away, and it does so in the toughest way possible: on the road against an Arsenal side arriving as defending champions and heavy favorites.

For any other newly promoted club, opening the season at the Emirates against the reigning champions would sound like a death sentence. For Coventry, it's pure cause for celebration. Just look back at what the club has been through over the last decade and a half: a liquidation process amid an open war with a deeply unpopular ownership group, relegation all the way down to the fourth tier of English football, and, to round it out, the loss of its own stadium, which forced the club to share grounds with as many as three different teams located within 40 miles of each other. Put that way, simply making it back to the Premier League is already an achievement, win or lose on Friday.

Manager Frank Lampard, tasked with bringing the club back to the top flight, doesn't hide what the promotion meant for an entire city.

It was an extraordinary year for us and the celebrations were huge, something that went beyond football in this city. It touched a place where the city and the club had been through some really tough times, so that made the achievement even more emotional. I'm really pleased to be here and to have brought a club that had been out of the Premier League for 25 years back to where it belongs. It's an exciting moment, but we want to compete and do well.Frank Lampard

A hard to predict Premier League

The Arsenal-Coventry clash opens a season that kicks off later than usual because of the expanded World Cup, and arrives with a completely refreshed managerial landscape: no fewer than nine clubs have new head coaches, including Manchester City, which begins its post-Pep Guardiola era after a decade defined by his presence. His replacement, Enzo Maresca, will make his league debut on Sunday against Bournemouth, with the added task of getting used to life without Rodri, now at Barcelona.

The one thing that does seem certain amid all this change is Arsenal's strength, which was on full display last Sunday when they thrashed City in the Community Shield. That's the other side of the opening fixture: as joyful an occasion as it is for Coventry, it's just as demanding on the pitch.

Sunday also brings an intriguing storyline as Newcastle host Liverpool, with Alexander Isak as an unexpected central figure: the Swedish forward, sold to the Reds a year ago, could receive a hostile welcome at St. James' Park. Newcastle themselves enter the season having lost key players such as Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali.

Record signings and notable absences

This summer's transfer window is already closing in on $3 billion in spending by Premier League clubs, so it's worth keeping an eye on the debuts of some of the priciest new arrivals: Morgan Rogers, signed by Chelsea for $156 million, could make his debut against Fulham; Elliot Anderson, bought by City for $155 million, against Bournemouth; and Tonali himself, who cost Tottenham $133 million, traveling to face Brentford. A quieter but interesting case is that of Greek winger Christos Tzolis, who joined Arsenal from Club Brugge and already provided two assists in the Community Shield.

Not everything is good news heading into the opening weekend. Arsenal will be without William Saliba, sidelined long term with a back injury, and Liverpool head into their first season without Mohamed Salah in a decade, while also still missing striker Hugo Ekitike, who is recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.