The Premier League starts tonight, and referees have been told to stop the wrestling at corners
Champions Arsenal host newly promoted Coventry at 12.30am IST. Howard Webb told clubs on Wednesday to expect fewer warnings and more fouls called at set-pieces.
The 2026-27 Premier League season opens Friday night at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal, the defending champions, host Coventry City at 8pm in London, which is 12.30am Saturday in India.
Coventry won the Championship last season, 11 points clear of Ipswich, and they have not played a Premier League game since 2001. Frank Lampard is the manager. Arsenal will be without William Saliba, who has a back injury from the World Cup, and Jurrien Timber.
Howard Webb, English football's chief refereeing officer, spoke on Wednesday and said last season produced too many cases of defenders dragging attackers to the ground at corners and free-kicks that went unpunished. Arsenal won the title in part because they were good at set-pieces, and rival managers and fans spent a lot of last year complaining about the wrestling that happened before the ball even came in.
"I think fans can expect less warnings from referees (before fouls are given) than they might have seen previously, and I know (those warnings were) a source of frustration," Webb said. "Fans can expect to see more situations being penalised, but not only in August or September, throughout the season."
There is also a VAR change this season. Officials can now check for attacking fouls at set-pieces and order the kick to be retaken if a goal, a penalty, or a card followed the offence.
This is the first Friday of a long season, and the first live test of whether the new instruction holds. India watches a lot of Premier League football, and a lot of that watching is Arsenal. The question is whether referees actually blow for the holding once the season is two months old and everyone has got used to it again.
Webb is trying to keep both sides of this. He said contact is still part of the game and that the threshold stays high, and he also said he expects more offences to have been penalised when we look back next August. Maybe that lands. Perhaps it lasts three weeks and then the warnings come back.
Arsenal and Coventry go first. The rest of the weekend is Hull against Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime, then Newcastle against Liverpool on Sunday. Watch the first few corners at the Emirates more than the scoreline. If Webb's instruction is real, you will see it before half-time.