Coventry City have not played a Premier League match in 25 years. Their first one back is at the Emirates, against the champions, on opening weekend. That is not a soft landing, that is the deep end.
Frank Lampard built his name as a player in this league before Coventry existed to him as a job. Now he is the one trying to keep a promoted side from getting run out of its own party. Arsenal have spent the summer being told they are the team to beat. Coventry have spent it just trying to get here. Nobody outside the Coventry dressing room expects a result, and that is exactly what makes the number on this game worth staring at before the ball is even kicked.
Arsenal open a title defense. Coventry open a homecoming a quarter century in the making. Somewhere between those two stories sits the actual match, and the only question that matters once kickoff hits: does Coventry find a way to win it outright.