As summers without a World Cup or European Championship go, 2025 was an especially eventful one, with the football literally not stopping since the most recent Premier League campaign reached its conclusion on the final Sunday in May.
The Champions League final blended straight into the UEFA Nations League finals and World Cup qualifiers, before the European Under-21 Championship saw England retain their title. The tickertape had barely been cleared from the pitch in Bratislava by the time the Women’s Euro 2025 got underway, which saw England retain their title. Transcending those two tournaments was the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, which was won by Donald Trump…oh sorry, I meant Chelsea, the team that the U.S. President comically joined on stage for the presentation of the most garish trophy you’ll ever witness.
All of those on-field events, though, seemed trivial in the context of the horrific news of 3 July, when Diogo Jota and Andre Silva were killed in a car crash in northern Spain. The world of football and the entire community of their hometown of Gondomar – as well as Liverpool and Wolverhampton – went into mourning as the shock of their tragic and all too premature deaths was felt acutely. The scale and warmth of the tributes will, in time, be of comfort to their heartbroken family and close friends.
We’ve barely had a chance to draw breath, yet here we are on the cusp of a new Premier League season, one which’ll do remarkably well to throw up as many surprises and subplots as 2024/25, which was anything but boring despite the title winner and the three relegated clubs all being confirmed before the end of April.
It’s that time of year when optimism burns bright among every fan base, irrespective of how good, bad or indifferent the previous 12 months have been. It’s time to once again climb aboard the rollercoaster and strap in for the inevitable peaks and troughs, thrills and tantrums, the black-or-white sense of flipping between exhilarating glee and deity-questioning frustration.
As usual at this time of year, I (along with many others) put my professional reputation on the line by documenting the predicted fortunes of all 20 top-flight teams for your amusement, so that you can all come back and tell me how wrong I got it in May!
The relegation scrap
After two seasons of the three promoted clubs all going straight back down – embarrassingly so in the cases of Southampton and Leicester (34 points combined) last time out – can that alarming cycle be broken in 2025/26.
Fans of Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland will certainly hope so, or at the very least that they’ll put up a better fight than last year’s promoted trio. To be fair to the three top-flight returnees, they’ve all shown some ambition in the transfer market to try and bridge the ever-increasing gap between Premier League and Championship.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke is a dab hand at getting teams promoted to the top tier; less so at keeping them there, as his time at Norwich showed. The Whites stormed to 100 points in winning the Championship title in the spring and would gladly settle for 40% of that total this time around. Their forward line of Joel Piroe, Wilfried Gnonto and Dan James could plunder enough goals to keep them in the mix for top-flight survival at the business end of the campaign.
Burnley boss Scott Parker also has three Premier League promotions on his CV, although his most recent match in the division was a 9-0 thumping at Liverpool which saw him given his P45 by Bournemouth three years ago. The Clarets conceded only seven more goals than that in their entire 2024/25 league campaign, an extraordinary solidity which might give them a fighting chance if they can carry it over to the top flight. However, up against elite attackers and without the now-Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford, the step up could be a vertiginous one.
Sunderland are back in the Premier League after an eight-year absence, half of which was spent as a League One club. Regis Le Bris’ side have gambled in the hope of avoiding an immediate return to the second tier, bringing in the experienced Granit Xhaka alongside a host of young and unfamiliar names hoping to prove their worth at the highest level in England. Whether that canny mix will be enough to keep them afloat is another matter.
If one or more of the promoted sides manage to stay up, who could then make the drop to the Championship? West Ham had three consecutive European campaigns earlier this decade, but they’ve been drifting ever since their Conference League triumph in 2023. Graham Potter has yet to inspire much of a spark among an Irons squad with some big names but not the performance levels to go with it. The London Stadium could be a toxic place for much of the coming 12 months, and summer recruitment has thus far been uninspiring.
Vitor Pereira earned hero status among Wolves fans for instigating a turnaround in form last season and joining supporters for a pint after victories. However, that feel-good factor has since evaporated over a testing summer which has seen precious little recruitment and the exits of Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunha to Manchester clubs. It could be another uncomfortable campaign at Molineux in 2025/26.
Brentford have been a breath of fresh air since acceding to the Premier League four years ago, but they face into an uncertain future after the exit of Thomas Frank, the architect of their maturity into an established top-flight club. Keith Andrews has gone from set-piece coach to the main man in charge, and he has one hell of a hard act to follow. He’ll have to do it without Bryan Mbeumo (now at Manchester United), Mark Flekken and possibly the wantaway Yoane Wissa, although Caoimhin Kelleher should be a magnificent acquisition at just £18m. The Irishman could be in for a busy season as he finally gets the chance to prove himself as an undisputed number 1 at club level.
Ultimately I can’t look past the promoted trio going straight back down for the third season in a row, but hopefully Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland will at least make a more valiant attempt at survival than Southampton, Leicester and (to a lesser extent) Ipswich.
West Ham, Wolves and Brentford should stay up, but they appear to be the established top-flight teams most at risk of dropping to the Championship.
Lower mid-table
Nottingham Forest did brilliantly to secure European qualification earlier this year, although balancing domestic and continental commitments will be a novelty for Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad. They’d duly be doing well to finish in the top half this time around, never mind replicating or bettering last term’s seventh place. Swiss striker Dan Ndoye could be an astute addition from Bologna, though.
Bournemouth might also find the going a little trickier after losing Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Illya Zabarnyi and Kepa Arrizabalaga this summer, although they have at least managed to keep hold of Antoine Semenyo for now. Another top-half finish would be mightly impressive for Andoni Iraola’s side, but they should be well clear of any relegation worries.
Fulham have consolidated in mid-table ever since returning to the top flight in 2022, and despite some fears of a quiet transfer window leaving them at risk of falling into the relegation scrap, Marco Silva’s collection of elite club cast-offs ought to be nicely stowed away in the 9th-14th bracket once again. They’ve proven adept at taking some big-name scalps, having earned four points against Liverpool last season and drawn against Arsenal.
That trio – who were promoted together in 2022 and have been in the Premier League ever since – shouldn’t have any major worries about going down, but would be doing well to finish in the top half this term.
Shooting for Europe/top half
Crystal Palace won’t forget the summer of 2025 in a hurry, not just for their momentous FA Cup and Community Shield triumphs but also the incredibly harsh banishment from the Europa League to the Conference League because of John Textor’s involvement with Lyon, who were reinstated to the former competition (and Ligue 1) on appeal. Oliver Glasner’s side will also have to manage a regular Thursday-Sunday routine for the first time, although the Austrian has habitually extracted more than the sum of the parts of any team he’s managed. The Eagles have finished between 10th and 15th in each of the past 12 Premier League seasons, a sequence I reckon they’ll extend, although I wouldn’t rule out a cheeky push for the lower European places through league position.
Everton have had a tough decade so far, but with David Moyes instigating a revival in the second half of last season, Farhad Moshiri’s much-derided ownership terminating and a move into their new Hill Dickinson Stadium, there hasn’t been so much optimism among Toffees supporters for quite some time. Only once since 2019 have the Merseysiders finished in the top half, but they could be in with a good shout of doing so in 2025/26 and possibly even pushing for Europe, particularly if eighth is sufficient for a Conference League place. It’ll be compelling to see if Jack Grealish can rebuild his reputation in his loan spell at Everton this term.
While I think European football will elude that duo, it wouldn’t be totally outlandish to suggest that they might sneak into the Conference League for 2026/27. They won’t have to worry about being anywhere near a relegation dogfight, that’s for sure.
Eyes on the Champions League prize
There’s no doubt as to which two teams were the biggest flops of the 2024/25 Premier League season – Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, both regarded among the so-called ‘big 6’ clubs in the division, finished in the bottom six last time around. It’d constitute an even bigger shock if either of those were to do so again this term.
Spurs managed to save face by beating the Red Devils in a turgid Europa League final, thus earning new manager Thomas Frank a crack at the Champions League in his first year in charge. The goal will be to qualify for that tournament via domestic position, although that could be hard to achieve in 2025/26, especially with Son Heung-min leaving for LAFC and James Maddison ruled out injured for most of the campaign. A top-five finish seems a tall order, but their finishing position should certainly consist of a single digit.
Have Man United bottomed out after a wretched 2024/25? Positive pre-season results and the astute additons of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and particularly Benjamin Sesko suggest that the Red Devils will be nowhere near as chaotic this time around. A lack of European football will hurt the club financially, but it could also give Ruben Amorim additional time between games to implement his philosophy, something with which he struggled last term. United will be much better in this campaign, and with some of the other Champions League chasers either stagnating or regressing, they could be a good shout to finish in the top five and duly return to Europe’s premier club competition.
It was a controversial defeat at Old Trafford in May which denied Aston Villa another campaign in the Champions League, and PSR worries have prevented the Midlands outfit from significantly strengthening over the summer. However, they have become a settled top-six side with Unai Emery in charge, and no manager has a better track record when it comes to winning the Europa League. The top five might elude them, but if they keep hold of Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans and Emiliano Martinez and add some quality in the transfer market this month, they’ll almost certainly be in the fight for Champions League qualification once more.
Villa’s summer has certainly been far more settled than Newcastle‘s, with the Magpies missing out on numerous transfer targets and facing an almighty battle to keep hold of Alexander Isak. They will have Champions League football this season, but when they were last in the competition two years ago, their domestic form suffered as a result. There could be a repeat of the ‘one step forward, one step back’ pattern for Eddie Howe and co, particularly with the likes of Man United getting notably stronger. Could they even miss out on European qualification altogether?
From the northeast to the south coast, Brighton are entering their ninth successive top-flight campaign with realistic hopes of qualifying for Europe, and they might even take inspiration from Nottingham Forest in launching a sustained bid to earn a place in the Champions League. The Seagulls slayed Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea last season, and although Joao Pedro will be missed, their remarkably successful recruitment model appears to have unearthed even more hidden gems who come of age at the Amex Stadium (Maxim de Cuyper from Club Brugge looks like a cracking addition). It’s probably asking a lot to finish in the top five, but a Europa League berth is well within the capabilities of Fabian Hurzeler’s side.
The genuine title contenders
That leaves us with four teams who’ll have genuine aspirations of being crowned champions of England in 2026. Liverpool currently hold that honour and have cast off the shackles of previous transfer windows to splurge on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong, among others. With those names added to the world-class quality of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Alexis Mac Allister et al, it’s no wonder that the Reds are being widely tipped to retain their title. However, Arne Slot’s squad will have to cope with heavily heightened expectation this time around, and they appear to be worryingly light in some positions. How they cope with the tragic loss of Diogo Jota is also a major factor of uncertainty. They’re definitely good enough to make it back-to-back crowns, but could also be just a couple of injuries away from falling way off the pace, just like when they were last defending champions five years ago.
After three consecutive runners-up finishes, is this finally Arsenal‘s time to take that biggest of steps and win a first league title since 2004? If so, they’ll need to become much more ruthless against teams outside the top four – they didn’t lose to Liverpool, Man City or Chelsea last term but were beaten at home by West Ham and also dropped points at the Emirates to Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Brentford. The marquee addition of Viktor Gyokeres (97 goals in the last two seasons) should make them a lot more dangerous in the final third, as would keeping Bukayo Saka fit for the entire campaign. They had the stingiest defence in the league in 2024/25 and a quality midfield, and if their attackers click, Mikel Arteta could well add his name to the Premier League roll of honour next May.
His former boss Pep Guardiola won’t have taken kindly to being so far off the pace last season and seeing his Manchester City side surrender their title so tamely, although things would surely have been different with a fully fit Rodri. The current Ballon d’Or holder has picked up another injury which rules him out of the first few weeks of this season, and they can no longer call upon the iconic Kevin de Bruyne. Their summer break has also been shortened by their participation in the Club World Cup, but they appear to have bought well in Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki. Oh, and there’s also a certain Erling Haaland to terrorise defences. At the very least, they’ll want go into May with a genuine chance of reclaiming their title.
Chelsea had a bumpy ride towards clinching a Champions League berth last season, but having since won the Conference League and Club World Cup in emphatic fashion, could Enzo Maresca’s side now be in with a chance of being crowned English champions for the first time since 2017? They’ve been typically busy in the transfer market, adding the likes of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Jorrel Hato to their ranks, and Cole Palmer seems to be back in the groove after his excellent displays in the U.S. over the summer. Concerns over a top-class centre-forward and a reliable goalkeeper could cost them in the final reckoning in the title race, but the Blues seem to have the quality and the trophy-winning mentality to be in with a chance of dethroning Liverpool in 2025/26.
I’m going for Arsenal to be champions next May, with Man City as their closest challengers and Chelsea to finish above a Liverpool side with too many question marks hanging over them.
Predicted final table
First manager to be sacked: Graham Potter hasn’t done much to endear himself to the West Ham faithful, either in terms of results or playing style. If the Irons start badly, it’s plausible that he gets the boot in the autumn. Ruben Amorim could also do with a fast start to win over some of his doubters after Man United’s dreadful 2024/25 campaign.
Top scorer: The boring contenders will be up there again – Mo Salah, Erling Haaland and possibly Alexander Isak, depending on when his future gets sorted out. Viktor Gyokeres is an obvious contender too, given his exploits at Sporting Lisbon, and Cole Palmer could be a good shout behind the usual favourites. If you’re looking for a good potential outlier (à la Chris Wood and Bryan Mbeumo last season), let me point you in the direction of Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Breakthrough boys: Max Dowman (Arsenal), Charalampos Kostoulas (Brighton), Estevao (Chelsea), Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool), Harry Amass (Manchester United), Chris Rigg (Sunderland)
Making a good first impression: Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal), Maxim de Cuyper (Brighton), Borna Sosa (Crystal Palace), Anton Stach (Leeds), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool), Rayan Cherki (Manchester City), Benjamin Sesko (Manchester United), Dan Ndoye (Nottingham Forest), Jhon Arias (Wolves)
Man, Ball and All 