English Premier League 2025-2026 Preview

Another summer flies by and here we are on the cusp of another great soccer season in Europe of course capped by the biggie of them all, the English Premier League. And the 2025-2026 season kicks off Friday with Liverpool hosting Bournemouth with the Reds looking for back to back titles.

Before we dive into our team by team preview there are some interesting changes to go over first.

1. The biggest change is the implementation of SAOT (Semi-Automated Offside Technology). A series of cameras places around each stadium willbe used along with VAR (Video Assistant Referee) to determine if offside position of players. The belief is that this will shorten the time to make these critical decisions by a whole 31 seconds/review. Great as the process using strictly VAR has been slow and tedious. My editorial comment – We don’t need more technology. They need to get back to the old interpretation of offside. Was their daylight between the torsos of the players in question. Deciding offside because Harry McGuire (size 13) has big feet is just dumb.
2. “Only the Captain Rule” – this is actually a good one. Its always been the case that only the player wearing the armband should approach the referee. But its been overlooked forever. Now its clearly spelled out. If player who is not the captain approaches the referee they can be shown a yellow card. Time will tell if the referees actually follow through with this. I hope they do. Will only take one group surrounding a referee complaining about some call. Show a yellow to the whole lot of them and that will stop.
3. Drop Balls – For a drop ball inside the penalty area the ball will be dropped to the goalkeeper. For drop balls outside the area the ball will be dropped to a player of the team that last touched the ball unless the referee could easily determine who was going to gain possession then he can award the drop to that team even though they had not touched it last.
4. And for the first time in 25 years Nike will not be providing EPL game balls with that contract now awarded to Puma.

Ok let look at the 20 teams competing in this seasons EPL.

Arsenal

Last Season Prediction – 2nd

Last Season Actual – 2nd

Last season was on so close for Gunner fans but the just couldn’t quite push Liverpool off the title spot. Same thing as the two years before when they couldn’t catch Manchester City. Three straight runner up seasons have fans wondering just what it takes to get over the top? One of and probably the major complaint the last few seasons is the Gunner’s lack of a top flight #9. Well that’s put to rest with the transfer signing of Viktor Gyokeres the Sweedish international. Will he be enough to push them over the top? Not a single Arsenal player scored double digit goals last season. Gyokeres needs to fix that. Time will tell but in his first match in the Arsenal kit for their Emirates Cup match he scored. So far so good.

Prediction – 2nd for a 4th straight season.

Aston Villa

Last Season Prediction -4th

Last Season Actual – 6th

What a job manager Unai Emery continues to do. Last season they made the quarter-finals of UCL including besting Bayern Munich in front of their home fans. A semi-final run to the FA Cup and barely missing out on this seasons Europe play on goal differential. But as well as they have done Emery still hasn’t brought any hardware home. They are a solid club all around and really don’t need to make any major changes. They just need to continue to grow, especially 23 year old attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers. He’s the engine that drives their attack. He’s becoming a true star and will need to have a stellar season to push AV higher up the table.

Prediction – 5th

Bournemouth

Last Season Prediction – 15th

Last Season Actual – 9th

First the good news. They had a fine season finishing nigher than most anybody projected. In fact, they earned 56 points, there most ever in an EPL season. So it seemed that their approach to building a successful team was working. The approach of a buy low and sell high model is certainly a valid path one can take. Now the bad news. First they only won 3 of their last 15 matches so its a tough way to end the season. They did as well as they did by building a strong defense first and they did have one of the tougher teams to score on last year. But in following their model they moved on from 3 of their back 5 (Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, and Kepa Arrizabalaga). But they did then parlay some of the transfer money into signing Djordje Petrovic (goalkeeper) and Adrien Truffert (left back). They could be just about as good defensively as they were last year. The key may turn our to be the health of defensive midfielder Tyler Adams (USMNT). If Adams plays most of the season they could be even better.

Prediction – 9th

Brentford

Last Season Prediction – 18th

Last Season Actual -10th

Sorry Bee’s fans but your club is in trouble. After a surprisingly solid last season the powers that be have decided to go in a different direction coaching wise. Manager, Thomas Frank is gone and he took three assistants with him. And a 4th assistant also left. In Frank’s place they have brought in Keith Andrews, a rookie manager. A new staff will take time to get their training regimen in place and the players following the tactical plan Andrews and staff lay out. This has all the makings of a team headed to the relegation zone.

Prediction – 18th and relegated

Brighton Hove Albion

Last Season Prediction – 11th

Last Season Actual – 8th

Fabian Herzeler had a fine season in his first year leading the Seagulls. With another year of managing experience and a better appreciation for what it takes to succeed in the EPL they in solid shape to have a good campaign. Their highest finish in the EPL was 6th place during the 2022-2023 season. They may be on track to get back to that benchmark. Much will depend on the newly signed striker from Greece, Charalampos Kostoulas. If the 18 year old star in the making quickly adjusts to the speed of play in England he could bolster an already solid attack. Its a lot to ask of an young player but he has the tools. If he plays to potential his transfer fee will end up being in the $30M range which would be a record for a Greecian player. Yes he just might be that good.

Prediction – 7th

Burnley

Last Season Prediction – NA

Last Season Actual – 2nd in EFL Championship

Burnley, unfortunately, looks to be the typical one season up and back down side. They did bring in veteran RB Kyle Walker and his experience will help them but he can only do so much. They do have a young striker in 20 year old Joe Westley but he only had one year in the EFL Championship and is going to have a lot of growing pains this season. This team probably just doesn’t have the ponies to run with the big boys. But as they say the games aren’t played on paper.

Prediction – 20th and relegated

Chelsea

Last Season Prediction – 7th

Last Season Actual – 4th

The broken record of the last several years might have actually gotten broken last season. For several years, they would spend a bunch of money. Sign a ton of players. Loan them out all over Europe and get them some quality experience. But its been slow to actually materialize in The Blues getting back up into the top echelon of the EPL. Well that changed in a big way last season. Chelsea climbed back into a UCL spot with finishing in 4th then this summer quietly worked their way to the title in the Club World Cup (CWC). Built on a solid attack lead by Cole Palmer, they have taken a big step forward signing 18 year old Brazilian Estevao. Estevao was a stud for Palmerias in theCWC and actually scored a stunner in their match against Chelsea. Now he will play as both a winger or as the #10 playmaker making Palmer even more dangerous. And many overlook their defense which is a mistake. This defense shut totally shut down PSG in the CWC, a team many believe has the best attack in the world right now.

Prediction – 3rd

Crystal Palace

Last Season Prediction – 10th

Last Season Actual – 12th

They were an odd team last season. Really two pretty different teams. There was the league team that had a net zero goal differential. Won, drew, and lost at about an equal pace. Not a bad club but not one really doing much either. Then there was the team playing in the FA Cup. That competition, which started clear back on August 2, 2024 with 745 teams ended up with CP facing Manchester City in the final. And of course City were clear favorites. But Wembley Stadium was rocking and the Eagles came to play. And at the end of the day they had won their first major trophy in club history. They haven’t done much in the current transfer window and are likely going to fall back a bit. But there is one very bright side. Chris Richards (USMNT) in central defense was an absolute standout during the recent Gold Cup and is transforming into a world class center back. Keep an eye on him this season.

Prediction – 14th

Everton

Last Season Prediction – 11th

Last Season Actual – 13th

What every fan wants to know. Does playing in a brand new stadium give them a bump? After sacking their manager and bringing in David Moyes in the middle of the season they earned 31 points in 19 matches. They have brought in a star in the making in French U-21 forward Thierno Barry who scored 11 goals for Villareal in La Liga last season. That’s the plus side. The flip side is that 9 of their first team players from last season have departed. While they do have some up and coming younger players that’s a lot of experience to replace. Look for a little regression this season as their young core gains more experience.

Prediction – 15th

Fulham

Last Season Prediction – 13th

Last Season Actual – 11th

I want to start with a note from last years preseason prediction – “they have one of the best LB in the EPL in Antonee Robinson. A very familiar name to US fans. Robinson lead the EPL in interceptions last season with 80, 15 more that the second best number. The guy is a true end-to-end player.” That statement is no longer accurate. Jedi is the best LB in the EPL. He was tied for 4th in assists, 2nd in interceptions, and 1st in successful crosses from the run of play. Manager, Marco Silva, has the Cottagers playing a high energy attacking style and its working well. The problem is they just don’t have the overall talent to move up the table much. They have only made one signing so far in this transfer window in goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte. While he does give them some depth he played last season for Montpellier HSC (Ligue 1) a team that got relegated. Not any kind of difference maker.

Prediction – 12th

Leeds United

Last Season Prediction – NA

Last Season Actual – 1st in EFL Championship

The expectation these days is that most teams that get promoted last but a single season before being relegated right back down. Leeds is certainly looking like a team trying to break that mold. Leeds has only spent 3 of the last 21 seasons in the top flight and manager Daniel Farke says its his job to keep them up there. They have already signed 7 players this summer with the focus on taller and more physically capable players. While they faired well in the Championship last year, their roster was on the small side and the more physical play of the EPL was going to be difficult. And while it still will be bringing in the likes of Lucas Perri (Lyon goalkeeper), Sebastian Bornauw (6ft 3in CB from Wolfsburg), and Sean Longstaff (Newcastle midfielder) is a big step in the right direction. One player to keep an eye on is Harry Gray. Gray doesn’t turn 18 until October and only had one senior team cap last season. But the kid can finish with either foot and he will likely be a prominent member of the side by mid season if not sooner.

Prediction – 17th and avoids relegation

Liverpool

Last Season Prediction -3rd

Last Season Actual – 1st

Heading into last season the club was facing a couple of big questions. How would their star studded roster fare under new manager Arne Slot? Would there be a let down with the retirement of Jurgen Kloppp? Secondly how would Slot mold the roster to play tactically how he saw them especially since they made zero moves during the summer transfer window? Well the won the whole damn thing so I guess those questions were answered as positively as they could be! So how do they look in their chances to repeat? If they had a weakness last season, it was in their depth. Slot did very little rotation but then they were so much better than everybody else it didn’t really matter. But they did tend to wear down a bit which showed in the Carabao Cup final where he didn’t rotate and they just faltered against Newcastle. To aid that they have made a number of very good signings this window bringing in Bayer Leverkusen stud attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz. Wirtz has 16 goals and 31 assists (across all competitions) last season. And they return one of the best CB pairings in the world in Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. Barring a bunch of injuries they are the clear favorites.

Prediction – 1st

Manchester City

Last Season Prediction – 1st

Last Season Actual – 3rd

Last year the prediction was the Man City would win the EPL until manager Pep Guardiola retires or hell freezes over. Well Pep didn’t retire so hell must have froze over. Not that they had a “bad” season. They continued to score lots of goals and not allow many good for a +28 goal differential. But unfortunately Liverpool and Arsenal just had better seasons. The key seems to be the fitness of defensive midfielder Rodri. He looked great in the CWC and if he can stay on the field this season it makes the Citizens a tough out. But he’s a big question mark. But at the end of the day the difference may be the loss of Kevin De Bruyne. KDB is one of the greatest playmakers in the game even if he is aging. They will miss him but Man C’s loss is Napoli’s (Serie A) gain.

Prediction – 4th I think they miss KDB a bunch and Chelsea is going to bypass them.

Manchester United

Last Season Prediction -5th

Last Season Actual – 15th

Just a crushing poor season for the Red Devils, with their worst finish in history. The scored a paltry 44 goals and looked poor in doing so. Manager, Erik ten Hag was fired in November and replaced by Ruben Amorim who was given the season to just work with the players and evaluate the best way forward. Then ownership opened up the purse strings and spent $230M on three new attacking players in Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Bryan Mbuemo (Brentford), and Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig). Amorim insisted on playing a 3-4-3 last season even though his personnel didn’t fit that system. Will he stick with that again this season or adjust his tactics to better fit his side? They should improve this season but its hard to picture anything much more than creeping into the top 10.

Prediction – 8th

Newcastle

Last Season Prediction – 8th

Last Season Actual – 5th

This side defied the oddsmakers last year and actually improved up the table and earned a spot in the UCL and they won the Carabao Cup. The difficulty the Magpies (who names their team this?) are going to have is managing the workload of the EPL, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, and UCL. Five starters from last season have moved on and Swedish striker Alexander Isak (27 goals and 6 assists across all competitions) has asked for a transfer and has been sitting out the preseason saying he will “never play for Newcastle again.”  This is just a mess and needs resolution quickly. This kind of a distraction at the start of a season may put a damper on things for a bit.

Prediction – 6th

Nottingham Forest

Last Season Prediction – 16th

Last Season Actual – 7th

One of the positive surprises of last seasons. Manager, Niuno Espirito Santo, did a fantastic job moving them up 10 spots in the table over the previous season and earning a berth in the Europa League. But the good comes with some bad too. They will now be consistently playing twice a week and are going to be stretched thin to maintain a level of quality. There approach to sitting back and counter attacking works ok for them but its tough to score many goals in that scenario when you are playing so many matches. So they are trying to focus on a bit more attack during the preseason but it hasn’t been working. They played 7 preseason matches and scored but 1 goal. Ouch. The Forest hope is that this was preseason where the entire point is to try different things and that the experience will pay off come the EPL. We’ll see, Santo is going to have to work some magic.

Prediction – 13th

Sunderland

Last Season Prediction – NA

Last Season Actual – 4th EFL Championship

Nobody will say that Sunderland didn’t go all in to make a play to build a side capable of staying up. They have spent $154M to bring in 11 players with the most notable being a trio of midfield stars in Enzo Le Fee (AS Roma), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), and Habib Diarra (RC Stasourg). The question then is how much will they miss last years best player, Jobe Bellingham, who transferred to Borrusia Dortmund? They are certainly doing what they can to compete but its probably not enough.

Prediction – 19th and relegated

Tottenham Hotspurs

Last Season Prediction – 6th

Last Season Actual – 17th

What a terrible EPL season for the Spurs. About the best thing fans could say is that they were well above the relegation zone. But next to Manchester United they were the flop of the year. Even though they did win the Europa League, that trophy was not enough to keep Ange Postecoglou’s job. Thomas Frank has been hired to bring this club back respectability. The key to the Spurs fortunes this season may well lie with how well Frank is able to utilize Archie Gray in central midfield. Gray was a critical piece of the English U-21 side than won the U-21 European Championship earlier this summer. He’s a good one with lots of pace and solid footwork.

Prediction – 10th

West Ham United

Last Season Prediction – 9th

Last Season Actual – 14th

Julen Lopetegui didn’t even make it one full season and was fired in January and replaced by Graham Potter. Interestingly enough, the Hammers actually were a bit worse under Potter than Lopetegui but by that time their season was pretty much over and Potter will be given a little time to turn the club around. But they have already lost their best attacking player Mohammed Kudus (transfer to Tottenham) and haven’t replaced him yet. Still they do have better talent than their showing last season and could creep up towards mid table.

Prediction – 11th

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Last Season Prediction – 12th

Last Season Actual – 16th

The Wolves had a horrific start to the season last year earning just a single point in their first 8 matches and 15 points in their first 23 matches leading to the firing of manager, Gary O’Neil. They played much better the last few months of the season under Vitor Pereira earning 27 points in their final 15 matches. A big step up. Unfortunately, the preseason has not gone well at all failing just a single draw in their 5 matches. They have brought in several players but they lost last season’s top scored in Matheus Cunha and that is going to be hard to deal with.

Prediction – 16th

The season begins Friday and EPL matches will again be shown on the NBC family (NBC, USA, Peacock). And as the usual caveat remember that the transfer window is still open till September 1st so team outlooks can still improve.