Premier League clubs – Prediction of where they’ll finish places 1 to 20 in 2025/26 | OneFootball

Twenty Premier League clubs ready to take on the new 2025/26 season.

When it comes to predictions on how the new season will go, I won’t fully commit to anything until the transfer window is closed.

However, given that the new season is now upon us, I thought I would share my thoughts going into this latest league campaign.

I already know what the biggest talking point in this list of 20 Premier League clubs will be, but I stand by that pick and I think it’s unlikely to change come September.

So, without further ado here are my predictions for the season ahead. Feel free to call me an idiot in the comments.

1 Arsenal

I’ve had Arsenal sat in 2nd place all summer when trying to predict the Premier League table but, over the past week I have bumped them up to top spot. The Gunners finally landed the striker they have been crying out for, for several years, although it was a different Swede to the one that their fan base have been desperately fawning over for the past two seasons.

They have also upgraded their midfield with Zubimendi, and their wide options with Madueke. Adding in some decent squad depth has also helped and they should be a little more robust when injuries crop up. They’ve been serial runners-up over recent years but maybe this is the season they shake that off.

2 Manchester City

Early drafts of this list had me placing Manchester City at the top of the pile but the injury Rodri picked up during pre-season made me reconsider. Pep Guardiola and Man City have been serial winners for nearly a decade. They have spent plenty of money over the last two transfer windows and certainly do look refreshed in most positions.

With a fully fit Erling Haaland I expect Manchester City to be right in the mix for the title, but I worry a little about how reliant they may be on players such as Haaland and Rodri. It’s a tough call on this one but I’m putting the Sky Blues as runners up.

3 Chelsea

It’s another summer where Chelsea have spent an absolute fortune on players, this time aided by additional funds from their Club World Cup triumph. It remains to be seen what physical toll that tournament will have on Cheslea’s players, but the Blues impressed over the final months of last season.

If they can continue that form with the additional strength they have added, they could be in for a good season. I don’t think they’ve got quite enough to win the League and losing Colwill is a blow but they look improved on last year.

4 Liverpool

Placing Liverpool in fourth will no doubt be the most controversial part of this prediction so it warrants a slightly longer explanation.

First things first, I want to make it clear this is in no way a reaction to the disgraceful way they’ve behaved surrounding Alexander Isak this summer.

I’ve consistently had Liverpool placed in and around fourth position when considering my predictions for the season ahead. Liverpool deservedly won the title last season, but they did so in a year where nearly every other team underperformed significantly. Liverpool have made numerous headline signings this summer and, on paper at least, seem like a stronger team than last year. It’s my belief though, that these signings won’t all hit the ground running and there will be some teething problems across the course of the season. Florian Wirtz is an incredibly talented player but he’s still very young and is playing for the first time without the luxury of a winter break. Frimpong and Kerkez might be two of the most energetic attacking fullbacks in the league but their willingness to press forward will likely leave an ageing van Dijk exposed more often than he would like.

It’s also important to factor in that Mohamed Salah will miss time during the season because of AFCON. The last time he featured in that tournament he picked up an injury and had a very poor end to the season. Given he’s now older that the last time he played in AFCON, I expect he won’t hit the heights of last year. I fully expect Liverpool to start strongly, and they will be a very good team, however, I don’t see them being in the mix for the title come May. All of this could change if they manage to prise Isak away from Newcastle but as things stand, the Swede is still a Newcastle United player.

5 Newcastle United

Perhaps unexpectedly, this summer has been one of the most difficult in recent memory for Newcastle United.

The circus surrounding Alexander Isak’s apparent desire to leave the club has overshadowed what is turning out to be quite a successful transfer window. It’s true we’ve had a lot of frustration with some of our targets. However, going into the transfer window, most fans agreed Newcastle needed five players: a goalkeeper, a centre back, a central midfielder, a right winger and a striker. As things stand, Newcastle have filled four of these positions. It looks highly likely that we will also secure the services of Yoane Wissa now that Brentford have signed his replacement and that would complete the set.

For what it’s worth, I don’t expect Isak to leave the club this transfer window, purely because I can’t see any way in which Liverpool will match our expectation of transfer fee. If Eddie Howe can work his magic and reintegrate the want away Swede into the squad then we have a strong chance of finishing in the top 4. Isak has understandably upset a lot of people on Tyneside this summer, but everyone is deserving of a second chance, let’s hope he takes his if it is presented.

6 Tottenham Hotspur

I’m not too confident on this pick but I’m making it largely down to my opinion on Thomas Frank.

For my money Thomas Frank has been one of the best managers in the Premier League since he got Brentford promoted. Tottenham still have some talented players within their squad, albeit with some flaws in certain positions. However, they demonstrated in the Super cup that they are capable of troubling any team. I think they’ll still drop points in games where they shouldn’t, but they will also win their fair share of encounters against the best teams in the league.

7 Aston Villa

Aston Villa have been on a similar trajectory to Newcastle over the past several years, thanks in large part to Unai Emery’s management.

One of the elements they won’t have wanted to copy from Newcastle is how close to the wind they’ve had to sail with PSR. Villa’s spending has been severely hampered this summer, which I think has been largely overlooked by much of the press, due to the circus surrounding Alexander Isak.

They still have a lot of talented players but, their best player towards the back end of last season, Asensio, didn’t stay on following his loan spell. They have also lost Rashford, Disasi, Ramsey and potentially Bailey from their squad, meaning they don’t have the depth they had during their strong run-in last season. Villa may end up pipping Tottenham to 6th but unless something significant happens in the final days of the window I think they are a slightly weaker outfit than last year.

8 Everton

This pick is a little bit of a punt but given they have new owners, a new stadium, and a reliable hand in David Moyes, I’m backing the Toffees to have an improved season in 25/26.

After Moyes took over from Dyche last season, Everton were a much more challenging prospect to face on the pitch. They’ve had their challenges in the transfer market this summer but adding the quality of Grealish on loan, alongside a couple of other smart signings, I think Everton may be able to continue their upward trajectory into the new season.

9 Manchester United

Manchester United were cataclysmically bad in the 24/25 season. Despite this, their financial might has allowed them to sign a handful of very talented attacking players, two of which came at the expense of Newcastle United. While they certainly do look a more threatening prospect at the top end of the pitch, not much has been done to improve them at the other end. Because of this, I think the Red Devils will certainly be more competitive this year, but they still look some way short of being able to maintain a challenge for Europe. In fact, if they have a tough start, they may well find that the manager is once again under pressure.

10 Nottingham Forest

Not even the most optimistic of Nottingham Forest fan could have predicted how the 24/25 season would play out. They rode their luck across the course of the season, but their resolute play and determination earnt Forest a return to Europe.

Nuno Espirito Santo has recently been talking about how difficult a summer it has been and how he feels his team isn’t yet ready for the season, but they have started to bring in some decent quality young players who will likely make them competitive again this year. I can’t see them having quite as good a season as last year but a solid mid table finish and a decent run in Europe will probably satisfy the Forest fans again.

11 West Ham

I found it hard to place West Ham for this season. I have stuck them in 11th, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they finished as low as 16th. They have got some good players scattered around the team, I’m a big fan of Jarrod Bowen in particular, but the Hammers feel like they’ve had a cloud hanging over them for a couple of years now. If they can escape that and keep their key men healthy then they may well have designs on a Conference League place but, more realistically a mid-table finish beckons.

12 Brighton

It seems to have been a relatively quiet summer for the seagulls this year. They have signed some players over the summer months, but it doesn’t feel like the quality that has come in has matched that that went out.

That being said, they still have some very talented players on the books, but a still inexperienced manager coupled with a few ageing stars means that a slight step back looks on the cards for 25/26.

13 Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace had their summer dominated by the saga around which European competition they will compete in this season. Now that has been settled and they have come off on the raw end of the deal, I think Palace will utilise that chip on their shoulder and be a difficult outfit play against.

Their recent Community Shield win over Liverpool shows that they are capable of pulling off an upset, but the Thursday-Sunday routine of conference league football will likely affect the consistency of their performances.

14 Bournemouth

Bournemouth have just lost too many good players this summer to be able to compete on the same level as they did last season.

They have managed to keep hold of Antoine Semenyo, who is one of my favourite players in the league, and I’m sure they will probably go undefeated against Newcastle once again. But given all the exits they’ve had from the club I think a difficult year is ahead for the Cherries.

15 Fulham

Fulham have had an exceptionally quiet summer and I can’t see that being a good thing for them going into the new season.

Marco Silva has proven himself a very capable Premier League manager, but I don’t think Fulham are capable of finishing any higher than mid table and if they were to pick up an injury or two, then they may well struggle in stretches. Given the strength of teams around them I’ve got them down in 15th, but they really fall into the 11th to 16th bracket.

16 Leeds

We are now getting into the teams that will be in and around the relegation battle.

I’ve perhaps overestimated Leeds’ potential for this season, however, they have tried to make a few smart signings and the Leeds fan at work argued a very good case as for why they will stay up. I think having Leeds in the Premier League is probably a good thing so would be happy for them to finish this high in the coming season as they tend to generate a good atmosphere both home and away.

17 Wolves

Following a manager change last season, Wolves were able to pull away from danger over the final couple of months of the season. They have however lost the services of their two most talented players to the Manchester based teams.

They made the signing of Jorgen Strand Larsen permanent over the summer and added a few players from Europe and Brazil, but I feel like this could be another season of struggle for Wolves. I initially had them finishing in the bottom 3 but given everything that’s gone on with Brentford this summer I think wolves might just scrape staying up.

18 Brentford

Despite being one of the smaller clubs in the league, I very much enjoyed having Brentford as part of the Premier League over the past few seasons. It’s a very small ground but a great away day and I’ve always found their fans a pleasure to interact with.

Unfortunately, it’s been a summer of upheaval in West London, a reason why I worry that this might be their last season in the Premier League. Mbeumo has already departed and if all things go well for Newcastle, Wissa will hopefully end up on Tyneside. Having lost three of the club’s all-time best strikers over the past few seasons and also having lost one of the best managers, I think Brentford are destined for the drop unless the three promoted teams all underperform.

19 Sunderland

Our neighbours down the road have been surprisingly active in the transfer window this summer.

While it is true that this needed to be the case, given they were the weakest team coming up, it will provide the Sunderland fans with some optimism going into the season. Sunderland’s incoming recruits have come from far and wide this summer and it will remain to be seen how they all adjust to the Premier League.

They have a couple coming in with Premier League experience, in Granit Xhaka and Simon Adingra from Brighton, but there are a lot of players with unproven potential on Wearside. If all the new recruits gel, then Sunderland may end up being the promoted team that stays up, but there’s a lot of ifs, buts and maybes with the Mackems, so the sensible choice is to see them dropping back down to the championship.

20 Burnley

Burnley have become one of the Premier League’s ultimate yo-yo clubs and I can’t see this season being any different to their last couple in the top tier.

Burnley’s success last season was built on a resolute defence but this approach to their play will be severely tested in the months ahead. I’m not sure a team that scored as few goals as Burnley last year will be able to generate enough goals in the top tier to stay up.