(Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)
It’s been less than 20 days since the 2024/25 Premier League season concluded and Liverpool were presented with the trophy, but thoughts are already swiftly turning towards the 2025/26 campaign.
The fixtures will be announced next Wednesday at 9am BST, which’ll make the big kick-off in August feel a whole lot closer, and in a month’s time most of the 20 competing teams will have begun pre-season training.
Taking an early look at the Premier League betting at BetWright for the upcoming campaign, which clubs are likely to be in the running to lift the trophy when May 2026 rolls around?
Liverpool
Arne Slot’s side won the title with four matches to spare last season and, from February onwards, never looked likely to be caught at the summit. Staying there will present a fresh challenge, and the Reds floundered as defending champions in 2020/21, but they ought to be a stronger proposition this time around.
If Liverpool can clinch the prospective signing of Florian Wirtz, on top of an already formidable line-up which includes the likes of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, they appear very well-placed to retain their crown, and ESPN’s Mark Ogden is among many informed observers who’ve cited them as favourites.
Manchester City
Man City’s quest for a record-extending fifth successive top-flight title was doomed from the moment that Rodri ruptured his ACL against Arsenal last September, but Pep Guardiola’s side are already demonstrably determined to wrestle back supremacy.
The Club World Cup has been a factor in them swiftly concluding signings such as Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri, but such transfers were also completed with a view to regaining their Premier League crown.
They surely won’t finish 13 points off the summit again, but the loss of Kevin De Bruyne could make their task harder.
Arsenal
Runners-up for the past three seasons, can Arsenal finally cross the finish line first in 2026? If so, they’ll need to be a lot more ruthless than in the previous campaign, when they won just 11 of their 19 home games.
The Gunners are a fine side when they truly click, as evidenced by trouncings of Man City and Real Madrid in recent months, but they still seem to lack that genuine killer instinct to take the final and biggest step separating contenders from champions.
Signing a consistent goalscoring centre-forward might help to change that, though – not a single player in Mikel Arteta’s side reached double figures in the Premier League in 2024/25.
