25 predictions for the 2026-27 Premier League season

We’ll start with an easy one, and a safe one. However, what would predictions be without predicting the top goal scorer? In three of Haaland’s four seasons with Manchester City, he’s led the Premier League in goals. The only time Haaland didn’t, he missed seven games and still scored 22 goals. As long as the Norwegian goal machine is reasonably healthy, he has this locked up.

Haaland may be able to use the Larry Bird, “Who’s playing for second?” card, but somebody is going to have a strong season on the goal-scoring front and finish second. Watkins, who still will only be 31 as of this December, is coming off back-to-back 16-goal seasons, but the campaign prior to that he had 19. With Morgan Rogers no longer with Aston Villa, we can see Watkins pushing 20 goals, or maybe even hitting it, this year.

We don’t know if you’ve heard, but Forest’s ownership was restless last season. Four different men managed the club during the 2025-26 season, but the quartet combined to stave off relegation. Glasner, we believe, will stave off a firing. Forest should be solidly in the mid-table this season, and he likely didn’t leave Crystal Palace for Nottingham Forest without some understanding that, barring a disaster, this job is his.

We don’t see the same patience at Chelsea, where the stakes and expectations are higher, and the ownership is equally tempestuous. Now, while managers at Chelsea rarely last two full seasons, it is not uncommon for them to last a season, or a season and some change. That being said, Alonso did not last a full season with Real Madrid, another sack-happy club, and Chelsea could do the same for the former Liverpool star.

Who will be the first manager out the door, though? Let’s face it, no Premier League season goes by without a couple of in-season firings at the very least. Sage has taken over for Glasner at Crystal Palace, but he’s never managed outside of France. He may be in over his head, and for reasons we will get to later, we think he’s out the door fairly early, maybe even before the start of 2027.

How retro! Since Alex Ferguson retired and Manchester City became flush with cash, it has been City, and not United, that has been the dominant force in English football, and usually the better side. Last season was somewhat close, though. Manchester City finished second on 78 points, and Manchester United was third with 71. Now, the goal differential was starker than that, but United made some good moves during last season (especially jettisoning Ruben Amorim) and some good moves this offseason. City, meanwhile, saw Pep Guardiola step away. It’s enough for us to predict United finishes higher of the two Manchester clubs, at least for one season.

In 2024-25, Villa played Champions League football for the first time in decades, and in the league table fell from fourth to sixth. Worth it, of course. Villa will be back in the Champions League again, but this time the club has also seen some talent leave in the offseason, enough for us to believe the roster will be a bit worse. As such, another top-four finish is not expected, but by falling off, we mean finishing seventh, eighth at the worst.

Bournemouth surprised last season in finishing sixth, qualifying for Europa League. The club has never been in European competition before, so that will be a new challenge. So will be doing it all without Andoni Iraola coaching up the club. The mid-table seems like the spot for the Cherries. Sunderland, meanwhile, stunningly went from being a play-off team in the Championship to finishing seventh in the Premier League and qualifying for Europa League as well. In addition to dealing with an extra competition, though, Sunderland had a minus-6 goal differential last year and was quite lucky. If one win instead had been a draw last year, the club would have been 11th instead of seventh. This year, 11th feels like the ceiling.

So…Chelsea will be the biggest climbers…but also Alonso will be sacked? Indeed! Do recall Chelsea finished 10th last season. Finishing sixth would be a significant climb, but also not good enough for the Blues. Chelsea, when all is said and done, will be primed for European play next season, but not before Alonso is sacked, perhaps as a scapegoat.

Let’s say Tottenham Hotspur finishes 13th, or even 14th, this season. For Spurs, a club that finished in the top eight, even occasionally the top four, for years, that would seem like a reason for concern. However, Tottenham has finished 17th each of the last two campaigns. This year, Spurs will be dull, but won’t be threatened with relegation. That will qualify as progress.

Remember when Newcastle United got bought up by a sovereign wealth fund? People lamented and threw up their hands. “Oh great, like PSG and Manchester City, we have ourselves another perennial contender buying titles thanks to trillion-dollar coffers.” Well, Newcastle hasn’t finished above fourth since the purchase. Anthony Gordon has left the club. Eddie Howe stepped down as the head coach. There are expectations of more players leaving. Newcastle isn’t going to finish in the top five this year, and it will be clear that, yeah, this club is never going to threaten to win a title.

Let’s talk some individual players! Wirtz left Bayer Leverkusen for Liverpool on a huge transfer, with the expectation he would help the defending champions restock and reload. Arne Slot was going to get his guys this time! At times last season, the German midfielder looked as dynamic as expected. Those moments just didn’t bear enough fruit. Wirtz finished with five goals and three assists. The move from the Bundesliga to the Premier League can be tough. In year two, Wirtz’s numbers should look more like what teammate Dominik Szoboszlai did last season: six goals, seven assists.

Manchester City spent a ton of money to bring Anderson onto the squad. It also once spent a ton of money to bring Jack Grealish onto the squad. Are we saying Anderson is going to be another Grealish situation? Well, yeah, but also Anderson has not been as impressive as Grealish was before his move. Last year the midfielder had four goals and four assists, but that was at Nottingham Forest, a club that was fighting to avoid relegation. He will have a lot more competition for both minutes and touches now.

Wolverhampton Wanderers loss is Aston Villa’s gain. With Wolves relegated, the 25-year-old central midfielder Gomes wasn’t going to stick around. He got himself a move to Aston Villa. Now, owing to losing talent and a Champions League schedule to play, we do see Villa taking a slight step back as noted. That being said, don’t be surprised if Gomes more-or-less replaces what Youri Tielemans did in the midfield before his move to Manchester United.

Saka is a great player for Arsenal. He also has a tendency to get banged up. He played in 32 games last year, though six as a sub. The year prior, he only played in 25 games. This summer, Saka had to deal with the extra work of playing for England. Worth it, sure, but we’re guessing Saka ends up under the 30-game mark. He’ll still produce, though, and Arsenal will still be able to…well, we’ll get to our top-of-the-table predictions a bit later.

Coventry City is back in the Premier League for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Somebody is going to score goals for this team. After all, zero Premier League clubs have gone a full season without scoring a goal. That’s just a fact! In the Championship the last three seasons, the American Wright has scored 16, 12, and 17 goals, and the 12 came in a year he was limited to 27 games. Without a notable addition at forward, we expect Wright to lead Coventry City in goals, and to get at least 10.

In 2023-24, Palmer was a superstar for Chelsea, scoring 22 goals and adding 11 assists. The next season, he had 15 goals and eight assists. Last year, with injuries playing a role, Palmer was limited to 10 goals and a single assist. He didn’t get a call from England at the World Cup either. With that motivation, and better health, we’re betting on at least 15 goals and eight assists this season.

Fernandes didn’t just lead the Premier League in assists last year. The Manchester United star broke the league record with 21 of them. Nobody else had more than 12. We think Fernandes will lead the league in assists again, though don’t expect a record, or such a rout. In fact, we’ll predict at least one player is within one assist of the Portuguese international.

In recent seasons, Crystal Palace has lost Michel Olise, Marc Guehi, and Eberechi Eze to big-money transfers. This offseason, in addition to losing Glasner as the head man, Maxence Lacroix has left for Chelsea on a big-money transfer. We don’t think that’s the end of it. From this point of writing to the end of the season, at least two more core starters for Crystal Palace will be playing elsewhere.

Somebody has to finish the bottom of the league in scoring. Based on rosters, and style of play, we think it will be Fulham. Thanks to defensive play, and the quality of some of the other teams, we don’t think Fulham will be relegated, though. Oh, it’ll be in the mix, but it will stay up.

Speaking of staying up! Coventry cruised to the best season in the Championship en route to promotion. Now, that doesn’t guarantee it will stay up. Frank Lampard doesn’t have the best track record managing in the Premier League. We don’t expect Coventry to be, say, Sunderland-esque and finish in the top 10, but the club will avoid returning right back down to the Championship.

The other two newly-promoted teams? Yeah, they are going right back down. Ipswich was horrendous two seasons ago when it was promoted, and while it has bounced right back up, manager Kieran McKenna has stepped away from football. Welcome to “yo-yo team” status, Ipswich. Hull, meanwhile, finished sixth but won the play-off. It will be truly surprising if the Tigers manage to stay up.

Alright, two of the newly-promoted clubs are going back down. Coventry City is staying up. Who else goes down. You may have guessed, but we think it will be Crystal Palace. Palace finished 15th last year with a minus-10 goal differential. Glasner is gone. Lacroix is gone. We think more playing are going. When all is said and done, Palace’s run in the Premier League will end.

Liverpool should get a new-manager bounce; the Mo Salah saga is over, and the talent should work together better. Throw in Aston Villa stepping down a bit, and the Reds will finish fourth. We said Manchester United will finish above Manchester City, and we don’t have those clubs mid-table by any means. City will finish third, and United will finish second. So, then, who finishes first?

Yes, we are getting a repeat champion. Arsenal has stability, which Liverpool and Manchester City do not. Manchester United would have to make up 14 points to catch the Gunners. We can’t quite see that happening. Arsenal fans waited a while for a title. There will be no wait for another one.