City revival gets the nod from our writers
PALERMO, ITALY - AUGUST 09: Head coach of Manchester City FC Pep Guardiola looks on during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Palermo FC and Machester City FC at Stadio Renzo Barbera on August 09, 2025 in Palermo, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images)
Champions: Liverpool. Could muse on the departure of Trent, the Jota tragedy and whether last season was the lingering fumes of Klopp, but they were 10 points better than the rest and have bought better then everyone else since.
Rest of top 5: Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Villa
Relegated: Leeds, Burnley, Sunderland. Getting structurally harder for promoted sides to stay up so fancy the trend of last two seasons to continue - though Keith Andrews will have a tough job given their departures.
Who’ll prove best signing: Florian Wirtz to Liverpool - saw lots of him with Leverkusen in Europe, he was a fully formed top class number 10 at the age of 20 - he will succeed Kevin De Bruyne as the division's creator-in-chief.
One surprise: Hardly a surprise but Brighton are going to challenge for a Champions League spot sooner or later; arriviste clubs have broken through in other European leagues, and the smartest club in the league will be the ones to do so if it happens in the Prem.
Champions: Manchester City - Pep won’t want to miss out again, and has strengthened in all the right places since January
Rest of top 5: Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd (or Spurs if they sign Eze)
Relegated: West Ham, Leeds, Nottingham Forest. It would be healthy NOT to have the promoted three go straight back down, and Forest will struggle with European commitments.
Who’ll prove best signing: Tijani Reijnders - perfect player to fill in a Rodri-sized hole at Man City
One surprise: Everton to qualify for Europe
Champions: Arsenal. I have to get this right one day and so does Mikel Arteta. He has recruited well and it is hard to envisage Liverpool being so consistent again.
Rest of top 5: City, Liverpool, Chelsea, United - yawn!
Relegated: The three teams that came up - it’s all about the money!
Who’ll prove best signing: Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta? Has got a striker as one of six new players, long contracts for Gabriel, Lewis Skelly and Nwaneri with talks moving for Saliba and others. And he’s not done yet.
One surprise: Despite a poor transfer window at the time of writing, Tottenham to reestablish themselves as a top ten club or above.
Champions: Manchester City - they'll be back with a razor-sharp focus after taking their eye off the ball last season.
Rest of top 5: Liverpool, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Newcastle.
Relegated: Brentford, Sunderland, Burnley. Two of the three promoted clubs, in addition to the Bees imploding due to too many changes in important positions on and off the pitch.
Who’ll prove best signing: Alexander Isak, when he joins Liverpool.
One surprise: Arsenal to disappear without trace from the top six.
Champions: Liverpool - Manchester United’s dominance was based on strengthening while winning. Summer recruitment, Isak pending, has been platinum standard.
Rest of top 5: Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United.
Relegated: West Ham, Burnley, Sunderland. Leeds United can bust the yo-yo cycle, whereas Graham Potter shows no sign of replicating his Brighton harmony.
Who’ll prove best signing: Caoimhín Kelleher: Manchester United may rue not swooping for the Irishman as his skillset means Brentford bagged a bargain for an initial €15m.
One surprise: Manchester City continue to stagnate. With 115 charges hanging over the club, Pep Guardiola has a job on his hands to regain former glories. Transition will require patience.
Champions: Manchester City - Pep Lijnders to show he was the special sauce, if not a main dish.
Rest of top 5: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa.
Relegated: Tottenham, Sunderland, Burnley. Will set-piece savvy satisfy Spurs fans if it doesn't click quick? Keith Andrews to brush past his old boss in hairy final day escape.
Who’ll prove best signing: Caoimhín Kelleher, with late save to keep Bees up and secure move to Barcelona.
One surprise: Liverpool in drop zone by November, but Slot resists calls for his head to mastermind revival to fourth.
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Champions: Manchester City - last season's horror show is just the kick up the backside they need to get back on track.
Rest of top 5: Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle.
Relegated: The three promoted clubs. Sadly it's going to be a case of what comes up must go down.
Who’ll prove best signing: Joao Pedro at Chelsea. Given the right kind of service, he will score 20-plus goals this season.
One surprise: Keith Andrews will confound the critics and do a decent job at Brentford.
Champions: Liverpool - Too much proven quality and winners. Florian Wirtz the standout signing, and if they add to recruitment with additions of Marc Guehi and Alexander Isak, the depth is there to remain consistent throughout. Arsenal a close second. Martin Zubimendi a very decent signing.
Rest of top 5: Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa.
Relegated: Wolves, Sunderland, Burnley.
Who’ll prove best signing: Thomas Frank and his signing of Joao Palhinha at Spurs.
One surprise: Spurs to be less Spursy. Still a signing or two short but could challenge upper echelons of table - fifth to seventh.
Champions: Arsenal to get over line the in a genuine two- or three-horse race. It's now or never for Mikel Arteta after the summer's business.
Rest of top 5: Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd.
Relegated: Burnley, West Ham, Sunderland.
Who’ll prove best signing: Former Arsenal yellow-card magnet, Granit Xhaka, looks a canny move for Sunderland and will be worth a lot more than the outlay if the Black Cats can be, at least, competitive this campaign.
One surprise: Abu Dhabi have Man City; we have Brentford. Keith Andrews may be a little heavy with the LinkedIn chat and a lot of his top Bees players have exited in the off-season - but expect the former Ireland midfielder, his skipper Nathan Collins and new signing Caoimhin Kelleher to confound some expectations this term.
Champions: While Liverpool will be a tough nut to crack, Arsenal have strengthened in the areas they had to strengthen over the summer and can finally end their run of seconditis.
Rest of top 5: Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, and Man United.
Relegated: It’s likely at least two of three promoted teams will go straight back down and Sunderland look the team best equipped to survive, possibly at Brentford’s expense.
Who’ll prove the best signing: If Arsenal are to dethrone Liverpool, Viktor Gyokeres will need to be breaking the 20-goal barrier. Should he do so, it’ll be €73.5m well spent.
One surprise: The upside to last season’s horror show for Man United is things can only get better and a positive summer on the recruitment front bodes well for their prospects.
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