10 burning questions ahead of the Premier League kick-off
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca. Pic: Nick Potts/PA Wire.
Arsenal ended a 22-year wait for the Premier League title last season, going the distance for just the fourth time since the competition’s inception in 1992. And Mikel Arteta is hoping to do something no Arsenal manager has done before, and go back-to-back in England’s top tier.
If the 3-0 win over Manchester City in Sunday’s Community Shield is anything to go by, then the north London side will win the league at a canter. Head coach Arteta insists that his Arsenal squad are “ready” to compete once more. “We’ve never done it at this club, to win it again. We know that it’s going to demand something special and we are ready for it,” he said after Sunday’s game in Cardiff. Boasting both the best, and most settled, squad in the league, it’ll be a shock if they don’t win the Premier League.
Judging by Sunday’s performance against Arsenal, the answer is poorly. Of course, it’s impossible to look to much into a team’s showing in the Community Shield. On occasion, the team that has won the Premier League’s curtain-raiser has struggled to do the double, City in 2018/19 the last side to do so.
Enzo Maresca, though, has a huge challenge on his hands. The Italian is familiar with the ins and outs at the Etihad Stadium. Following in Pep Guardiola’s footsteps, however, is far easier said than done. The Spaniard enjoyed a 10-year trophy-laden dynasty during his spell in Manchester. To do so without Rodri, John Stones and Bernardo Silva, too, makes it that much harder to tread the same path.
The Premier League season, bar perhaps the title winner, has never been tougher to predict. A total of nine managers will feature in a new dugout in 2026/27, a record. Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi will begin their first full season in charge at their respective clubs, too.
It makes for one of the most unpredictable campaigns on record. Marco Rose, Xabi Alonso, Pierre Sage, Alphonse Areola, Gary O’Neill, Andoni Iraola, Enzo Maresca and Matthias Jaissle bring their own brand of attacking football to the league. Oliver Glasner, meanwhile, is an experienced head that’ll bring stability to trigger-happy Nottingham Forest. The raft of changes should make for an exciting campaign.
Tottenham have laboured to back-to-back 17th-place finishes. Of course, the incompetence of Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester in 2023/24 meant they were never in any real danger of going down. Last season, though, was the wake up call the club needed. It wasn’t until the final day that they beat the drop.
Spurs have actively gone about strengthening in order to avoid another flirt with relegation. Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes elevate the midfield. Andrew Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke are quality, Premier League experienced options at the back. With just one game a week in 2026/27, Roberto De Zerbi’s side should enjoy a more routine domestic campaign… right?
Michael Carrick proved an inspired appointment at Old Trafford back in January. Carrick was handed the reins for the second half of the season at the turn of the year, succeeding Ruben Amorim in the Manchester United dugout. It was a masterstroke by the club as Carrick won 12 of the 17 matches he oversaw, collecting more points (39) than any other team since his return to the club.
With that, United secured a top-three finish and returned to the Champions League. However, with the added distraction of European football, it’ll be interesting now to see how United balance both domestic and Champions League football. It’ll either make or break Carrick, who was handed a two-year deal in May.
Coventry, Hull and Ipswich will hope to follow in Sunderland and Leeds’ footsteps in the coming campaign. The Black Cats and The Whites both took to England’s top tier with ease, finishing 15 and eight points, respectively, above the dropzone. All three teams have invested well in their respective squads this summer, splashing the cash in key areas in their bids to stave off relegation.
Crucially, too, is that Coventry and Ipswich have Premier League experienced managers in Frank Lampard and Gary O’Neill. With the amount of managerial change, this season is arguably the best to have booked a top-flight place. They should fancy their chances of consolidating a Premier League spot.
Mohamed Salah confirmed he’d leave Liverpool in March. He played his final game for the Reds in May. On the eve of the 2026/27 season, and the Merseyside giants are yet to sign a right winger to replace the Egyptian. A Salah-shaped shadow still looms large over Anfield.
That’s hardly a shock. Salah enjoyed a wonderful nine-year spell on Merseyside, and was instrumental in their second-ever Premier League title triumph. While he endured a disappointing final campaign with Liverpool, the 34-year-old departed a club legend. How new head coach Andoni Iraola deals with Salah’s exit and resulting legacy will determine how they fare this season.
Thomas Tuchel made two huge decisions for his 2026 World Cup squad in overlooking Cole Palmer and Phil Foden. Granted, the pair hardly covered themselves in glory for Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively, last season, but the duo were expected to make the squad regardless.
Now, though, the Premier League pair may benefit from a summer off. England’s World Cup campaign was a long old slog, culminating in a podium finish having beaten France 6-4 in the Bronze Match. While the likes of Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka were part of Tuchel’s setup, Palmer and Foden were both able to recharge their batteries.
A total of 182 players who started the 2025/26 Premier League season featured at the 2026 World Cup. 10 who made the final will start the season with a Premier League side. The new campaign gets underway just 33 days after the summer showpiece ended. Will football’s greatest tournament play a role for the coming campaign?
With an ever-increasing number of games both domestically and continentally, fatigue may well set in as the season rumbles on. For those whose players went the distance, there could be repercussions on their attempts to achieve their seasonal goal.
Four players have completed moves in excess of £100m this summer. Three of those have secured intra-Premier League switches. Morgan Rogers is the most expensive transfer of the trio, securing a British-record move to Chelsea as the Blues beat rivals Arsenal to the 23-year-old.
Elliot Anderson, meanwhile, completed a big-money transfer to Manchester City having joined from Nottingham Forest. Sandro Tonali, meanwhile, swapped Newcastle for Tottenham. A big fee, though, comes with huge pressure. Rogers will be expected to better his Aston Villa performances at Stamford Bridge. Anderson needs to hit the ground running at the Etihad Stadium. Tonali must raise the Spurs midfield. It’s a huge season for the three big-money movers.
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