It’s official — the Reds are on top. Months after it started seeming inevitable, it has happened — Liverpool clinched its 20th top-flight trophy and second Premier League title on Sunday. Arne Slot’s side did it in style, thrashing hapless Tottenham Hotspur, 5-1, and celebrating in front of thousands of adoring fans at Anfield.
There’s still much to be decided, especially how the division’s five Champions League places are going to be divided for the 2025-26 campaign. With third-place Newcastle and 10th-place Bournemouth separated by just 12 points, nine different squads theoretically have a chance at joining Liverpool in next season’s competition.
19 of the 20 teams in next season’s Premier League have also been confirmed, as Ipswich Town, Leicester City, and Southampton will all return to the Championship after just one season in the top flight. Leeds United, who suffered the drop two seasons ago, will return to the Premier League, and Burnley will come back up at the first time of asking. Sheffield United, Sunderland, and two other squads from a pack of six will compete in a four-team playoff for the chance to join them.
Although four games remain in the 2024-25 campaign, it’s never too early to look ahead to next season. Arsenal is a slight favorite to win its first domestic title since 2003-04 at DraftKings Sportsbook, and Liverpool has the second shortest odds.
Who will win the 2025-26 Barclays Premier League title?
Unsurprisingly, three teams are head and shoulders above the rest. This season, City sits in fourth in what has been a disappointing season, but it’s just one point behind Newcastle and has a much easier remaining schedule than the Magpies, who still have to play both the Gunners and Chelsea. Last season, there was a 14-point gap between third-place Liverpool and fourth-place Aston Villa. So much for the Premier League’s Big Six; with Man United and Tottenham struggling through the worst season in each club’s history and the Blues middling at the edge of the Champions League places, there’s a clear hierarchy in England between the top three and everybody else.
Of the three, Man City is likely to undergo the most offseason turmoil. Legendary manager Pep Guardiola signed a two-year contract extension in the fall to keep him at the club through 2027, but rumors still persist about him leaving. One player confirmed to be on his way out is one of the greatest players in Premier League history, midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, and it’s possible that other club legends, including Bernardo Silva, could join him. Not all is lost, though; City’s funding is pretty much unlimited and it can probably sign an elite replacement, but it’ll have to integrate that player into the team.
Arsenal has plenty of talent, including probably the best defense in the Premier League, young stars in right winger Bukayo Saka and CDM Declan Rice, and Mikel Arteta is one of the best and most proven managers in the top flight. The Gunners are also well-funded — especially if they lift their first-ever Champions League trophy at the end of May — and have long been linked with Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyökeres, who would immediately fill their hole at the striker position. But until it gets the job done across a 38-game season, I won’t trust Arsenal; its best chance to win the Premier League came in 2023-24, when it led City for most of the year and a win over Villa in Matchweek 33 would’ve ultimately been enough to lift the trophy.
There’s no reason why the Reds can’t win again. After speculation the entire season, Mohamed Salah — who trails Alan Shearer by 52 goal contributions for the most in Premier League history — announced that he had agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at the club for at least two more seasons, and even at the age of 32, the Egyptian King is coming off his best-ever season. A few days later, captain Virgil van Dijk agreed to a new deal, tying himself to Salah’s timeline, and goalkeeper Alisson is also under contract for two more seasons. The only notable player who might depart is right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, long tied with Real Madrid, but youngster Connor Bradley has demonstrated potential in the role. Dominik Szoboszlai, Luis Díaz, and Alexis Mac Allister should all keep getting better.
Outside the top three, my favorite bet is Newcastle, whose leading man Alexander Isak is one of the world’s fastest-rising stars and who can afford virtually any player in the world thanks to their majority ownership by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The Magpies pipped Liverpool to the League Cup title and are linked with several flashy names, including Atalanta striker Ademola Lookman.
