Home of football statistics and historyThe frenzy surrounding the World Cup is finally over. Three Lions have been fairly good, but their loss to the Argentinean ‘behaving badly’ team has left a bitter taste in the mouths of most fans. Yet, WC is now in the past, and fans in England, and those all over the world are now gearing up for yet another season of Premier League football. The best league in the world kicks off on Friday, August 21st, with a fixture between Arsenal and Coventry.
While we’re at the subject of the defending champs, Arsenal, they will also play Manchester City on 16th August in a FA Community Shield duel. A glorified friendly will be a prelude to the new season in PL, but depending on the result, and how both teams perform, odds might shift a bit. We already know who is currently leading the race, and it’s the Gunners. Knowing that there’s no winner before the season ends, let’s see who has the most chances to win the 2026/27 Premier League title.
Arsenal
The defending champions are the team favoured to retain the title. At the end of the day, they have finally taken down the Emirates curse, after winning the first PL title at the new stadium. If you plan to bet on Arsenal as the Premier League winner know that the odds on them doing so are set at 2.50. It’s been a while since any other team than Manchester City has been favourite to win the PL this early in the season but here we are. The reason why they’re the favourites is not because they won it last year. There’s more to it.
Arsenal has a project. They’ve put a dedicated man in Mikel Arteta at the centre of it, put a lot of faith in his decisions, and it paid off. The Gunners finally have a foundation on which to build on a PL title in the trophy cabinet, and a loss in the Champions League final, but a final match nonetheless. The foundation in question is one of the best defensive lines in football led by Gabriel and Saliba. They’re helped by White, Timber, Calafiori, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly, Mosquera, and David Raya between the posts.
Back in the day, Arsenal had to sell their best players to survive. Nowadays, they’re the big fish in the pond. The likes of Rice, Saka, and Odegaard are not going anywhere, and the team is even rumored to have their eyes set on none other than Vinicius Junior. While there’s still a lot of work to materialize this transfer, and the chances are the Brazilian ace is staying in London, the Gunners have already made some significant moves in the transfer window. They have added depth to two positions by adding Illan Meslier, and Christos Tzolis to the squad. Their first 11 are a team that has won the PL, and now it’s time to add some depth in order to be able to compete on more fronts. With the news that the team has almost struck a deal with Newcastle for Bruno Guimaraes, Arsenal could truly be a force to be reckoned with next season.
With a championship pedigree, this Arsenal team will play better this season without a doubt. There will be more freedom and creativity, while remaining defensively sound. Much more is expected from the likes of Eze and Gyokeres, and nothing less from the likes of Martinelli and Havertz. You should also pay attention to Max Dowman will most certainly get more minutes this season. Arsenal has enough star power to go around, and with their transfer window being far from over, you can expect them to break a bank in coming weeks, making their claim on yet another PL title even bigger.
Manchester City
Nothing will ever again be the same in the blue part of Manchester. Pep Guardiola is no longer the head coach at the Etihad. One of his pupils, Enzo Maresca, is now in charge, and he is expected to lead the Citizens to new heights. Whether he will be able to reach the same ones where Pep resided for almost a full decade, remains to be seen. The Italian manager has inherited a very good squad from Pep, who started to rebuild it before he left. City was active during the winter break, and they have continued in the same vein during the summer.
While Manchester City is not the team it was once, we’re of the opinion that they’re being seriously underrated. For one, Maresca comes from Pep’s coaching tree, and he has been handpicked by the Spaniard. Their playstyle will not charge a lot, and in Enzo the team has a PL proven coach. As we mentioned, they weren’t silent on the eve of Guardiola’s exit. While he was still in charge, the team brought in one of the world’s best goalkeepers, Gianluigi Donnarumma. The defence, which already had Ruben Dias, now has the likes of Guehi, Ait-Nouri, and Abdukodir Khusanov. Josko Gvardiol was rumoured to be leaving, but he will be staying the way things stand now.
Their midfield, which was always one of the best in the PL, is now stronger for one Elliot Anderson. Under Maresca, who will be less tactically demanding than Pep, players such as Cherki, Foden, and Doku are expected to find a new level to their game. Summer is still long, and with a few more weeks of the summer transfer window ahead, we can expect that City will bring in a few more new faces to the team. Of course, we shouldn’t fail to mention that Haaland, Marmoush, and Semenyo are a front three which are probably among the best in the world.
While at the moment, their odds to win the league are second bets and stand at 3.75, this team is at least as good as Arsenal. The one issue with their chances of winning the league once again depends on whether Rodri is staying or leaving. If the instrumental Spaniard moves to Madrid, City will have a hard task of replacing him, and what he brings to the table. Right now, betting on City to dethrone Arsenal wouldn’t be a crazy wager.
Liverpool
Liverpool was in City boots just two years ago. After their long reigning manager, Jurgen Klopp left, they responded with a spending spree and a title win. A year later, and they have barely secured a Champions League spot, and have replaced Arne Slot, the man who replaced Klopp, with a new manager in Andoni Iraola. For years now, the Reds have been at the top of European football, winning trophies and spending wisely. Because of that, they can now spend without a care in the world and they have done so for the past couple of years.
What’s clear now, is that the team is prepared to enter the new season without their talisman forward, Mo Salah. The Pharaoh has been flirting with Besiktas all summer long, but as of now no transfer has been arranged. Even if he stays at Enfield, he is no longer the player he once was. Luckily, the Reds have been speeding massively on their front line. Ekitike and Isak have been brought in last year, and together with Gakpo and Munoz they will lead this year’s Liverpool attack. With the new manager in town, more is expected from Wirtz who hasn’t set the world on fire since his record fee arrival from Leverkusen.
While we’re sure that Liverpool’s attack has enough for Iraola to work with, their defence is another story. Van Dijk is aging, and he is left without any help. Jeremy Jacquet was brought in for €63.6m, but the 21 year old has no PL experience, and putting him straight into fire could misfire. It comes as no surprise that Liverpool is still on the market for a defender. What’s surprising is that there’s no names circling around. What we hear are the news of the Reds pursuing Bradley Barcola, with an official bid going to PSG in coming weeks and Rayan from Bournemouth, both of which are forward players. Not so long ago, the Enfield team was linked with the likes of Nnamdi Collins and James Hill, with no rumour being confirmed by official sources. If their shortage of defenders is not resolved by September 1st, it will be a difficult season for the Reds.
With that said, this team is still favoured to rank high during the 2026/27 Premier League season. Their odds are set at 6.00, showing that they’re not seen on the same level as Arsenal and Manchester City. If they are to threaten the two leading teams, the Reds will have to kick the ground running under Andoni Iraola the same way they have under Arne Slot, if not even better.
Manchester United
It’s been a while since Manchester United have been title contenders. What works in their favour is the appearance of their team. They finally have chemistry, and a manager who knows the United DNA. Michael Carrick spent the majority of his career playing for Red Devils under Sir Alex Ferguson, and since taking over for Ruben Amorim during the midseason last year, he has done a tremendous job. Of course, he will be judged after the first full season, if he manages to make it until May.
The bookmakers say that United has fourth best chances of winning the league, and their odds are set at 7.00. Carrick himself stated that the team is not ready yet to win the league, but that they will try their best. The third best team of last year, was also one of the more active ones during the summer. Yet, their transfers have been measured. Karl Darlow was brought in as a backup keeper, and he brings experience to the table. The other two transfers, so far, are more interesting. Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos have been brought in to strengthen the midfield, and they are the type of players Carrick was looking for.
While these transfers have been good for the team, the fan base is still not satisfied. They react better to the news that Real Madrid duo of Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni are on the team’s radar. While there’s little chance the team could land both, they could land one, and Camavinga is the more realistic option. If Rodri joins RM, one of these two lads will have to leave to get playing time and there’s no better destination than the resurrected United. While there’s plenty more names on United’s radar, the one the team believes would be a perfect fit is Bournemouth’s Alex Scott who is also pursued by Liverpool and Chelsea.
Regardless of the deals United and Carrick manage to pull off during the next few weeks, after a couple of hopeless years, Red Devils fans finally have reasons for optimism as the team looks good both on paper and on the field. The team is filled with talent, and the likes of Benjamin Šeško, Mbeumo, Cunha, Mainoo, Amad, and Bruno Fernandes will be looking to finally bring glory to their club.
Dark Horses
There’s only one dark horse for this year’s title race, and it’s Chelsea. While not running as they’re used to, and with massive coaches and players overturned during the past two years, they now have one of the best young coaches in the world managing the team. We think that the team led by Xabi Alonso could surprise many people this season. Their odds of winning the 2026/27 Premier League title are set at 9.00. Xabi won a title in Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, and he can do the same with Chelsea.
This team has just started the summer preparations for the new season, and they’ve already landed Emegha, Palestra, Quenda, Rogers, and Denner. Also, they are looking at Jordan Henderson, Maxence Lacroix, Fernandez-Pardo, Carreras, and Bernal among many others. Watch out for Chelsea!
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