We are only a few weeks removed from the start of the 2026/27 Premier League season. As of now it promises to be one of the most interesting seasons in recent memory.
This is the general opinion among both fans and pundits, as due to Pep Guardiola’s departure from Manchester City they’re no longer seen as some unbeatable behemoth of a club.
Even during the last few years of Pep’s reign, they were no longer seen as a dominant force, as they’ve only won one title in the past three years, after securing four back to back titles in years prior.
The history of the PL is a clear sign that winning the title is no easy feat. Only seven teams have managed to win it since its inception in the early 90s. Teams such as Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City have only won the title once. Rovers are playing in the championship and Leicester is starting the season in League 1. Manchester United has the most titles with 13, but as you probably know they haven’t won one since Sir Alex Ferguson left. Their city rivals, who have been dominating the PL for the past15 years, are the second best team in the competition with 8 Premier League titles.
Chelsea has managed to win it 5 times, while their city rivals, the Gunners have 4 titles to their name. Liverpool has only two, and that’s where the list ends. No other team has managed to win it, and it appears that if we exclude Blackburn and Leicester who are not competing in the PL, that the race will once again be between Man UTD, City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea.
Let’s see who is in pole position to take the trophy home come the end of the 2026/27 PL season. Learning about the team strengths and chances to go all the way is quite important , especially if you plan on betting on Premier League winner. Check out the early favorites.
The Gunners are the defending champions. Their team now has PL winners medals, but during the summer things got even better. David Raya, Mikel Merino, and Martin Zubimendi came back with a World Cup winners medal. It’s clear, Arsenal are a team of winners, and that matters a lot for long campaigns such as the one in the English Premier League.
While these three men will play with newly found confidence, there are issues that are stemming from the World Cup for Arsenal. The biggest one is the injury William Saliba suffered during the competition in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. He is a key defender for Arsenal, and him missing a couple of months to start the season is a massive miss for Arsenal.
Another issue for Arsenal is Declan Rice. One of the team’s best players, and certainly one of the world’s best at his position, came back tired. He has played a tremendous amount of minutes during the past 12 months, and if Arteta is wise, his workload will be managed early in the year.
The good news is that the Gunners have been active in the transfer window. They sold Leandro Trossard to Besiktas and have replaced him with Christos Tzolis. In addition to him, they’ve also brought on permanent basis Piero Hincapie, and a backup goalie in Illan Meslier.
The best part of the summer for Arsenal fans lies in the fact that the team is closing in on the signing of Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle. Adding the Brazilian midfielder would put the Gunners as top favourites as if they are not ones now. Also, there are rumours that the team is monitoring the development of contract talks between Real Madrid and Vini Jr, and if they fail to make an arrangement, Arsenal could push to sign one of the world’s premium wingers.
The odds on Arsenal to win the 2026/27 Premier League are set at 2.50, and the way things stand now they could drop before the season start. We should not forget that they are the reigning champs, and that Mikel Arteta’s team is one of winning mentality, and that their defence can hold its ground against the best of the best.
While City is right behind Arsenal in the list of early 2026/27 PL favourites, this season is far away from being a two horse race. Their odds are set at 3.75 and under any circumstance are Enzo Maresca’s men to be underestimated.
This is still a team that has Erling Haaland, who made history at the most recent WC with his national team. Of course, the post Pep era is a transitional period for the Citizens, but Maresca is one of his pupils, and we expect for it not to be a rocky transition. At the end of the day, their squad is one of the best in the world, and if Rodri stays, they’re more than prepared for another good season in the PL.
The city also wasn’t silent during the summer. The team landed one of the best English players last season in Elliot Anderson, for £116 million. While they’ve splashed massive amounts of cash for this transfer, it is expected that Citizens have a few more deals in the works as we speak.
While they are put behind Arsenal in this year’s title race, we think that they can do more than only mounting a title challenge.
Once again, Arsenal will have to play an almost perfect season to get the better of this City team. Yes, Pep is no longer in the town, but this is a roster of serial winners, and the best is yet to come from the likes of Gvardiol, Marmoush, Khsanov, and Nico.
The Reds have their odds set at 6.00, and it is clear that they are seen as a lesser team compared to Arsenal and City. Their main issue is that they do not have any depth in defence, and are still failing to find reinforcements in the summer transfer window. Prior to the start of the offseason, the team parted ways with Arne Slot, and have hired Andoni Iraola. A new era is dawning on Enfield after the team saw Chelsea snatching their legend, Xabi Alonso. Iraola was amazing in the south of England, and Cherries have played some amazing football under him. Some of his magic is expected at Liverpool too, and the fans are more than optimistic about his signing.
An interesting fact is that last summer, Liverpool were the favourites to retain the title after spending massively on the likes of Isak and Ekitike. Yet, under Slot, they have failed to repeat some of the magic that brought them the first post Klopp trophy.
Now, it is expected for Iraola to unlock the likes of Florian Wirtz, and that attacking football, free flowing, and with high output is back on the menu for the Reds. This summer, the team has already added Spanish winger, Victor Munoz, but so far have failed to add depth to their CB position, and that could fire back down the road.
The Red Devils are far removed from the glory of the old days. With Michael Carrick at the helm they have finally regained some of the passion, and since the former English international took over, they are a team that collected most points during the second part of the season. He achieved this with a squad that only had PL to focus on. Now with both cups, the league, and the Champions League we are going to see whether Carrick is the right man for the United job.
The team has had both departures and arrivals, but not everything went according to plan for United. They no longer have the pull of old, both in terms of influence and in terms of money. Casemiro left the team and joined Inter Miami, and in his stead, United brought in Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans.
Both are great players, but have come in as second options for the Red Devils. United had Elliot Anderson snatched by City, while Tottenham priced them out from transfers of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali.
With Arsenal signing Bruno Guimaraes, it appears that Manchester United no longer has enough pull to compete with some of the big dogs in the PL, which was not the case only a few years ago.
That’s why their odds are set at 7.00, and they realistically show that the best that United can hope for this year is to be in the top four, which would be seen as a sign of stability for a team that has been moving up and down for more than a few years now.
Repeating the fairy tale PL win of Leicester City is almost an impossible task. Even the dark horses for this season are well established PL teams. Our biggest favourite from the shadow, who could make issues for other teams is Chelsea. They’ve hired Xabi Alonso, and are a team to be reckoned with.
Their squad depth is immense, full of young players, and they’re the likes Xabi knows how to work with, and are not competing on all fronts. Without European football, Alonso will be able to focus on domestic competitions, which could result in at least one trophy for the Spaniard and his new team.
They have also been pretty loud on the market so far, landing Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for £117 million. Rogers and Cole Palmer will do wonders for this team, and their creativity will certainly bode well with the playstyle implemented by Xabi Alonso. The best part is that for Chelsea the summer has just begun. You can expect more departures and arrivals before the season starts, as Xabi attempts to make a team to his liking. Their odds are set at 9.00, and while they’re a gamble for sure, taking a punt on the Blues this early in the year, might be worth a risk.
Next to Chelsea, we have Tottenham. The bookies do not give them even an outside chance of being at the top come the year end, but anything is possible under Roberto de Zerbi. The Italian is an eccentric character with an attacking style of football, and has previous PL experience. Also, the board has backed him up, and Tottenham have been super active during the summer. The team invested heavily this summer and they’ve already landed the likes of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, and Jan Paul van Hecke. With a few more weeks left to go, we can expect further movement in the market. For the past two years Tottenham has been disappointing, and this season is their chance at redemption. With their odds set at 21.00 it is a longshot by all means, but if you feel like another Leicester is possible, Tottenham is your closest bet to that.
We’re leaving the worst to be the last. There’s a team that’s already the biggest disappointment of the year. Ten or so days ago, they would be a dark horse, but now, Newcastle’s odds of winning the PL are dropping and are currently set at 151.00.That’s even good, considering that they’re selling all of their best players without bringing in replacements. They’ve already parted ways with Tonali and Anthony Gordon, while their captain Bruno Guimaraes is on the brink of joining Arsenal. The north of England Saudi project is falling apart as we speak, and to make matters worse, they have also parted ways with their manager Eddie Howe. It would appear that there will be no sunshine this season on the Tyne. The worst part is that they have signed Aladji Bamba, Sean Steur, Bazoumana Touré, and Ewen Jaouen. These young players will now be forced to carry the team, with the plan only a few weeks ago being to ease them into the first 11 and to PL football. Now the fun starts for them from the first minute of the season, for better or worse.