Why Liverpool Will Win the 2025-26 Premier League and Why Arsenal and Man City Won't
It’s time for Liverpool to defend the Premier League title.
The English champions blew prospective contenders away last season, finishing 10 points clear of second-place Arsenal, 13 ahead of previous winners Manchester City and 15 beyond Chelsea in fourth.
Winning the league was a surprise. Winning it so comfortably was downright impressive, so now's the time for the Merseyside club to consolidate their dominance and do something they have never managed before by retaining the title
Here, we look ahead as to why that will be possible when May 2026 arrives.
Why Arsenal Won't Win the Title
1 of 3
To consider why Liverpool will win the title, we have to first run through the likely reasons why their nearest contenders won't. I firmly believe Arsenal will be right up there this season, and if anyone is going to spoil the Reds' party, it's them.
The Gunners have signed arguably the best striker on the market in Viktor Gyökeres and one of the best midfielders in the world in Martín Zubimendi. These are immediate impact players who will contribute from the first whistle.
Noni Madueke provides competition on the wings, but it's not clear if he or Gabriel Martinelli are going to maintain a starting berth. There are also questions as to whether either is consistent enough to play a key role in a title race.
Injuries played a major role in Arsenal's drop-off last year. While it's never useful to overspeculate on what could happen when it comes to players getting hurt, the drop-off in Mikel Arteta's squad is vast if a vital player succumbs to injury.
Bukayo Saka's recent four-month lay-off is a reminder that things can fall apart. Madueke and Ethan Nwaneri can alleviate some of that pressure, but what happens if Gabriel gets hurt again? Jakub Kiwior is a great rotation option, but he's not a starter in a Premier League-winning team.
The pessimist in me would also suggest, despite Gyökeres’ arrival, Arteta is still one injury away from having zero strikers. Kai Havertz has worked hard, but his best season in the Premier League has amounted to 13 goals and he would need to develop tendencies he has never shown to improve on that.
Arsenal have made good strides in pre-season, but it's still not enough. It doesn't make up for a lack of varied recruitment during Arteta's reign and it most likely won't win the Gunners' first title since 2004.
Why Manchester City Won't Win the Title
2 of 3
To put it simply: Manchester City are not the same team without Rodri.
The Ballon d'Or winner's absence was the headline issue from last season's poor campaign. He hasn't escaped pre-season unscathed and is now likely to be out until after the international break in September.
That's a significant blow, even with the signing of the excellent Tijjani Reijnders, whose box-to-box play was added to work alongside the Spaniard. Rodri's importance is well-evidenced by now and it's surprising Pep Guardiola hasn't done more to bolster a midfield that also includes 34-year-old Ilkay Gündoğan.
The City boss did trigger the start of his next rebuild once the season slipped, highlighted by Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez and Abdukodir Khusanov joining in January.
Marmoush has settled well after significant game time. The others are still finding their feet, and as usual under Guardiola, are having to do so while being rotated. Presumably the idea is to relieve a little pressure on new names and allow them to bed in. However, it can also stop players finding consistency.
As such, there's a surprising number of City stars with question marks by their names right now. Are Savinho or Jeremy Doku reliable enough to deliver a title? Does the newly signed Rayan Cherki displace one of them, or add another wrinkle to Phil Foden's lack of form? Can John Stones and Nathan Ake stay fit? What about Erling Haaland? Who is the No. 1 goalkeeper? Has Kyle Walker been adequately replaced?
That's an unprecedented amount of worries for a squad with vast resources. Combine that with Liverpool really going for it across the summer, and the rivals feel further apart—in favour of the Reds—than they have been for a long time.
Why Liverpool Will Win the Title
3 of 3
"Going for it" has defined Liverpool's summer business. The club that has plucked so many £35 million bargains out of nowhere in recent years is now operating at a scary pace.
At the time of writing, the acquisitions of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have set the Reds back just over £252 million, a figure that may reach £400 million if Newcastle United loosen their grip on Alexander Isak.
It would be remiss to forget the incoming cash, though, with the likes of Luis Diaz, Jarrell Quansah, Caoimhin Kelleher, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Darwin Nunez satisfying the Net Spend FC supporters who linger on social media. An outlay of around £100 million for that kind of replenishment? That's a damn good haul.
And yes, they lost the Community Shield on Sunday. But that won't halt their long-term ambitions.
The investment also holds powerful symbolic value. Fenway Sports Group are essentially buying into manager Arne Slot for many years to come. It's an important declaration after the Dutchman immediately solved the biggest question of the post-Jurgen Klopp era.
.jpg?w=480 "Giants Harbaugh's Program Begins Football")
