After years of knocking at the door, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal finally smashed it down last season to win a first Premier League title in 22 years. It was a long time coming and well deserved by the Gunners who held off a challenge from Manchester City to pick up the title, and the early Premier League 2026 betting odds say Arsenal are the team to beat again in 2026/27.
It promises to be a hugely competitive race for the title and Champions League places, and four of the main challengers have changed their managers, but which club is most likely to knock the North Londoners off their perch?
Well, here’s the SBOTOP list of the most likely candidates.
Manchester City
Where else to start than the club which has won six of the last 10 Premier League titles? Manchester City looked ready to chase the Gunners down last term but fell short in the run-in, and that was the swansong for legendary manager Pep Guardiola. He left with a domestic double, winning the FA Cup and EFL Cup to end a glittering period at the Etihad as the club’s best manager.
In stepped Enzo Maresca, Guardiola’s former assistant and the Chelsea manager until he left Stamford Bridge on New Year’s Day, with the London club unhappy that his head had been turned.
I believe Maresca has the best chance of beating Arsenal. He has the deepest squad, which has just added England star Elliot Anderson to its midfield in a £116 million move from Nottingham Forest. A new era is dawning in Manchester, and the Blue Moon is set to rise.
Liverpool
2025 Premier League winners Liverpool failed to follow up their success last season, and that saw the end of Arne Slot as manager. The Reds moved to bring in Andoni Iraola, who had just led Bournemouth to their best-ever finish, in sixth and on their way to the Europa League.
The 44-year-old is a superb man manager, and he’s in a great position to manage the post-Mohamed Salah era. And with the likes of Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alisson Becker, and captain Virgil Van Dijk in their ranks, Liverpool have the quality and experience to make a real challenge under the new man.
Chelsea
There’s a change in the dugout at Stamford Bridge too. After Maresca left Chelsea in January, the wheels fell off, and the Blues finished in a disastrous 10th place, so they will miss out on Europe this season.
That does give Chelsea an advantage in the league, and their new manager Xabi Alonso has a point to prove. After leading Bayer Leverkusen to an historic Bundesliga title in 2024, the former Liverpool midfielder was recruited by Real Madrid last season, but that ended in tears, and Alonso left Los Blancos midseason. At this stage of his managerial career, Chelsea looks like a good fit to me, and with a lighter schedule, I can see Alonso leading the Blues on an exciting path.
Manchester United
Following the departure of the great Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, Manchester United have endured a (relatively) terrible 13 years with manager after manager passing through the club and just five trophies to show for their efforts, two FA Cups, two League Cups, and a Europa League.
Former player Michael Carrick took the reins midway through last term, and I, for one, thought it was a temporary appointment after he had failed to win promotion with Middlesbrough, but Carrick proved me wrong and led the Red Devils to a third-place finish.
He has been rewarded with a two-year contract and will rely heavily on Bruno Fernandes for leadership on the pitch. The Portuguese midfielder has been consistently Manchester United’s best player in recent seasons, and he has some good players around him now, with strikers Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha settling well under Carrick last season.
Tottenham Hotspur
With a nod to Aston Villa, who finished a very strong fourth in the 2025-26 Premier League table, my fifth pick is the team that has landed in 17th in each of the last two campaigns. Spurs were fifth in 2024, and I expect them, under Roberto De Zerbi, to be back at the elite end of the table.
The new manager arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium late in March and steered them to safety on the very last day of the campaign, saying that was his best managerial achievement to date. I expect the club’s Premier League 2026 results to be significantly better than last season.
With players of the calibre of Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, and James Maddison at the club, it was some underachievement to be languishing at the bottom end of the table, though Spurs suffered their fair share of injuries. The addition of Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali to the midfield could turn out to be a masterstroke.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
