Hello companions! We're now into August, which means something big is coming up: the start of the 2025/2026 English Premier League season!! I know you're all as excited as I am for footy to start back up again. However, this blog isn't For Me. It's for You. My goal for this blog is to give you, my dear reader, an overview of each of the 20 teams that are competing in the premier league this season. This will include a combination of the following: a brief history, their location in England, rivals, or players to keep an eye out for (whether they're club legends or new signings this summer). I'll be sorting these team overviews based on last year's table positions (standings) with the three promoted clubs last.
Now, you may ask, "Why the premier league? Aren't there other leagues in Germany, Italy, Spain, and France that are fun to watch?" Yes, while that is true, I believe the premier league to be the most fun to watch from top to bottom. It all comes down to one word: parity. While each of these 20 teams have their own expectations on what they'd like to get out of this season, most of them have a true chance at finishing in the top 5 and securing a spot in the most prestigious club competition in world football, the UEFA Champions League (essentially the European Super Bowl, more on that in a future blog maybe). So without further ado, let's get into it.
Brief League Background & Lingo
The Premier League (PL) as we know it was formally established in 1992. Prior to that date, the league still existed but was called the First Division. The TL;DR is that the top teams left the old league and established a new standalone league with its own governance while staying part of the English football system (for promotion/relegation purposes). This isn't overly important but is something to note as most records are as of 1992, kind of like the NFL's Super Bowl era. The phrase "top flight" is often used when speaking about both eras combined. The phrase "derby" (pronounced darby) is used for rivalry games.
Liverpool
In their first campaign since 2015 without longtime manager Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool won the league last year. Their last league title was during the 2019/2020 campaign. Prior to that season, Liverpool hadn't won since the league 1989/1990. For a team with 20 league titles now since their establishment in 1892, that was considered quite the dry spell. Liverpool are one of the oldest and most storied clubs in England and are located in, you guessed it, Liverpool, which is a port town in the north of England. The people from that region are often called "scousers" and have a distinct accent due to their unique roots, including a heavy Irish descent. Their main rivals are cross-town team Everton (they play in the Merseyside Derby) and Manchester United. Notable player movements are the departure of their homegrown talent Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid and winger Luis Diaz to FC Bayern. They acquired the 22 year-old German sensation Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, who won the German league in the 2024/2025 season. The Egyptian King Mo Salah is their best player.
Arsenal
Runners up for the last 3(!) years in a row is Arsenal, who have been led by Mikel Arteta since 2019. Prior to that, they were managed by club legend Arsene Wenger from 1996 to 2018, which their most notable achievement in that time coming during the 2003/2004 season with "The Invincibles". They remain to this day the only team to go unbeaten during an entire PL season. Arsenal are in the midst of their best stretch since those days, led by talismanic midfielder Bukayo Saka and their elite defense, which has ranked among the best in the league in each of the last few years. Their main rival is fellow London team Tottenham Hotspur (North London Derby), who Arsenal haven't lost to since May 2022. They also quite dislike Manchester United and Chelsea. This summer, they haven't really lost anyone of note and they recently gained striker Viktor Gyokeres, who will look to fill a positional hole that has been left unresolved for the last few years.
Manchester City
The New Money of the Premier League, Man City has been absolutely dominant since their purchase by Saudi Arabian owners in 2008. They first won the league under new ownership in the 2011/2012 season and have won it 7 more times since then, most recently in 2023 when they completed the extremely rare "treble", which is winning the PL, the FA Cup (an English tournament), and the Champions League in the same season. Their main rivals are Manchester United (Manchester Derby) and - you guessed it - both teams are located in Manchester, which is in north England. They lost longtime central attacking midfielder Kevin De Bruyne this summer (washed) and added Tijjani Reijnders (I can't pronounce that yet) to bolster their midfield. After an "off" year in 2024/2025, they'll try to get back to their winning ways this year.
Chelsea
The original New Money team was bought by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in 2003. One of his first orders of business was hiring managerial legend Jose Mourinho, who led them to back-to-back PL titles in the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons. They won the league 3 more times and won the Champions League twice during the 2010s before their owner was essentially cancelled due to his ties to Putin during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He sold the team in May 2022. They were purchased by a group led by American entrepreneur Todd Boehly, who also owns partial stakes in the Dodgers, the Lakers, and Cloud 9 (lol). They've spent a metric F-ton of money since this purchase but didn't get any decent results until the last campaign (they finished 12th and 6th in the prior two campaigns). Chelsea continued to spend up this summer and are looking to finally get back on track as a winning team. They are rivals with most other London teams and very much dislike Manchester United, stemming from their close title races during the 2000s. For posterity, I think they're going to be very good this year. They also won the Club World Cup this summer, which is a fairly big deal.
Newcastle United
The northernmost premier league club has been in the top division for most of the 2000s, with two relegations and subsequent promotions in that time. A club with a rich history but iffy (at best) results to show for it until they were purchased by - you guessed it - a Saudi Arabian ownership group - in 2021. Their last three league finishes were 4th, 7th, and 5th and they recently won their first trophy since 1969 when they won the EFL Cup, another English tournament. It remains to be seen what will happen with their upcoming campaign, but they've once again earned a slot in the Champions League, which is a huge deal for a club looking to be on the come-up. Their most important summer move is still unresolved as they try to retain their talismanic striker Alexander Isak as he considers a move to Liverpool. Their biggest rival is Sunderland, who are just 12 miles away across the Rivers Tyne and Wear (hence the Tyne-Wear Derby) and are (spoiler alert) in the PL for the first time since 2016/2017.
Aston Villa
Located in Birmingham, Villa have been in the premier league since the 2019/2020 season. It took a few years for them to gain their footing, but they've finished 7th, 4th, and 6th in the past three years. They participated in the Champions League last year and had a Great run, making it to the quarter-final where they were beat by one goal by the eventual winners PSG. They haven't spent much money improving their team this summer but are rather retaining their key pieces, including English striker Ollie Watkins, who has been with the club since 2020. They don't really have any rivals in the PL, but their biggest rival Birmingham City just got promoted to the Championship (2nd division)!
Nottingham Forest
Forest entered the PL for the first time in the 21st century during the 2022/2023 season. In May 2023, they beat Arsenal 1-0, which simultaneously secured their stay in the PL for another season and officially ended Arsenal's title hopes. While that was one of the first memorable moments for Forest, they were able to hang on once again by finishing 17th in 2023/2024 and then finally breaking through with an amazing 7th place finish last season. While this is an incredible achievement, supporters were left wishing they got just a little more as they were in the top 5 and aiming for Champions League football for pretty much the entire year. They've been able to establish a foothold in the PL, but have had trouble retaining their top talent this summer, with former Manchester United player Anthony Elanga leaving for Newcastle. Their big rival is Derby County, a fellow regular tier 2 team, and they play in the East Midlands Derby (another derby conveniently named after their geographical location). I expect them to take a step back this year.
Brighton & Hove Albion
The most southerly premier league team have been in the league since the 2017/2018 campaign (their first time in the top division since the early '80s). They started as a lower table club, securing their foothold in the PL while finishing 15th, 17th, 15th, 16th, and then finally 9th in 2021/2022 and up to 6th in 2022/2023. They've finished 11th and 8th in the past two years and have plenty of talent to once again finish in the top half of the table. They have several top players and regularly sell talent to top clubs for a large profit as most mid-table clubs are forced to do. In just the last few years, Brighton have sold 3 players (Marc Cucurella in 2023, Moises Caicedo in 2024, and Joao Pedro in 2025) to Chelsea for a combined 245 million pounds ($327M). It's tough to keep finding rising talents, but if anyone can do it, it's Brighton.
Bournemouth
After entering the Premier League in 2015/2016 with current Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, Bournemouth were able to stay up until getting relegated during the 2019/2020 season. They were able to come back up after just two seasons in the 2nd division and have been in the PL since 2022/2023. Their finishes in this span have been 15th, 12th, and now 9th last season. They have managed to keep most of their key pieces from last season, perhaps most notably PL nepo baby Justin Kluivert), but lost standout wingback Milos Kerkez, who left for Liverpool this summer to replace star aforementioned left back Trent Alexander-Arnold. They have a rivalry with Brighton as they are both located on the south coast, but their main rival is Southampton, who were relegated last season.
Brentford
West London-based Brentford have been in the premier league since 2021/2022, their first appearance since...just after World War 2. This will be their first season not managed by Thomas Frank since 2018 as he left to become the new manager for Tottenham Hotspur (not hard to see why Spurs hired a new manager since we haven't talked about them yet). This is, of course, an immense loss on top of the fact that their talismanic attacking midfielder and a personal favorite player of mine, Bryan Mbeumo, departed for Manchester United this summer. Their main rival is nearby club Fulham and their matches are referred to as a West London Derby (of which there are a few).
Fulham
Speaking of Fulham, this west London team is notably owned by Jaguars owner Shad Khan. His ownership is most easily evidenced by the fact that they are the only PL club with a pool in their stadium (the Jags are the only NFL team with a pool). Fulham is our first true "yo-yo" club, meaning they get promoted and relegated between the first and second divisions often. This is only a recent title for them as they were in the PL from 2001 all the way until 2014 when this pattern emerged. They've been in the top division since 2022/2023 and have finished 10th, 13th, and now 11th since then. Marco Silva has managed them since 2021 and their best players are American phenom Antonee "Jedi" Robinson and Arsenal academy product Alex Iwobi. Legendary American striker Clint Dempsey also played for Fulham!
Crystal Palace
Although they finished 12th last year, this perennial mid-table PL club from south London won the FA Cup this past May, beating Manchester City by a score of 1-0. A monumental achievement for the club! In theory, this major trophy should have secured them a spot in the Europa League (one tier below the Champions League), but some legal troubles stemming from their ownership may prevent that. Either way, they've been in the PL since 2013 and have yet to finish better than 10th place since then, so the FA Cup victory was massive for them. They should still be playing in a European competition for the first time this season and didn't lose any major talent, so this upcoming year could be even more fun.
Everton
One of the PL's longest standing clubs and a member of the first division of English football every year since 1954, The Toffees have a new home this season for the first time since 1892. It remains to be seen if moving from their historic home will be a positive or negative, but this year will look a bit different. David Moyes took over as manager in January 2025, a position he served at this club from 2001 to 2013, when he moved to Manchester United to replace legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Everton has fallen on tough times recently, facing points deductions from financial penalties a few years ago. They've finished 16th, 17th, 15th, and now 13th in the last few years. They were a consistent top-half team until around 2019, so they'll hope that their new stadium can provide the boost they need to back in form. As mentioned before, they are based in Liverpool and their main rivals are Liverpool (Merseyside Derby).
West Ham United
Another Premier League mainstay, West Ham have been in the PL every year since 1992 with the exception of three seasons - two in the mid 2000s, and once in 2011/2012. They've had a strange managerial history since they appointment David Moyes in November 2017. He managed them until May 2018, when his contract expired, then returned in December 2019 after the next manager didn't work out. Moyes led West Ham to some of the most successful campaigns in club history, including a 2023 victory in the Europa Conference League (third tier of European football), which represents one of, if not the most, important trophies in the club's history. The 2023/2024 campaign was unfortunately nowhere near as successful and he left the club after that season. This last season was even more of a disappointment for the Hammers with new manager Julen Lopetegui only lasting 22 matches before being replaced by current manager, Graham Potter. Their best player is attacking midfielder Jarrod Bowen and their longest-running rivalry is with 2nd tier club Milwall and their Dockers Derby.
Manchester United
Alllll the way down here we have a club that everyone's probably heard of. Led by Sir Alex Ferguson from 1986 to 2013, Manchester United have won an astounding 13 titles since the premier league was formed in 1992, with their last title coming all the way back in 2012/2013. Since then, they've come in second a few times but haven't been seen as a true contender since Sir Alex left. Coming off their worst PL finish ever, the Red Devils have brought in significant talent this summer including midfielder Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford and talented striker Matheus Cunha from Wolves. While managerial questions remain (some believe current manager Ruben Amorim should have already been sacked), the talent might be there for United to return to the glory days.
Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves)
Since Kanye's tweet "Imma fix wolves" 9 years ago, Wolves have been in the premier league as a mostly solid team. They finished in the top half of the table from being promoted in 2018 up until 2020 and since then they've settled around 13th place. They lost their star striker, Matheus Cunha, to Manchester United and key attacking defender, Rayan Ait-Nouri to Manchester City. As a club that frequently relies on a rich pipeline of talent and a "next-man up" mentality, they are on track to remain in the PL, but they would certainly be a club in trouble if one of the three promoted teams can put together a good run.
Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs)
And finally we have the last place finisher to not be relegated, Tottenham Hotspur. They've been in the headlines this week as longtime star Son Heung-Min has left Spurs and joined MLS team LAFC (amazing for America, let's fricking go). They made history last year as being the team with the lowest ever domestic finish (17th) to win a major European cup after they beat Manchester United to win the Europa League. This was a massive deal for the club but despite this win, they sacked their attacking-focused Australian manager Ange Postecoglou in favor of longtime Brentford manager Thomas Frank. They've made some good signings this summer and have nowhere to go but up from a domestic perspective.
Leeds United
A longtime premier league club and top rival of Manchester United comes back up to the premier league after playing in the Championship for the last two years. Leeds were a first division team and a founding member of the Premier League, where they played until their first relegation from top flight English football in the 2004-2005 season. It's been a very rocky road since then as they dropped another division for a few years in the late 2000s before finally coming back up to the PL in the 2020-2021 season. Their first season back was electric, with current Barcelona star Raphinha leading the charge to a 9th place finish. They proved to be a one-hit wonder with finishes afterwards of 17th and 19th. They are back, but are they ready to stay up?
Burnley
You'll notice a pattern in these promoted teams here - Burnley is also a longtime premier league club and back after just one year in the Championship. They've been the textbook definition of a yo-yo club recently as they haven't played in the same league in consecutive seasons since before COVID. They're typically known for a strong defensive style and that doesn't look to be changing any time soon as they allowed only 16 goals during their entire season last year.
Sunderland
Former Netflix stars of Sunderland Till I Die are finally back in the premier league for the first time since they were famously double relegated down to the third tier of English football in back to back seasons in 2016/2017 and then in 2017/2018. Their now-famous Netflix show was recorded during the 2017/2018 season, when they were playing in the Championship (and not in the top division) for only the 3rd time in their club's history that dates back to 1890. What happened during that season was unprecedented - they were relegated down to England's third division for the first time in club history. This led to financial ruin and they stayed in the third division until 2022. They are now finally back in the premier league and looking to go back to their roots of being one of the most consistent teams in the PL. The big question remains - have they simply been replaced in the last decade?
To anyone that has read this entire blog, thank you for reading and to anyone who skimmed or read a few blurbs - thank you as well! Feel free to reach out and discuss during the upcoming season. I can't wait!
