This is the first instalment of our club-by-club season preview series. We’re starting with the sides carrying the biggest storylines into 2026/27 — the champions defending their crown, three clubs with brand-new managers, and the three newcomers up from the Championship. More clubs will follow in Part 2.
Arsenal — Defending the Title
Manager: Mikel Arteta (unchanged)
Arsenal finally ended their wait for a league title last season, becoming champions for the first time since 2004. The core of that squad stays intact heading into the title defence, which counts for a lot — continuity is rare for a reigning Premier League champion these days.
The main summer business has been about sharpening the edges rather than a rebuild. Christos Tzolis arrives from Club Brugge to replace the departed Leandro Trossard, while Piero Hincapié has completed a permanent move to add further depth at the back.
What to watch: History says title defences are hard — no team has gone back-to-back since Manchester City’s run earlier this decade. Arsenal’s biggest test may simply be handling being the hunted rather than the hunter.
Manchester City — Life After Guardiola
Manager: Enzo Maresca (new)
The end of the Pep Guardiola era at the Etihad is arguably the single biggest story of the Premier League close season. Guardiola’s decision to step down closes out one of the most dominant managerial spells English football has ever seen.
Enzo Maresca steps in, and City have moved fast to back him, breaking the club’s transfer record for Newcastle midfielder Elliot Anderson. There’s also excitement building around teenage winger Jeremy Monga, who arrives after a breakout season at Leicester City.
What to watch: Every “post-legend” transition is a gamble, even with a talented squad. How quickly Maresca can stamp his own identity on a group so thoroughly shaped by Guardiola will be one of the season’s defining subplots.
Liverpool — Starting Over
Manager: Andoni Iraola (new)
Few reigning champions have had a rougher close season than Liverpool. Arne Slot won the title in his first year at Anfield, but a dramatic slide down the table led to his dismissal before this season even began. Liverpool moved quickly to bring in Andoni Iraola, fresh off three excellent seasons turning Bournemouth into a genuine top-half side.
Iraola is known for high-intensity, aggressive football — a departure from Slot’s more patient, possession-heavy approach, and a philosophy many Liverpool fans see as a return to the Klopp era’s identity. Complicating the rebuild further: talisman Mohamed Salah has left the club this summer.
What to watch: This is as close to a soft reset as a reigning-title-winning squad can go through. Chemistry between a new coaching philosophy and a squad built for a different system will take time — the question is how much patience Liverpool’s ownership and fanbase are willing to give it.
Chelsea — The Xabi Alonso Project
Manager: Xabi Alonso (new)
Chelsea’s revolving door of expensive young talent continues, but this summer brings a genuinely significant appointment: Xabi Alonso arrives at Stamford Bridge as one of the most in-demand young coaches in Europe. Backing him financially, Chelsea have once again broken their transfer record, this time for Morgan Rogers, while also adding a wave of promising young players.
What to watch: Alonso’s start comes with a west London derby at Fulham. Chelsea have invested heavily in recruitment over recent years without translating it into sustained title contention — Alonso’s task is turning talent depth into results.
Coventry City, Hull City & Ipswich Town — The Newcomers
All three promoted clubs face the same fundamental challenge: surviving the step up in physicality, quality, and squad depth that defines the Premier League.
Coventry City get the toughest possible opening assignment — a trip to the Emirates to face champions Arsenal on the season’s opening Friday night. As baptisms by fire go, it doesn’t get much bigger.
Hull City return to the top flight for the first time in years and open at home against Manchester United — a genuine box-office fixture for a club rebuilding its Premier League identity.
Ipswich Town host Sunderland in their own top-flight return, in what’s effectively a “who adapts faster” clash between two clubs with recent experience of Championship promotion campaigns.
What to watch: Premier League history isn’t kind to promoted trios — it’s rare for all three to survive. Early-season results will matter disproportionately for confidence, and transfer business done before the August 31 deadline could be decisive for all three.