The 2025/26 Premier League season is just around the corner. Liverpool will be looking to retain their title having spent big this summer, with Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz all joining the club in huge deals.
They will have competition for the title, though. Arsenal have finished second in three consecutive seasons and will be hoping the upcoming campaign will be the one where they finally become English champions again for the first time since 2004.
Elsewhere, Manchester City will be hoping to challenge for the title once more after a very poor 2024/25 campaign by their standards, while Chelsea, fresh off winning the Club World Cup, will also have title aspirations.
Ahead of the new season, Rio Ferdinand has predicted exactly how he thinks the top four will finish this season. He's also made a big claim about Manchester United, predicted the top goalscorer and named the three clubs he thinks will be relegated.
Top Four
liverpool premier league
"I’m going to go Liverpool to win the league. Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea."
Ferdinand thinks the Premier League will finish in exactly the same order as last season. He's backing Liverpool to make it back-to-back Premier League title wins, with Arsenal finishing second for a fourth consecutive campaign.
Man United prediction
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"I think Man United are top eight. Anything above that is ridiculous, like 'wow, wow, wow' compared to what it was. I'm going to go out and say it, Man United are going to be the biggest improvement this season. 100%."
While Ferdinand doesn't think United have enough to make the top four, he is expecting a huge improvement from Ruben Amorim's side. Man Utd finished 15th in 2024/25 and, after spending big on Benjamin Sesko, Bruan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha this summer, Ferdinand thinks they'll finish in the top eight and challenge for European qualification.
Top Goalscorer
erling haaland
"I’m going to go [Erling] Haaland. I’ve said [Alexander] Isak if he joins Liverpool but I don’t think he’s going to go there, so I’ve gone Haaland."
Erling Haaland, considered one of the best strikers in the world, missed out on the Premier League Golden Boot in 2024/25 as he finished the campaign with 22 goals, a distant seven goals behind eventual winner Mohamed Salah. Ferdinand expects the Norwegian striker to return to his best form in the new campaign, having won the award in both 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Relegated Clubs
Leeds United
"Burnley, Sunderland and Leeds all go back down for me. Scott Parker maybe could get his team out of it maybe."
The gulf between the Premier League and the Championship is huge, with all three promoted clubs in 2023/24 going straight back down the following season. Ferdinand expects the same to occur in the upcoming campaign, despite all three clubs spending huge amounts of money in their bid to secure survival.
Ferdinand thinks that Burnley, who finished second behind Leeds in the 24/25 Championship, have the best chance of staying up. Scott Parker's side are extremely resolute at the back, having conceded just 16 goals throughout the entire 24/25 Championship season.