Liverpool have been backed to retain the Premier League title, with the Opta supercomputer predicting a top 4 finish for Chelsea and Arsenal, while Manchester United miss out. All promoted sides have been touted to be the relegated sides at the end of the season.
Sky Sports have released the Opta supercomputer prediction for the 2025/26 season, which sees Liverpool stay at the top with 73.33 expected points. Last season's Top 6 remain intact, predicting Arsenal to finish second, less than 2 points ahead of Manchester City, while Chelsea sit comfortably in 4th.
Newcastle United and Aston Villa are separated by 0.03 expected points in the Opta prediction, pointing at another thrilling end to the season for the two clubs. Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion, Bournemouth, and Nottingham Forest complete the Top 10.
Last season's underperformers, Manchester United and Tottenham, are predicted to have another poor season. The Red Devils have an expected points tally of 49, which helps them finish 12th, while Spurs finish just three places above last season at 14th with 47.
Burnley, Leeds United, and Sunderland got promoted from the Championship last season, and Opta's prediction has them going straight back down. Wolves and West Ham are predicted to finish just above the relegation zone.
Liverpool manager snubs Arsenal and Manchester United; names Chelsea as title challengers
Liverpool manager Arne Slot spoke to talkSPORT earlier this week and claimed that Chelsea should have won the Premier League title last season. He believes that they will be the title challengers this season, ahead of Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City.
He said:
"I expected them to win last season already. The amount of quality they have and they were there at the start of the season. They were in [the title race] after 10 games. They were still there [in December]. Squad depth, quality, they have a very good manager as well, and I think they've shown this by winning the trophies they won last season."
"It was good for us that they also had a period last season where they struggled and that's why they couldn't compete till the end for the league title. But now they're strengthening the team again, so a team that's, in my opinion, one of the ones that are going to challenge for a league title."Liverpool kick off the Premier League season on Friday, August 15 with a home clash against AFC Bournemouth. Chelsea face Crystal Palace in the opening match of the season, while Manchester United host Arsenal at Old Trafford.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins. Sripad has been a Chelsea fan through and through since the age of 9 and can watch their 2012 Champions League triumph on repeat. The undisputed ‘GOAT’ according to him is Lionel Messi and his favorite managers are Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson. Apart from popular European leagues, he also likes to follow other leagues like the MLS, Saudi Pro League, Eredivisie, and Liga MX. Sripad believes in only using the right sources for his articles, and is an expert in understanding how to get the right quotes for each news to provide proper background information. His exploits have led him to become a popular figure in European Football and interviewing Premier League legends such as Alan Shearer, Shay Given, Paul Dickov, and John Barnes. His articles have been much revered amongst the football fraternity and have been shared by the likes of John Terry, Gary Lineker, and Declan Rice.If given a chance to change a football rule, Sripad wants VAR to be fully automated and offside rules to be less stringent. When not working, he likes to watch past Formula 1 races and play FIFA.
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