The 2025/26 Premier League season delivered everything football supporters could ask for: redemption stories, spectacular disappointments, surprise packages, managerial casualties and enough online fan arguments to keep social media companies profitable for another decade.
Arsenal finally ended a generation-long wait for a league title. Manchester City looked vulnerable for the first time in years. Manchester United rediscovered themselves. Bournemouth and Sunderland exceeded every expectation, while Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham left their supporters wondering where it all went wrong.
As another memorable campaign comes to a close, Outlier Arise looks back at the clubs, characters and storylines that defined the season.
After 22 years of near-misses, banter, conspiracy theories and enough “next year is our year” memes to power the internet indefinitely, Arsenal are finally Premier League champions again.
Mikel Arteta’s side crossed the line at last, and despite how utterly unbearable sections of their fanbase became during the run-in, it is impossible not to respect what they built. Their defensive structure was suffocating. William Saliba and Gabriel turned the penalty box into a no-fly zone, while Declan Rice somehow managed to cover every blade of grass in North London simultaneously.
The only criticism? Arsenal were not exactly football’s great entertainers. At times they played with the cold efficiency of an accountant balancing spreadsheets. Corners became more dangerous than open play, earning them the less-than-affectionate nickname “Set Piece FC.” But history rarely remembers aesthetics — it remembers winners. Arsenal won. End of discussion.
Manchester City, meanwhile, looked strangely mortal.
In what appears to be Pep Guardiola’s final season in England, City lingered around the title race without ever truly feeling like they would overtake Arsenal. The aura remained, but the inevitability disappeared. Even so, Guardiola leaves behind one of the greatest managerial eras English football has ever seen — multiple league titles, domestic trebles, Champions League glory and a style of football that permanently altered the league’s tactical landscape.
Of course, the shadow of the 115 charges still hangs over the Etihad like a storm cloud nobody wants to talk about too loudly. Whatever history eventually decides about this City era, Guardiola’s influence on English football is undeniable.
If Arsenal represented discipline and City represented fading dominance, Liverpool represented confusion.
Few fanbases entered the season with more confidence than Liverpool supporters after the club casually dropped what felt like half a billion pounds in the transfer market. The expectation was domination. The reality was a painfully dull campaign that ended in a limp fifth-place finish and a nervous scramble just to secure Champions League football.
For long stretches, Liverpool played football that felt almost unrecognisable at Anfield — slow, cautious, timid and strangely lifeless. The famous intensity disappeared. The heavy-metal football Jurgen Klopp once promised had been replaced by sideways passing and collective anxiety. Expensive signings arrived with blockbuster reputations but rarely looked capable of changing matches consistently.
And then there was Chelsea — somehow even worse.
Another season, another expensive rebuild, another identity crisis. Chelsea finished 10th, missed Europe entirely and spent most of the year looking like a club that had assembled a squad through a Football Manager save gone horribly wrong.
The recruitment remained baffling. Big-money moves for players like Garnacho and Delap felt less like strategic planning and more like panic-buying during a supermarket blackout. Then came the managerial appointment of Liam Rosenior, a decision that raised eyebrows immediately and only looked stranger as the season unfolded.
Chelsea somehow managed to combine enormous spending power with complete tactical uncertainty. At times they looked less like a heavyweight club and more like eleven strangers meeting for the first time in a five-a-side competition.
Not every story of the season was found at the top or bottom of the table. Several clubs produced campaigns that few predicted back in August.
Manchester United were one of them.
For much of the season, United looked every bit as uninspiring as Liverpool. The football was stale, the atmosphere toxic and manager Ruben Amorim appeared to be running out of ideas. Then came the moment that changed everything. Amorim’s public comments created enough friction behind the scenes to cost him his job, and in stepped Michael Carrick.
What followed was one of the turnarounds of the season.
Carrick restored confidence, simplified the approach and suddenly United looked like Manchester United again. Kobbie Mainoo returned from the wilderness and reminded everyone why he was once considered one of England’s brightest prospects. Bruno Fernandes continued to conduct matches like a man playing several moves ahead of everyone else, and United rediscovered a swagger that had been absent for years. A top-three finish looked impossible in December but almost inevitable by May.
If United were a surprise, Bournemouth were a revelation.
Andoni Iraola once again proved he is one of the Premier League’s smartest managers. Bournemouth narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification and spent large parts of the season punching well above their weight. Losing players of the quality of Semenyo would have crippled many clubs, but Bournemouth simply carried on. Organised, fearless and relentlessly energetic, they finished sixth and cemented themselves as one of the league’s best-run clubs.
Then there was Sunderland.
Most predictions had them heading straight back to the Championship. Instead, they stormed into the Europa League places and became one of the stories of the season. Granit Xhaka rolled back the years to produce a remarkable campaign that earned him plenty of “comeback player of the year” shouts. The Stadium of Light became exactly that for Sunderland supporters and exactly the opposite for visiting teams. Few away days were tougher.
Beyond those overachievers sat a group of clubs that largely met expectations.
Newcastle’s season could best be described as average. Not disastrous, not impressive, just average. For a club with Champions League ambitions and significant investment behind it, that simply isn’t enough. Questions are beginning to grow around Eddie Howe and whether he is the manager capable of taking Newcastle to the next level.
Brighton and Brentford both enjoyed solid campaigns. Brentford in particular deserve immense credit. After losing key players, important leaders and their manager during the previous summer, many expected them to struggle. Instead, they quietly secured ninth place and once again demonstrated why smart recruitment often beats expensive recruitment.
Everton and Nottingham Forest did what Everton and Nottingham Forest seem to do every season: survive, frustrate and somehow avoid being dragged into complete chaos. Neither side will feature heavily in season highlights packages, but both comfortably secured another year of Premier League football.
Leeds United also deserve recognition. Survival was the objective and survival was achieved. It was not always pretty, but Premier League status remains intact.
Tottenham Hotspur, however, continued their remarkable transformation from Champions League regulars into a club permanently flirting with disaster. It took until the final match of the season for Spurs to secure safety and avoid relegation. Another 17th-place finish has left supporters wondering how one of England’s biggest clubs continues to underperform so dramatically.
The appointment of Roberto De Zerbi was meant to signal ambition. Instead, it increasingly feels as though the problems run far deeper than the dugout. Managers have come and gone. Players have been bought and sold. Yet the same issues remain. At some point the focus has to turn towards the boardroom.
Finally, there were the three clubs heading in the opposite direction.
Burnley and Wolves had looked vulnerable for much of the season, so their relegation came as little surprise. West Ham, however, were a different story. Few expected the Hammers to fall through the trapdoor, making their relegation one of the shocks of the campaign.
There is, however, one silver lining for the neutrals.
Next season’s Championship fixture list now includes West Ham versus Millwall. Local police forces across London are reportedly already requesting annual leave cancellations.
As one season ends, another begins. Arsenal finally ended a two-decade wait for a title. Manchester City showed signs of vulnerability. Manchester United rediscovered hope. Bournemouth and Sunderland exceeded every expectation placed upon them. Liverpool and Chelsea disappointed, while Tottenham somehow found a new and inventive way to test the patience of their supporters.
The Premier League remains the most unpredictable league in world football. Long may it continue.
