Ranking every team before most unpredictable Premier League in years

 A new era of the Premier League begins on Friday as defending champions Arsenal kick off what looks to one of the most unpredictable seasons in years.

Pep Guardiola’s departure from Manchester City following a decade of dominance coincides with Arsenal’s return as defending champions for the first time 22 years. Mikel Arteta is now the longest-serving Premier League manager and the relative stability at the Gunners comes in sharp contrast to the upheaval across the top-flight.

Nine Premier League clubs have changed managers over the summer, while Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi begin their first full seasons at Manchester United and Tottenham, respectively. There are many unknowns across the Premier League, with Andoni Iraola taking charge of Liverpool and Xabi Alonso arriving at Chelsea.

Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City were promoted from the Championship last season, replacing the relegated West Ham, Burnley and Wolves, and will hope to take inspiration from a Sunderland side who qualified for Europe last term in their first season back in the top-flight.

20 - Hull City

Last season: Promoted via play-offs

A very warm welcome back to Hull and apologies in advance for your ranking. But Hull’s return to the Premier League comes after one of the strangest promotion seasons in history. According to Opta, Sergej Jakirovic’s side ranked 23rd in the Championship in expected points last season, but defied those underlying metrics to not only avoid relegation to League One but reach the play-offs and secure promotion by beating Middlesbrough at Wembley (after Southampton were kicked out, of course). Despite a busy window of comings and goings, Hull are relegation favourites and this could be a long campaign.

19 - Ipswich Town

Last season: Championship runners-up

Ipswich get an immediate shot back at the Premier League after their rather forgettable relegation in 2024-25. It’s brought a change of approach, too. Deviating from hoovering up the best of the Championship and broadening their net has led to the club-record signing of striker Emersonn from Toulouse and Daizen Maeda from Celtic. But will that be enough? Gary O’Neil, formerly of Bournemouth and Wolves, still has a huge job on his hands after taking over from Kieran McKenna – who confirmed he needed a break from football after three promotions and a relegation in four seasons, while perhaps also sensing the size of the challenge ahead.

18 - Coventry City

Last season: Championship winners

Of the three promoted sides, it feels as if Coventry have the most momentum behind them, due to ending their 25-year absence from the Premier League and the emotion of last season’s unexpected promotion campaign under Frank Lampard. The dark days may be over, but the challenge in bridging the gap to the Premier League is tougher than ever. If Sunderland’s ambitious approach in the transfer market upon their return last season is the blueprint to success, Coventry have responded by twice breaking their transfer record, including the £26m arrival of 20-year-old midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi. But their most important piece of business has to be keeping hold of Lampard, whose earns another shot at the Premier League after sackings at Chelsea and Everton.

17 - Fulham

Last season: 11th

You fear for Fulham? The departure of Marco Silva after five stellar years has led to some anxiety around Craven Cottage, and the arrival of former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa after his spiky caretaker spell at Real Madrid is yet to ease those concerns. In striker Gonzalo Garcia and midfielder Cesar Palacios, Arbeloa has brought two young talents with him from Real Madrid and Fulham will be relying on their potential. But there are also big shoes to fill in their player of the season Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez, who like Silva departed at the end of their contracts. With games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in their opening five fixtures, Arbeloa must start well for Fulham to avoid the sinking feeling.

16 - Newcastle

Last season: 12th

Does the exodus of Tyneside leave Newcastle as relegation contenders? In less than 18 months, the Magpies have gone from winning the Carabao Cup and qualifying for the Champions League to losing Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and, most shockingly of all, Eddie Howe. Far from challenging for the Premier League title in 2030 under their Saudi owners, alarm bells are ringing around St James’ Park and it falls to the relatively unknown Matthias Jaissle, formerly of Red Bull Salzburg and Asian champions Al-Ahli, to pick up the pieces. Their summer business has the club looking towards the future but replacing established stars with youth is a gamble, and it may instead leave Newcastle looking over their shoulders.

15 - Brighton

Last season: 8th

Brighton’s first European campaign in 2023-24 resulted in the Seagulls slipping back into the bottom half of the table and this season could be a similar story for Fabian Hurzeler’s side as they embark on a year in the Conference League. Given the Premier League’s financial muscle, it’s no surprise that Brighton have been installed as heavy favourites to repeat Crystal Palace’s success and the opportunity to win what would be the club’s first ever major trophy should not be dismissed. How detrimental could that be to their domestic form? Recording signing Luka Vuskovic arrives with an expectation to bolster their defence but with Danny Welbeck leaving for Chelsea means there could be a shortage of goals and heightens the importance of Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh. Worryingly, neither is fit to start the season.