Phil McNulty publishes Premier League predictions for this season
Phil McNulty has set out his predictions for where the 20 Premier League clubs will finish this season in a BBC Sport article published on 19 August 2026. He names Arsenal as his pick to retain the title they won for the first time in 22 years last season.
Arsenal are described as having quality across the squad and the confidence of champions, with McNulty citing Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis as high-quality additions after Arsenal dismantled Manchester City in the Community Shield. The article notes nine new managers in the top flight this season and says this makes the set of predictions particularly difficult. McNulty recalls that Liverpool were tipped as favourites last season but lost the title spectacularly, a sequence that led to Arne Slot's dismissal.
On Manchester City, McNulty frames the campaign as the start of a new era under Enzo Maresca following Pep Guardiola’s departure, pointing to the exits of Rodri, Bernardo Silva and John Stones and a Community Shield defeat to Arsenal. He records incoming business including £116m signing Elliot Anderson and the expected arrival of Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, and highlights that Erling Haaland remains a game-changing figure; McNulty adds, "There will be silverware."
Liverpool’s section notes the arrival of Andoni Iraola from Bournemouth and describes a challenging post-Mohamed Salah period, while identifying squad assets such as Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, potential additions Bradley Barcola and Rio Ngumoha, and young defenders Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni; McNulty concludes they are "definitely a top-four place". For Chelsea he points to Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen, the acquisitions of Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix, and the veteran signings of Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck, suggesting Chelsea could benefit from having no European distractions.
Manchester United are covered as entering Michael Carrick’s first full season after he "did so well to guide Manchester United back into the Champions League last season following the sacking of Ruben Amorim", with signings Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa and Andrey Santos from Chelsea cited and McNulty saying United should aim for a Champions League place and a trophy. Aston Villa are noted for continuing under Unai Emery after winning the Europa League and returning to the Champions League, but also for losing Tielemans and Rogers; Villa’s arrivals include Joao Gomes for £38m from Wolves and Johan Manzambi from Freiburg, while a move for Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki from Parma is mentioned amid uncertainty over Emiliano Martinez.
Tottenham are described as backed financially with signings including Andrew Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Sandro Tonali for £100m from Newcastle, Mateus Fernandes for £85m from West Ham and Jan Paul van Hecke for £52m from Brighton, alongside the departures of Cristian Romero and Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven committing his future. Nottingham Forest’s turbulent summer is summarised by four managers last season (Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Vitor Pereira), the appointment of Oliver Glasner, and the use of £116m from the sale of Anderson to fund transfers such as Ousmane Diomande for £34m from Sporting while Morgan Gibbs-White remains. Brighton are preparing for Conference League football under Fabian Hurzeler, having signed Luka Vuskovic from Spurs for £46m and Pascal Struijk from Leeds, with losses including James Milner and Van Hecke.
Newcastle are said to have endured "trauma" with the departures of Eddie Howe, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes and the arrival of Matthias Jaissle as manager, while signings listed include Lukas Hornicek from Braga, Aladji Bamba from Monaco, Sean Steur from Ajax, Bazoumana Toure from Hoffenheim and Amar Dedic from Benfica; McNulty notes the club still needs an experienced midfielder and that a deal for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg failed to materialise, with Joao Palhinha mentioned as a possibility. Everton feature David Moyes’ assessment that "we're far off from where we want to be" and that he would like to do "a lot more business", and the article records signings Hayden Hackney from Middlesbrough and Christian Norgaard from Arsenal, plus the presence of Iliman Ndiaye and Tyler Dibling after his £40m move from Southampton last summer.
Bournemouth’s preview highlights Marco Rose as successor to Andoni Iraola, Europa League commitments and the setback of Eli Junior Kroupi’s foot injury ruling him out for up to four months, while arrivals include Antonio Silva from Benfica, Alvaro Rodriguez from Elche and Juanlu Sanchez for £11m from Sevilla. Leeds United are said to have answered Daniel Farke’s call for ambition with a club-record £45m signing of James Trafford from Manchester City, plus Harry Wilson from Fulham and Tarik Muharemovic from Sassuolo for £34m. Fulham’s new manager is Alvaro Arbeloa, who has signed Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios from Real Madrid and brought in Shea Charles from Southampton. Sunderland are noted for keeping Granit Xhaka amid interest from Chelsea and for Brian Brobbey’s World Cup form.
McNulty outlines the promoted clubs as Coventry City under Doug King with Taiwo Awoniyi, the return of Gus Hamer and the permanent signing of goalkeeper Carl Rushworth from Brighton, plus Loum Tchaouna, Aurele Amenda and Caleb Yirenkyi; Ipswich Town with Gary O'Neil replacing Kieran McKenna and £150m spent since promotion including Abdoul Ouattara and Julio Enciso (who worked with O'Neil at Strasbourg), Daizen Maeda and Abdul Fatawu; and Hull City under Sergej Jakirovic completing 11 new signings and breaking their transfer record twice to sign Konstantinos Tzolakis from Olympiacos and Nobel Mendy from Rayo Vallecano.
McNulty reiterates his prediction that Arsenal will retain the Premier League title and stresses that with nine new managers operating in the top flight this season his predictions represent "arguably the toughest set" he has made.
