With just a week left until the 2026/27 Premier League season starts, it’s time to power rank every team in the English top flight from worst to first.
20. Ipswich Town
19. Hull
18. Coventry
Just like 2024/25, all the new Premier League clubs look set to go straight back down. Until they prove otherwise, they just don’t have the talent on paper to cut it in the top flight, and unlike Sunderland and Leeds last season, they didn’t make sweeping – and smart – upgrades to their squad.
17. Crystal Palace
16. Leeds
15. Nottingham Forest
14. Everton
13. Newcastle
12. Brentford
11. Sunderland
10. Bournemouth
9. Brighton
The hodge podge of the Premier League table is incredibly difficult to predict, but it’s quite alarming to see how little progress Newcastle United have made since Saudi Arabia took over. They have gotten markedly worse, selling three more of their best players this summer after the Alexander Isak debacle last year.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth, Brighton, and Sunderland are all headed for regression after quiet summer transfer windows, with the Cherries loss of Andoni Iraola to Liverpool looming larger than even the winter sale of Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City.
It feels harsh to have Crystal Palace and Leeds so low in the table when they have gems like Adam Wharton and Anton Stach leading their midfield, but looking at their talent level now really shows you how far behind they are. But also, Palace and Leeds ranking this low speaks to how even and well balanced the Premier League table is this year.
8. Fulham
7. Aston Villa
6. Chelsea
Chelsea will come roaring back to European football under Xabi Alonso, but they have so many unreliable players in their squad and real questions about how ready their young talents are to be key depth pieces that ranking them any higher than this is a stretch.
Meanwhile, rivals Fulham had a productive summer transfer window, and all eyes will be on former Real Madrid manager – and right back- Alvaro Arbeloa. He navigated an impossible situation at the White House last season, and with a squad that will actually buy in to him, there’s no telling what he could do in London.
Aston Villa had a terrible transfer window, losing their two most important players in Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans to the Big Six. It’s going to be a down year for Unai Emery’s crew.
5. Tottenham
4. Manchester United
3. Liverpool
2. Arsenal
1. Manchester City
The Premier League top six is well and truly run by the Big Six again, with Tottenham Hotspur set to come roaring back after the momentum Roberto De Zerbi injected last season in the relegation fight and, most importantly, the talent he is injecting into the team.
Arsenal vs. Manchester City will be just as blockbuster as Liverpool vs. Manchester United right behind them in the table, and while Man City’s midfield will be more difficult to trust after the departure of Rodri to Barcelona is confirmed, they have the best depth in both attack and defense right now.
It’s hard to trust Arsenal winning back to back titles, but perhaps the tumult of losing Pep Guardiola will allow them to accomplish the feat. And don’t sleep on Iraola and Liverpool, especially if Alexander Isak can stay healthy and form Europe’s most potent striker 1-2 with Hugo Ekitike in the era after Mohamed Salah.
