The 2024/25 season of the Premier League was a classic. Liverpool won the title convincingly, as the other teams around them weren’t able to catch up, with the Mo Salah-led Reds dominating. As for relegation, Southampton, Leicester, and Ipswich went down while Leeds United, Burnley, and Sunderland are coming up from the Championship.
The PL season has been more interesting than ever because it is guaranteed at this point that the Premier League is going to have 5 teams play in next year's Champions League. The five clubs who secured these spots are Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Chelsea. Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest agonisingly missed out on the final day, each losing their last match.
However, we're not here to talk about last season, but about what awaits us next season. There are more than a few teams that have underachieved this year for one reason or another. So, we're going to talk about teams that are going to have to have a much better season than they had this year, and make a comeback of sorts during the 2025/26 season. Below you will find our opinion, and if you don't agree, hit us with your own. You can find help with smartbettingguide.com in creating your picks for the next year if you don't agree with ours. Let's start.
ARSENAL
You must be thinking, Arsenal are sitting in second, played the CL semi-finals, and are one of the top teams in the world, so what do they have to come back from? Well, they can come back from not winning the Premier League title for more than 20 years. How about that? In recent years, Arsenal have been the top contender for the PL title but they have fallen short on more than a few occasions.
Next year, they could make that detrimental step up and win the PL trophy for the first time since the Arsene Wenger Invincibles in 2004. The Gunners have an overall good team, filled with top-quality players such as Rice, Saka, Odegaard, Saliba, Gabriel, and White, who have all proven themselves on the biggest stage. The general consensus is that Arsenal need to buy a true No. 9 that could solve their attacking woes and push them that one additional step into finally winning the Premier League title.
MANCHESTER CITY
Another top performer in the last decade stumbled in their path last season. Man City recorded their worst finish in the Pep Guardiola era, and almost dropped out of the CL spots. With the money and the team that City has at its disposal, and not to mention the world's top manager, the goal is always to win the league. So, finishing below third is a vast underachievement for the Cityzens. We're sure that with a bunch of new signings in the summer and with Marmoush, Haaland, Dias, Ederson, Doku, and Foden, Pep is going to fine-tune his team to win the title at all costs. Most sports betting companies already have them as the top favourites to be champions in the 2025/26 season.
WEST HAM
West Ham have had an awful couple of years, and things didn’t get better this season. Not even the mid-season coach switch from Julen Lopetegui to Graham Potter helped the team to start playing better. Yet, we all know that for Potter's magic to work, it takes time, so great things are expected from them next year. The Hammers finished 14th last season and we all know that they are much better than that. Next season, we can see them playing much better after a summer of adapting to Graham Potter's ideas. With Paqueta, Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Todibo, and Bowen, plus a few key signings in the summer, we can easily see the Hammers fighting for spots leading to European competitions.
MANCHESTER UNITED
You've probably heard this one before. It's been a while since the Man U team has been the Red Devils. There's nothing hellish with Ruben Amorim's team at the moment. The same as with West Ham, the work of Ruben Amorim will be judged after a summer of preparation, tuning the team to his tactics, and a full year of competing. With all that said, it remains embarrassing that the team of Manchester United finished 15th in the PL, with even Everton being above them. They not only need, but they must do better. The new management and the new coach, paired with a few new signings, will be on a short leash in the 2025/26 season, but we believe that Ruben can make them play the same way they've been playing during the Fergie era, or at least as close as possible.
EVERTON
A team that has been in the PL so long without any notable results is easy to overlook. Yet, they've been the ones to have a resurrection of sorts this year too. Next year is going to be massive for the Toffees. The team is moving to a new stadium, and they've made the best possible appointment for that transition in David Moyes. The Scottish manager is playing some good football with a depleted squad, and after the summer ahead of us we can see Everton being one of the better teams next season.
Moyes has already got the best out of Beto, so they will not be shopping for a striker in the summer, instead focusing on other areas of the team. If they hit on one or two signings, we can see Everton gearing up for a Conference League spot.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Together with Manchester United and West Ham, surely the biggest disappointment of the season. Yes, Spurs have had an injury-plagued season, but it would also appear that Ange Postecoglou lost the dressing room, and ultimately his job, despite a European title and Champions League qualification. With new coach Thomas Frank, a healthy squad, and a few new signings, Tottenham will surely be much better next year.
They already have a quality for top finish, and usually deemed as one of the Big 6 teams in the league, Spurs no longer have the luxury of underachieving. Their captain, Son, is entering the twilight years of his career, and surrounding him with the best team so far would be a nice farewell to the long-tenured player and the captain. The team is well-rounded with the likes of Romero, Maddison, Son, Kulusevski, Porro, Johnson, Udogie, Sarr, Solanke, Bentancur and Bergvall Lucas. Add a few more key players, and you will have Tottenham fighting for a CL spot once again.
What do you think? Which one of these teams has the best chance of turning around their fortunes? Or do you have a different dark horse in mind?
