It’s a brand-new slate for English soccer’s 20 best teams ahead of the 2026-27 Premier League season.
The new campaign begins on Friday when reigning champions Arsenal host newly promoted Coventry City, managed by former Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, as part of a busy opening weekend that also features Manchester City vs. Bournemouth in a battle between two top-six clubs from last season.
Here are five storylines to keep close tabs on during the upcoming English top-flight season.
Arsenal looks to repeat as Premier League champions
Arsenal topped the Premier League table by seven points over Manchester City last season to claim their first title since 2003-04, and they look poised to repeat as champs.
The good news for manager Mikel Arteta is that a majority of the Gunners’ championship roster from last season remains intact, which includes defenders Jurriën Timber and William Saliba, and midfielder Declan Rice, who were all named to the league’s best XI, as well as top scorers Viktor Gyökeres, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, who combined for 43 goals across all competitions in 2025-26.
What’s more, the London-based club has strengthened its squad with the summer transfer acquisitions of Greek forward Christos Tzolis (from Club Brugge) and Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimarães (from Newcastle United), giving Arteta even more quality options to choose from.
Arsenal gave us a taste of what to expect from them this year when they rampaged to a 3-0 win over Manchester City in the FA Community Shield final last weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s exit highlights managerial changes
Determining who is best positioned to challenge Arsenal for the title this season is tough because of the huge managerial turnover rate in the Premier League. No less than nine clubs — or 45 per cent of the teams in the English top-flight — will begin the campaign with a new manager.
Under normal circumstances, Manchester City would be the best bet to push Arsenal, but the Blues no longer have Pep Guardiola at the helm. The Spaniard stepped down last season after winning all there was to win during his decade in charge of the club.
He’s been replaced by Enzo Maresca, who boasts a decent resume, having won the Championship with Leicester City, and UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup with Chelsea. But the Italian stepped down as manager of the London club in January amidst growing tensions with ownership.
Other top clubs with new coaches include Liverpool (Andoni Iraola), Chelsea (Xabi Alonso) and Newcastle (Matthias Jaissle). They all competed in the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League, but questions have to be asked whether they can mount a credible title change against Arsenal with new coaches at the helm.
The relegation battle
The Premier League said goodbye to West Ham United, Burnley and Wolves, who finished in the bottom three of the table and were relegated to the second-tier English Championship.
Who’ll be going down at the end of the upcoming campaign? Look no further for possible candidates than the three newly promoted sides: Coventry City, Ipswich Town and promotion playoff winner Hull City, featuring Canadian international Liam Millar.
Seven of the last nine teams promoted to the top-flight have all gone straight back down to the Championship, including Burnley, who finished second from the bottom with just four wins and 22 points last season.
Beyond the promoted sides, Sunderland and Fulham could also be in danger of suffering the drop. Sunderland finished seventh in 2025-26, but they had one of the worst offensive records (just 42 goals) and didn’t make any significant moves in the transfer market to bolster their attack. Fulham was 11th a season ago, and they lost key attackers Harry Wilson and Raúl Jiménez without sufficiently replacing them.
Canadian Promise David’s big chance
Fresh off a solid World Cup campaign, Canadian international forward Promise David has finally hit the big time of the Premier League. David recently completed a move from Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise to Brighton & Hove Albion on a season-long loan. The deal includes a purchase option for a reported fee of $29.7 million US.
David has four goals in 14 caps since making his international debut for Canada – one of his goals came in a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in the group stage of the World Cup. The burly striker has lit up the Belgian league over the last two seasons with 41 goals in 82 matches. Prior to that, he toiled with clubs in Croatia, Malta and Estonia
This represents a massive career opportunity for David, a 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont. This loan spell provides him with a chance to play at one of the highest levels of European football and earn a permanent move to a club that has played in the Premier League for nine consecutive seasons and finished eighth during the 2025-26 campaign.
Newcomer to keep an eye on: Johan Manzambi
Still only 20, the Swiss midfielder is one of the most promising prospects in world football. Manzambi was a central figure in SC Freiburg's remarkable run in last season’s UEFA Europa League final — he was named the tournament’s young player of the season.
Manzambi followed that up with a solid showing at the FIFA World Cup, in which he had three goals and a pair of assists for Switzerland, which reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1954 when it hosted the competition.
Aston Villa was so impressed with what they saw from Manzambi at the World Cup that they paid a reported £59.5 million transfer fee to Freiburg, who they defeated in the Europa League final, for the services of the Swiss international. Manzambi is a dynamic, box-to-box midfielder noted for his energetic and dynamic play, qualities that should make him a good fit for the fast-paced English Premier League.
Editor’s note
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 27 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
