Premier League: why English football is the most unpredictable show in the game

If back in August 2025 you'd told the person next to you in the stand that Liverpool would finish fifth, a promoted side would play in Europe and Tottenham would be sweating over survival into the closing rounds - you'd have paid for your own coffee. One season later, all of it is fact. The English Premier League once again took the script, tore it up and wrote a new one - live, in front of the whole world.

In short: the English Premier League is the most unpredictable big league in Europe, because television money makes the "small" clubs competitive and the calendar forgives nobody. The 2025/26 season proved it plainly: Arsenal took their first title in 22 years, promoted Sunderland finished seventh, and three of the big names either went down or survived by a whisker.

Three seasons - three different champions

For a long time it looked like Manchester City had a season ticket for the trophy. Then things turned: after City came Liverpool's title in 2024/25, and in 2025/26 Arsenal ended their 22-year wait - a first title since the era of the Invincibles. The Gunners finished on 85 points, seven clear of City, and settled it as early as round 37, when City could only draw at Bournemouth.

Three consecutive seasons - three different champions. Run the same sum for Germany, Spain or France and it becomes clear why the neutral watches England. There, dominance is the rule; on the island it's the exception, and one that rarely lasts more than a few seasons.

2025/26: a textbook in chaos

If they ever decide to teach unpredictability at a football school, this season will be lesson one:

• Sunderland - seventh on 54 points and qualification for the Europa League. A team that three seasons earlier was kicking about in the third tier of English football matched the best finish by a promoted side in the league's history.
• Liverpool - from champions to fifth in a year. Defending a title in England is like carrying a full glass through an earthquake.
• Tottenham - a run of 15 matches without a win, six straight defeats for the first time in the club's history, and safety from a first relegation in nearly half a century secured only in the closing rounds.
• West Ham, Burnley and Wolves - relegated, with one of them going down on a full 39 points. That hadn't happened since 2010/11 - normally that many means a quiet summer.

And while the big clubs were counting defeats, Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth - three of the five most modest wage bills in the league - finished in the top half. The expert at the cafe would tell you he saw it coming. The expert at the cafe predicts everything, but only after the match.

Why England in particular is such a carousel

The reason isn't romance, it's arithmetic. The Premier League's television deals distribute enormous sums to all 20 clubs - and the side finishing bottom takes more than plenty of European heavyweights. That means the "small" club in England isn't a poor relation: it buys quick, young, hungry players and hires coaches with ideas, instead of begging for other people's substitutes.

Add a calendar with no winter break, where fatigue levels out the class gap, and a culture where nobody keeps the ball for prestige - everyone plays to win. That's exactly why the Leicester story of 2016, the outsider nobody gave a chance who lifted the title, happened there. In England the miracle isn't a fairy-tale genre - it's on the weekend fixture list.

What's next: 21 August 2026

The new 2026/27 season starts on Friday 21 August 2026, with champions Arsenal against Coventry, back after 25 years, and the first full round on Saturday 22 August. The finish is all the way out on 30 May 2027. The promoted sides alongside Coventry are Ipswich and Hull - and if the season we've just seen off taught us anything, it's not to write them off in advance. You'll follow the fixtures, the table and everything around the league in the Premier League hub in 90+.

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Premier League in 2025/26?

Arsenal - on 85 points, seven clear of Manchester City. It's the London club's first title in 22 years, since the days of the famous Invincibles.

When does the new 2026/27 Premier League season start?

It opens on Friday 21 August 2026 with Arsenal against Coventry, and the first full round is played from Saturday 22 August. The season ends on 30 May 2027.

Which teams were relegated from the Premier League in 2026?

West Ham, Burnley and Wolverhampton. Coming up are Coventry (after a 25-year absence), Ipswich and Hull.

Why is the Premier League more unpredictable than other leagues?

Because of the television money that makes even the more modest clubs competitive, the packed calendar with no winter break, and the attacking culture. The result: promoted sides in the top 7 and heavyweights fighting for survival in the same season.

It's exactly that madness that makes calling scores in England both the hardest and the sweetest job a football fan can take on. Test your instinct against the chaos in the 90+ predictions - and if you want witnesses to your successes, get the group together in your own mini league.