⚽ Premier League 2026/2027 Discussion Thread ⚽

[ndutndut]

Chelsea ain't finishing second to Arsenal, never they don't have what it takes for that, making it to top four is acceptable,

Hold on a minute, why are you so quick to jump to conclusions? It’s as if you already know the future. You know the Premier League is extremely competitive. Nothing is impossible. Never underestimate Chelsea. This season, Chelsea started off with a win, and I see a glimmer of hope in how their style of play has improved under Xabi’s guidance. So, it’s best not to jump to conclusions just yet about where Chelsea will stand at the end of the season. After all, the Premier League has only just begun.

Yes, that's right. I'm curious why people are quick to jump to conclusions like that even though the EPL has just started. I actually see Chelsea right now as full of optimism under Alonso; when playing against Fulham, Chelsea gameplay looked pretty good. Those 2 goals from Fulham were purely mistakes by defenders who weren’t aggressive enough. Sanchez should have been able to save that first goal, and Colwill’s header missed for the second goal. But even so, the 3 defender tactic implemented by Alonso is already good, especially from Chelsea’s attacking scheme.

The thing is, Chelsea problem for the past few seasons has really been in the goalkeeper position. The last OP goalkeeper in my opinion was during Mendy era when Tuchel was coaching. Hopefully, during the remaining transfer time, Chelsea can bring in a new keeper, and the rumor of Emi Martinez joining Chelsea could be one hope to improve the goalkeeper situation. As far as now, Chelsea's forward line is already fine, the midfield is okay too, it’s just the defenders who need time to build chemistry and we’ll see how the process goes moving forward.

Basically, Chelsea this season could become Arsenal competitor because in terms of gameplay and tactics, they're already pretty fluid it's just the chemistry that needs to be polished so every player becomes solid. For transitions and rotations, so far it's been really good, hopefully it gets even smoother moving forward, especially with Palmer back in his ideal position as the number 10. What makes me optimistic even more is that Chelsea's schedule this season isn’t too packed since they're only focusing on the domestic league after finishing 10th last season.

[Youngrebel]

Yes, that's right. I'm curious why people are quick to jump to conclusions like that even though the EPL has just started. I actually see Chelsea right now as full of optimism under Alonso; when playing against Fulham, Chelsea gameplay looked pretty good. Those 2 goals from Fulham were purely mistakes by defenders who weren’t aggressive enough. Sanchez should have been able to save that first goal, and Colwill’s header missed for the second goal. But even so, the 3 defender tactic implemented by Alonso is already good, especially from Chelsea’s attacking scheme.

The thing is, Chelsea problem for the past few seasons has really been in the goalkeeper position. The last OP goalkeeper in my opinion was during Mendy era when Tuchel was coaching. Hopefully, during the remaining transfer time, Chelsea can bring in a new keeper, and the rumor of Emi Martinez joining Chelsea could be one hope to improve the goalkeeper situation. As far as now, Chelsea's forward line is already fine, the midfield is okay too, it’s just the defenders who need time to build chemistry and we’ll see how the process goes moving forward.

Basically, Chelsea this season could become Arsenal competitor because in terms of gameplay and tactics, they're already pretty fluid it's just the chemistry that needs to be polished so every player becomes solid. For transitions and rotations, so far it's been really good, hopefully it gets even smoother moving forward, especially with Palmer back in his ideal position as the number 10. What makes me optimistic even more is that Chelsea's schedule this season isn’t too packed since they're only focusing on the domestic league after finishing 10th last season.

Your points are actually valid and I understand, jumping into conclusion at this stage doesn’t sound normal to me because the season has just began and it’s too too early to write Chelsea off based on just one or two games is not given at all and as for Alonso the season has just started so he still has a lot of time to build the team and form them in the type of strategy you are talking about and if I would be honest Alonso is trying and I really love what he is trying to do currently tho the defensive mistakes at the back against fullham were frustrating but I won’t use that to judge the whole defence, so Alonso should focus on working on his defence and I have this belief that Chelsea would be hard to defeat this season.

[Abbatty]

Chelsea are going about their business in this transfer window, for me, in the premier league, I would say they have done best transfer this summer. We saw how they able to discharge their surplus players for a good fee. Yesterday they sold Liam Delap for Around 50 million pounds plus add ons, now they are selling Nickolas Jackson for around 65 million pounds plus add ons also. I still wonder how Chelsea are able to make these sales.

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

Martinez will be a good addition for Chelsea, he his experienced and premier league proven. With Sanchez showing he his not reliable, it will be a good one for Chelsea.

[Solodoski]

Chelsea are going about their business in this transfer window, for me, in the premier league, I would say they have done best transfer this summer. We saw how they able to discharge their surplus players for a good fee. Yesterday they sold Liam Delap for Around 50 million pounds plus add ons, now they are selling Nickolas Jackson for around 65 million pounds plus add ons also. I still wonder how Chelsea are able to make these sales.

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

Martinez will be a good addition for Chelsea, he his experienced and premier league proven. With Sanchez showing he his not reliable, it will be a good one for Chelsea.

I really don't know how Chelsea has managed to sell their flops for a very good price, because sometimes I wonder how bad this player has been and Chelsea still managed to sell them for very huge amount of money. Whoever is in charge of this negotiation has really done well and also deserves a lot of praise.
Chelsea been linked to Emi Martinez is a very good one, because we could all see the mistake from Sanchez in their first match, so I think they really need a better shot stopper. Martinez is an experience goalkeeper that will definitely do better at Chelsea,  so if they can get him, it's definitely going to be an upgrade for them

[Nwadiche]

Chelsea are going about their business in this transfer window, for me, in the premier league, I would say they have done best transfer this summer. We saw how they able to discharge their surplus players for a good fee. Yesterday they sold Liam Delap for Around 50 million pounds plus add ons, now they are selling Nickolas Jackson for around 65 million pounds plus add ons also. I still wonder how Chelsea are able to make these sales.

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

Martinez will be a good addition for Chelsea, he his experienced and premier league proven. With Sanchez showing he his not reliable, it will be a good one for Chelsea.

Yeah, Chelsea really tried in this transfer window, they did some good signing this summer especially on their defence line because their major problem is they don't have good defenders right now they got some good defenders. Where i'm surprised is how Chelsea do sales their players with huge amount,  even a flopped player Chelsea will still make sure they gain little money from the player head, imagine a player like delap that was bought from Ipswich town 30 million pounds scored only 2 premier league goals still sold back to Nottingham forest for 45 million pounds made profits of 15 million pounds.

As for Martinez i think he's willing to join Chelsea this summer without minding if Chelsea isn't in any Europe competition, juventus wanted to secure his signature for 6 million pounds, but it's seems juventus are not interested anymore so for now Chelsea could be the club to secure Martinez let's see if the deal will be completed.

[xzone]

Chelsea are going about their business in this transfer window, for me, in the premier league, I would say they have done best transfer this summer. We saw how they able to discharge their surplus players for a good fee. Yesterday they sold Liam Delap for Around 50 million pounds plus add ons, now they are selling Nickolas Jackson for around 65 million pounds plus add ons also. I still wonder how Chelsea are able to make these sales.

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

Martinez will be a good addition for Chelsea, he his experienced and premier league proven. With Sanchez showing he his not reliable, it will be a good one for Chelsea.

Chelsea are having a really successful period; commercially, the team is in a very good position right now and they are making money. Also, acquiring quality players at a low cost is always very valuable, and teams that can do this always come out on top.
I think it would be great if they also signed a striker; they need to score more goals during the season, and this situation is putting the team at risk

[Gentle_Soul]

Chelsea are going about their business in this transfer window, for me, in the premier league, I would say they have done best transfer this summer. We saw how they able to discharge their surplus players for a good fee. Yesterday they sold Liam Delap for Around 50 million pounds plus add ons, now they are selling Nickolas Jackson for around 65 million pounds plus add ons also. I still wonder how Chelsea are able to make these sales.

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

Martinez will be a good addition for Chelsea, he his experienced and premier league proven. With Sanchez showing he his not reliable, it will be a good one for Chelsea.

Chelsea are having a really successful period; commercially, the team is in a very good position right now and they are making money. Also, acquiring quality players at a low cost is always very valuable, and teams that can do this always come out on top.
I think it would be great if they also signed a striker; they need to score more goals during the season, and this situation is putting the team at risk

It was not really easy for Chelsea in last season but then they held unto a strategy that was resourceful towards the end of the season and I can see that it will s paying them off now yeah because some of this players were bought at a very lower prices compared to what they are being sold for in the current season so that is a very good business strategy for Chelsea at the moment.
And truthfully speaking when a team starts off the season on this grounds they tend to do so well and remain up on the league, I hope that be the case for Chelsea.

[Nheer]

I really don't know how Chelsea has managed to sell their flops for a very good price, because sometimes I wonder how bad this player has been and Chelsea still managed to sell them for very huge amount of money. Whoever is in charge of this negotiation has really done well and also deserves a lot of praise.
Chelsea been linked to Emi Martinez is a very good one, because we could all see the mistake from Sanchez in their first match, so I think they really need a better shot stopper. Martinez is an experience goalkeeper that will definitely do better at Chelsea,  so if they can get him, it's definitely going to be an upgrade for them

It's surprising though but I think why it's so is that most of the players are very young and ambitious but maybe due to one or two reasons they are not able to perform properly at Chelsea and so they are being sold out. I think it's more like Chelsea being a platform for them to be showcased around the World since they have no experience or exposure so being at Chelsea is more like the platform to get exposed and so they are being sold at a price slightly higher than what Chelsea payed for them.

I also think Emi Martinez is a good choice. He is good keeper and since Sanchez is still showing some signs of immaturity then he leaves the club with no choice than to get someone better. Sanchez is supposed to be mature enough to stop conceding silly goals but he's not taking the opportunity he is given seriously so I am in support of the team wants to get another goalkeeper.

[Nightwatchmare]

Manchester City was not good, Manchester United was awfull, Totenham was also awfull, Arsenal was good like the past season, and Chelsea seems to start a recovery and looking for better shape and Liverpool was also not good despite playing against a tough rival like Newcastle.

So basically 4 teams of the big six are not in good shape in this start at all, and only one did a really good game which was the current champion, this give Arsenal a margin to be again the champion i think (i know is super early yet).

At least Manchester City got the necessary opening day three points,  there will be room for more improvements. Thanks to Ryan Cherki for creating magic.
Manchester United?! A laughable team! Players like Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw are already taking a dig at Michael Carrick, I don't even rate even as a fan. They still have the likes 9f Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw in this same squad  what will thry even win?! Tottenham Hotspur will also improve, Zerbi will make things work. Arsenal will sure do better than they did last season, I tip them to win the league again.
Liverpool will have to add an energetic midfielder and a winger like Barcola to see them fighting upwards, they don't look good. Chelsea also will bite hard this season, my take is that they finish second place behind Arsenal.

Chelsea ain't finishing second to Arsenal, never they don't have what it takes for that, making it to top four is acceptable, but finishing second is what I will disagree on, fine Manchester United had an awful beginning this season, but deep down I'm seeing either Manchester United or Arsenal for the English premier League title this season, the first and second is within them both, and Liverpool? Hmm even if they bring in Barcola, will that solve the problem they are having? They've got enough star players already.

If someone had told you Manchester United will finish 3rd last season after their struggling in the beginning of the season you would not have agreed with the person because of how poor Manchester United was then. This is a new season, Chelsea has a new coach that can change the performance of Chelsea with the project he has, for Chelsea to win Fulham Xabi Alonso is gradually improving Chelsea this season, so i think you are completely wrong to say Chelsea cannot finish 2nd since the premier league season is just starting.

[Issa56]

I really don't know how Chelsea has managed to sell their flops for a very good price, because sometimes I wonder how bad this player has been and Chelsea still managed to sell them for very huge amount of money.

Everyone is just finding it surprising with the way Chelsea are selling their players, because their are some players that you won’t even believe they going to sell them for a good amount of money, but they do end up selling those players for reasonable amount of money. I never believed Nottingham Forest will sign Delap, because he didn’t play anything since he joined Chelsea, and that’s the kind of player Nottingham forest wants to sign. I really like the way Chelsea are offloading some players right now, they should sell off players which are not making any positive contribution to the team.

[KingsDen]

Chelsea are going about their business in this transfer window, for me, in the premier league, I would say they have done best transfer this summer. We saw how they able to discharge their surplus players for a good fee. Yesterday they sold Liam Delap for Around 50 million pounds plus add ons, now they are selling Nickolas Jackson for around 65 million pounds plus add ons also. I still wonder how Chelsea are able to make these sales.

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

Martinez will be a good addition for Chelsea, he his experienced and premier league proven. With Sanchez showing he his not reliable, it will be a good one for Chelsea.

You are right, Chelsea have been busy in this transfer market, both selling and buying players. Chelsea really made alot of money from selling these players. It is a good thing Chelsea finally decided to overhaul the squad and focus on the key players this season. I also heard that Enzo Fernandez is linked to Man city. If Enzo Fernandez finally leaves, then Chelsea will be left with only Caicedo as the best MF, Chelsea can sign a good MF incase Enzo finally leaves.

I think this deal should be done really quick, because I don't think Chelsea will find another better goal keeper in the transfer market. I'm sure Chelsea fans will be pleased with signing Emi Martinez, because no one will want Sanchez to continue this season with all those his errors.

[Amphenomenon]

Chelsea are having a really successful period; commercially, the team is in a very good position right now and they are making money. Also, acquiring quality players at a low cost is always very valuable, and teams that can do this always come out on top.
I think it would be great if they also signed a striker; they need to score more goals during the season, and this situation is putting the team at risk

In as much as I thought our terrible spendings will affectvus and make us bankrupt seeing Delap deal makes me think twice about everything now, I'm really shocked by the price and we can say commercially we have been able to cover up for our terrible decisions which might make the management feel a sense of success  before but not anymore.

We are good with business but things will be exceptional for us if we have use our funds to get quality players and lift trophies.

[Smartvirus]

If someone had told you Manchester United will finish 3rd last season after their struggling in the beginning of the season you would not have agreed with the person because of how poor Manchester United was then. This is a new season, Chelsea has a new coach that can change the performance of Chelsea with the project he has, for Chelsea to win Fulham Xabi Alonso is gradually improving Chelsea this season, so i think you are completely wrong to say Chelsea cannot finish 2nd since the premier league season is just starting.

It’s one reason why writing them off or having to criticize them this early in the season would be so wrong. While this might be the case due to the team they played, a newly promoted side, Hull City isn’t exactly new to the EPL and no one expected Manchester United to not continue their good performances from the end of last season.

Chelsea is particularly playing an interesting football and this season might be another trophy contesting one for them yet if they can keep up at this tempo.

[reagansimms]

It was not really easy for Chelsea in last season but then they held unto a strategy that was resourceful towards the end of the season and I can see that it will s paying them off now yeah because some of this players were bought at a very lower prices compared to what they are being sold for in the current season so that is a very good business strategy for Chelsea at the moment.
And truthfully speaking when a team starts off the season on this grounds they tend to do so well and remain up on the league, I hope that be the case for Chelsea.

Chelsea have money, but money means nothing if the squad depth isn't there, they'll just keep dropping stupid points. Their transfer business has been smart and they’re making profit, no doubt. But profit doesn’t win you trophies. team need stability and players who’ve actually been there before. If they can keep this start going, then yeah that smart business will actually mean something. And Alonso isn’t the type to get comfy after one good game. He wants to do at Leverkusen what he did at Leverkusen again. He learned a lot from last season and he won’t make the same mistakes twice.

[satscraper]

Arsenal is currently the most complete team in the English Premier League at the moment, not because they thrashed Coventry 3:0 on the first league game of the season but because they played like a team that hasn't dropped from what we saw from them last season rather has improved.
Chelsea is still a work in progress for the new manager Xabi Alonso. Their attacking play is impressive but just like you rightly said, they're still a work in progress. I expect them to do better defensively in their upcoming games.

My 2 favourite for the next season is Arsenal and Chelsea both are heavy rivals and have alot of fun to watch these 2 play the title race matches. Arsenal are heavy favorite to win Premier league again because the way Arteta put discipline in this team are not normal they look like a super team score one goal and then defend him until the end look like a war zone of harmball Haha. I just want to see Arteta vs xabi Alonso game and it will be the best match in the whole Premier League season. Chelsea under Xabi Alonso look promising but as you said they are not consistent and I agree but if Xabi Alonso take this responsibility seriously then we can see a different Chelsea.

Arsenal's next fixture will give better hint on their current form. Coventry just got promoted after 25 years of been out of the premier league so for me I won't rate Arsenal performance yet based on their first game. Their next game should be with Aston Villa who I expect to be a bit challenging even though they lost their first game to Brighton. Xabi vs Arteta game might end up not been the most exciting game of the season, but I will keep my fingers crossed until 6th of Sep to see what comes out of their first clash.

Yeah, Aston Villa is known to be a team that is capable of springing the surprise in any EPL match, especially when they face the top teams. So I wouldn't be surprised if they beat Arsenal. That said, from the bettor's perspective, I think that the safest option here is to place BTTS bet, as both Arsenal and Aston Villa will be striving to score and both are capable of doing so.

[Sarah Azhari]

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

I’m not so sure Aston Villa would be willing to let their best goalkeeper go. Besides, even though Chelsea and Aston Villa have a good working relationship in the transfer market, I don’t think it’s likely they’d let Martinez go. In fact, it would be very foolish of Aston Villa to sell Martinez to Chelsea, considering he’s such a key asset for the club.

[knowngunman]

Chelsea are having a really successful period; commercially, the team is in a very good position right now and they are making money. Also, acquiring quality players at a low cost is always very valuable, and teams that can do this always come out on top.
I think it would be great if they also signed a striker; they need to score more goals during the season, and this situation is putting the team at risk

This is my opinion too. Chelsea has no natural and reliable striker all this while and it sometimes makes me wonder what exactly they're doing in the transfer market. It doesn't make sense it you're very active in the transfer market but channelling your energy to wrong players or strengthening positions that are not worth it while ignoring the main problem. Chelsea current problem is goalkeeper and striker. If they are lucky with Martinez deal, congrats they have solved the goalkeeper problem. As for the striker, I don't even know whether they're making attempts to get one in this window because so far, I haven't read anywhere linking them to any big and reliable striker. I know it's important to strengthen all areas but you can not over concentrate on some areas and overlook some, that is imbalance equation and there's consequences for it.

[Hewlet]

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

I’m not so sure Aston Villa would be willing to let their best goalkeeper go. Besides, even though Chelsea and Aston Villa have a good working relationship in the transfer market, I don’t think it’s likely they’d let Martinez go. In fact, it would be very foolish of Aston Villa to sell Martinez to Chelsea, considering he’s such a key asset for the club.

This is literally sounding like you don't want him to join Chelsea and not neccesarily that if Chelsea agrees on a mutually comfortable deal with Aston villa that the deal won't pull through. I mean, Martinez is cool with the move even though he won't be playing in the champions league and major European leagues. The deal looks like what will likely pull through at the end of it all, what then will stop it?

Remember that Isac was a key player at Newcastle at the time he moved to Liverpool and regardless of the effect his absent had on the team, they still had to let him go because that's what he wants. At the end, football is a business and if the player is even okay with a move, it makes things way much easier. Will anticipate his coming into Chelsea for reals.

[Jegileman]

Chelsea are having a really successful period; commercially, the team is in a very good position right now and they are making money. Also, acquiring quality players at a low cost is always very valuable, and teams that can do this always come out on top.
I think it would be great if they also signed a striker; they need to score more goals during the season, and this situation is putting the team at risk

Chelsea is a team that’s after big profits even when they’re seeking to excel in all competitions. There was a season that they have almost five players playing in each position in the team, most of them already loaned out and playing for different teams. They build them to sell for higher prices which is a good business.

Chelsea really needs a striker in that team, but u haven’t seen them talk much about it. Although, the transfer window is still open and we may see them seek to sign a striker soon. Joao Pedro is a good forward but I don’t see him more as a striker, they need to sign a natural and clinical striker in order to stand a chance at goals more this season.

[X-ray]

They are currently linked to Emi Martinez, and I believe after this Jackson deal, they will get Martinez. Chelsea and Aston Villa have done 2 business so far this summer and if they can get Martinez it would be the third Time they will be doin a deal this transfer window.

Martinez will be a good addition for Chelsea, he his experienced and premier league proven. With Sanchez showing he his not reliable, it will be a good one for Chelsea.

I remember Carragher said that Arsenal won EPL because they have Raya who keep their goalpost from getting conceded. So Chelsea has to sign a proper goalie to complete their backline. To be honest, i agree with what Carragher said. Martinez is good in aerial duel, and he also often recorded so many saves for Villa.

So signing him is gonna be an upgrade from Sanchezz, which is making Alonso upset with the way the performed against Fulham.

I also brought a comparison between Martinez and Raya. Martinez may not as good as Raya who conceded far less last season. However, Martinez made more saves, and he became the last wall for Villa last season. It's also the reason he and his club won europa league.

I admit he's good as a shot stopper, and he has pretty good accuracy to pass the ball go to the free space on the opponent's final yard. No doubt he's has 2nd best saves rate last season. So signing him will solve one of Chelsea's problems.