⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Razmirraz]

Arsenal is starting again with her reconoisable pattern? I mean every time they seem super strong and finally decided to fight for the title they start to lose points, the other da against Sunderland was one of that kind of games, afer 8 consevutives games in a row with cleasheets they allow two goals and lose the win in the very last moment.

Arsenal has lost their formal glory and all they can do now is to dance around the pitch when they have to claim what belongs to them. Arsenal might not win this league and there are so many reasons why I have concluded but I use might because I hope to see improvement this season and not by trying to impress their fans at the beginning of the league and later crush all their efforts and be record they had broken.

The word "maybe" you used dispels all assumptions about you seeming to underestimate Arsenal. Based on experience in previous seasons, it is natural that many still doubt Arsenal ability to win the EPL trophy, but if you look at the performance of its competitors, Arsenal has a greater chance.
Currently, only Man City is closest to Arsenal, but their performance hasn't been entirely consistent. Chelsea and Man United have improved slightly, but they still struggle to match Arsenal form. Liverpool have very little chance, maybe there will be a surprise in the second half, we will just have to wait and see what happens after that.

[Luzin]

I just read about the Man City case in 2023. The case involved violations related to failing to provide accurate financial information and inaccurate reporting of player and manager remuneration. It might be a long time ago, but I just found out that the commission reviewed more than 250,000 documents. It seems the court's decision will be released at the end of this year. Is Man City guilty and will they be heavily punished? Here are the charges brought against Man City.

54x Failure to provide accurate financial information from 2009/10 to 2017/18.
35x Failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 to February 2023.
14x Failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009/10 to 2017/18.
7x Breaches of the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) 2015/16 to 2017/18.
5x Failure to comply with UEFA's rules, including club licensing and financial fair play (FFP) regulations from 2013/14 to 2017/18.

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/man-city-charges-premier-league-36233344

[Cossyblack]

Arsenal is starting again with her reconoisable pattern? I mean every time they seem super strong and finally decided to fight for the title they start to lose points, the other da against Sunderland was one of that kind of games, afer 8 consevutives games in a row with cleasheets they allow two goals and lose the win in the very last moment.

Arsenal has lost their formal glory and all they can do now is to dance around the pitch when they have to claim what belongs to them. Arsenal might not win this league and there are so many reasons why I have concluded but I use might because I hope to see improvement this season and not by trying to impress their fans at the beginning of the league and later crush all their efforts and be record they had broken.

The word "maybe" you used dispels all assumptions about you seeming to underestimate Arsenal. Based on experience in previous seasons, it is natural that many still doubt Arsenal ability to win the EPL trophy, but if you look at the performance of its competitors, Arsenal has a greater chance.
Currently, only Man City is closest to Arsenal, but their performance hasn't been entirely consistent. Chelsea and Man United have improved slightly, but they still struggle to match Arsenal form. Liverpool have very little chance, maybe there will be a surprise in the second half, we will just have to wait and see what happens after that.

EPL isn't like others domestic leagues that you can predict who is definitely going to win it or not, but the premier League is an exception because it is very competitive. Arsenal is performing exceptionally well in the premier League and not only in the premier League,they are also excelling at the UEFA champions league and other competitions respectively but been optimistic about Arsenal winning the English Premier isn't certain. Manchester City is closing Arsenal in the league table with points, any slightest lagging by Arsenal, Manchester City will equal them in points and the chances of Arsenal winning the league will be harder than it is right now.

[Jostern]

Arsenal management was very clever in the transfer window. They spent a lot of money but did not spend a large amount to bring in any specific player. Like Liverpool did.

To me it's not even how much Liverpool spent on acquiring a single player, but the fact that they did not fix positions that needs to be fixed in the team and I think that's why they are struggling. Arsenal also spent a lot of money, although Liverpool spend more, but Arsenal spent the money in the right positions,  to fixed what needed to be fixed in the team and that is really showing in their performance this season.  In my opinion I think Arsenal had a better transfer window than Liverpool. 

You talking about not fixing the position that is supposed to fix, what position are you really talking about, and I hear people saying that Liverpool spent big money on players that aren’t meant to cost that amount, how do you think signing players do work, transfers works in a different manner, when you want a player and a club doesn’t want to sell and the player doesn’t have a buy out clause, the club has a control in the negotiations table, they can decide to sell the player whatever amount they wish, unless the player has a gentle man agreement with the club and you can’t do anything as a buying club but to sigh the player if you really need the player.

Talking about position I think Liverpool tried to strengthen every position and the manager wanted a team that will flourish like the Paris-Saint-German team, because he has an obsession about their style of play, but this things takes gradual process with the new players, Liverpool tried to sigh Marc Guehi but the deal failed during the deadline transfer day, so the club tried everything, all the players that was sighed are very good and promising talents, so there is no mistakes in transfers of players, currently the club has 4 central defenders and what else do you think the team needs.

Maybe you can tell me where they were supposed to strengthen and they didn’t strengthen the team, since you know more better than the manager and the club management.

[harapan]

Arsenal is starting again with her reconoisable pattern? I mean every time they seem super strong and finally decided to fight for the title they start to lose points, the other da against Sunderland was one of that kind of games, afer 8 consevutives games in a row with cleasheets they allow two goals and lose the win in the very last moment.

This is the trauma every Arsenal fan gets whenever they play badly like they did against Sunderland. Not that they even played badly, but they should know when they should work together as a team and win games. We should also give enough praise to Sunderland  for how far they have come in the league. These pundits have predicted they will be relegated beforehand but they have handled pressure like they should have. Not all clubs can come back to share points with Arsenal like that whenever they take the lead because of that great defence.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Arsenal is starting again with her reconoisable pattern? I mean every time they seem super strong and finally decided to fight for the title they start to lose points, the other da against Sunderland was one of that kind of games, afer 8 consevutives games in a row with cleasheets they allow two goals and lose the win in the very last moment.

This is the trauma every Arsenal fan gets whenever they play badly like they did against Sunderland. Not that they even played badly, but they should know when they should work together as a team and win games. We should also give enough praise to Sunderland  for how far they have come in the league. These pundits have predicted they will be relegated beforehand but they have handled pressure like they should have. Not all clubs can come back to share points with Arsenal like that whenever they take the lead because of that great defence.

Arsenal is very perfect in knowing how to disappoint their fans, and sometimes, I wish I was never a fan of this club, I wish I could make a switch to fan another club but honestly speaking, football fanship looks like there is a spirit that backs it whereby, if one has choosen a club to support, it becomes very hard for such a person to easily switch to another club ever..

The game between Arsenal and Sunderland was a very disappointing one, more disappointing was the fact that I was very happy that Arsenal finally managed to win the match and just in the last minute of the extra time, Sunderland scored their equalizing goal, I wondered how could have Arsenal allowed such to happen, and I then I realized that they may not have changed from their previous pattern of play, I am simply looking forward to their next game to see how it will turn out..

[Nightwatchmare]

I knew Manchester City could beat Liverpool because Liverpool has not been in their best these days but after Liverpool won Real Madrid in the champions league, i was hoping Liverpool could fight for a point against Manchester City, but it seems Liverpool's poor performances are not over. Arne Slot thought that him letting Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez leave Liverpool and him replacing them with Floriam Wirtz and Alexander Isak could do Liverpool good, but i think the upgrade is what is making Liverpool not to winning their matches the way they should have this season.

I was expecting a draw in that game, even though I know Manchester City are also trying, but their performance was almost the same as that of Liverpool, which ended in a loss for Liverpool. The game was such a sad one, and considering the game that Liverpool won against Real Madrid in the Champions League, I will say that game was just a lucky one for them. If not, Real Madrid was not that weak for Liverpool to win them. This season, Liverpool’s performance is getting out of the box. Even though they still have a chance to change their narrative for the season, I don’t see anything happening, which might make it hard for them to do anything tangible this season.

I think you are not the only one who was expecting a draw in Manchester City vs Liverpool game; so many people were expecting a draw because of Liverpool's result against Real Madrid in the champions league, but Manchester City got an easy win against Liverpool, and the defeat has raised concern about Arne Slot's credibility in handling Liverpool team this season. With the way Liverpool dominated Real Madrid in the champions league, i don't think Liverpool were lucky to defeat Real Madrid because Liverpool could have scored more goals if Real Madrid goalkeeper had not make some good saves in that game.

[Velvet78]

I just read about the Man City case in 2023. The case involved violations related to failing to provide accurate financial information and inaccurate reporting of player and manager remuneration. It might be a long time ago, but I just found out that the commission reviewed more than 250,000 documents. It seems the court's decision will be released at the end of this year. Is Man City guilty and will they be heavily punished? Here are the charges brought against Man City.

I don't think they will get a fair punishment for that. I would expect them to be fined some money that's all. Maybe that might not even happen.    Rich teams are never getting the punishment they deserve when they violate the rules.

Chelsea also face a similar situation by the way. But I don't think they will get punished fairly either. Justice mostly arrives for only non-rich teams instead. I really don't like this but there isn't much to do about it.

[qurbanshah02]

I don't think they will get a fair punishment for that. I would expect them to be fined some money that's all. Maybe that might not even happen.    Rich teams are never getting the punishment they deserve when they violate the rules.

Chelsea also face a similar situation by the way. But I don't think they will get punished fairly either. Justice mostly arrives for only non-rich teams instead. I really don't like this but there isn't much to do about it.

Yes, I also want this to be the case because if removing this player or manager from the team is like breaking this team into pieces, then they should be paid something so that they can also save themselves to some extent. If their luck and favor improve, they will definitely get a light punishment due to which they can keep themselves in this league. Yes, justice should be equal for everyone so that no team feels that they are poor or that their team will be elected by speaking out. I hope that if this justice is clear for everyone, then playing in someone's house in a football game is successful with their own hard work and struggle. We also do not like such wrong actions because our view of the game is different, but other kinds of wrong actions within it change the match.

[Volgastallion]

I just read about the Man City case in 2023. The case involved violations related to failing to provide accurate financial information and inaccurate reporting of player and manager remuneration. It might be a long time ago, but I just found out that the commission reviewed more than 250,000 documents. It seems the court's decision will be released at the end of this year. Is Man City guilty and will they be heavily punished? Here are the charges brought against Man City.

I don't think they will get a fair punishment for that. I would expect them to be fined some money that's all. Maybe that might not even happen.    Rich teams are never getting the punishment they deserve when they violate the rules.

Chelsea also face a similar situation by the way. But I don't think they will get punished fairly either. Justice mostly arrives for only non-rich teams instead. I really don't like this but there isn't much to do about it.

Ohhh man do you know how much time we are expecting to see a real punishment against the Manchester City and other big teams who clearly fails to obey the financial rules, they are not gonna punish them never, because if they punish them they lose a lot in revenues for people watching the league, imagine how much people stop to see Premier if you send to lower division Manchester City , Chelsea etc.

[Lida93]

Arsenal is starting again with her reconoisable pattern? I mean every time they seem super strong and finally decided to fight for the title they start to lose points, the other da against Sunderland was one of that kind of games, afer 8 consevutives games in a row with cleasheets they allow two goals and lose the win in the very last moment.

I don't see Arsenal making the same mistake this season, a lot has changed in the squad and the morale is quite high, there are lots of players in the squad to call upon incase of injuries so there won't be any excuses this time around, the team is scoring goals from set pieces and open play, with all this improvement, I believe Arsenal would be able to navigate well at the second half of the season.

[KTChampions]

I just read about the Man City case in 2023. The case involved violations related to failing to provide accurate financial information and inaccurate reporting of player and manager remuneration. It might be a long time ago, but I just found out that the commission reviewed more than 250,000 documents. It seems the court's decision will be released at the end of this year. Is Man City guilty and will they be heavily punished? Here are the charges brought against Man City.

54x Failure to provide accurate financial information from 2009/10 to 2017/18.
35x Failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 to February 2023.
14x Failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009/10 to 2017/18.
7x Breaches of the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) 2015/16 to 2017/18.
5x Failure to comply with UEFA's rules, including club licensing and financial fair play (FFP) regulations from 2013/14 to 2017/18.

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/man-city-charges-premier-league-36233344

I remember how the deadlines were “before the winter of the last season”, then “in the spring”, then “in the summer”, then “before the start of the new season”. I don't believe this crap will actually end in anything significant. We're probably seeing the same pattern as with UEFA vs. City. The deadlines were extended and the case ended in nothing due to procedural "rules". It will be a huge surprise if by the end of this year (only a month and a half left haha) the case is completed.

[ITExpert]

Regarding Arsenal's effective and not too expensive purchases, look at Victor Gyokeres, who only cost 60 million euros but contributed more than Liverpool players Alexander Isak, who cost 150 million euros, or Hugo Iketike. Or even worse, Florian Wrizt, who has not contributed any goals so far. And all three players I mentioned above are valued at over 100 million euros.

I think this is the thing everyone should focus on for getting the good Results. This is true that being most expensive is not the guarantee of being so good . But it is turned into a mindset that the expensive one will be able to have such expensive abilities which makes the team fit in the best position. I think this needs to be changed and the criteria to select the best player is not based on the money but on the performance. Arsenal's not expensive purchase is doing great for his team than the expensive players at the Liverpool. And the performance or the position of the Liverpool is in front of everyone where the team is relying on right now. And this is also true that Liverpool has not sold  any of their main or expensive players but still they are facing the worst.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Arsenal really have a lot to do because the reason why they are not seeing much challenges now is because the top teams are struggling to locate their best form and they are gradually coming up. Despite their point gap against Manchester City I don't feel comfortable for them because with the Way Manchester City are coming up now they are unstoppable, my fear with their performance is that, they are used to this kind of behaviour especially against Arsenal, they normally come from behind and overtake Arsenal but for this season I think it will be very difficult to do that this time around. I will be very happy for Arsenal to win this trophy this season.

You're absolutely right, it actually reminds me a lot of when Liverpool were leading and City were behind. I was there that season when City won the Premier League, wow, they didn't believe in anyone Pep instilled tremendous mentality in the players, they believed in themselves and won, Don't be surprised if they can do the same now If Arsenal doesn't become consistent, they'll lose the lead, and watch out, City could make the difference.

[Solodoski]

Arsenal management was very clever in the transfer window. They spent a lot of money but did not spend a large amount to bring in any specific player. Like Liverpool did.

To me it's not even how much Liverpool spent on acquiring a single player, but the fact that they did not fix positions that needs to be fixed in the team and I think that's why they are struggling. Arsenal also spent a lot of money, although Liverpool spend more, but Arsenal spent the money in the right positions,  to fixed what needed to be fixed in the team and that is really showing in their performance this season.  In my opinion I think Arsenal had a better transfer window than Liverpool. 

You talking about not fixing the position that is supposed to fix, what position are you really talking about, and I hear people saying that Liverpool spent big money on players that aren’t meant to cost that amount, how do you think signing players do work, transfers works in a different manner, when you want a player and a club doesn’t want to sell and the player doesn’t have a buy out clause, the club has a control in the negotiations table, they can decide to sell the player whatever amount they wish, unless the player has a gentle man agreement with the club and you can’t do anything as a buying club but to sigh the player if you really need the player.

Talking about position I think Liverpool tried to strengthen every position and the manager wanted a team that will flourish like the Paris-Saint-German team, because he has an obsession about their style of play, but this things takes gradual process with the new players, Liverpool tried to sigh Marc Guehi but the deal failed during the deadline transfer day, so the club tried everything, all the players that was sighed are very good and promising talents, so there is no mistakes in transfers of players, currently the club has 4 central defenders and what else do you think the team needs.

Maybe you can tell me where they were supposed to strengthen and they didn’t strengthen the team, since you know more better than the manager and the club management.

Like I said on my first comment,  it's not about the amount that Liverpool paid for a single player,  but the fact that they don't fix positions that need fixing. Let's Starr with Liverpool spending so big of Ekitike and Isak which plays the same position, and they sold Jarell Quansah a promising central back, and they now left with Konate Virgil van Dijk which is there main central defenders,  Joe Gomez has not been in his best for some season now. What am I saying Liverpool needed central defenders and they did not fix it, we can see how they have conceded 17 goals in just 11 match, that just show that they have a poor defense. Imagine an injury to konate and Virgil and they will even struggle more, that's why I still insist that Liverpool spent a lot of money, but did not fix the right positions.

[Agbe]

Snip

I think this is the thing everyone should focus on for getting the good Results. This is true that being most expensive is not the guarantee of being so good . But it is turned into a mindset that the expensive one will be able to have such expensive abilities which makes the team fit in the best position. I think this needs to be changed and the criteria to select the best player is not based on the money but on the performance. Arsenal's not expensive purchase is doing great for his team than the expensive players at the Liverpool. And the performance or the position of the Liverpool is in front of everyone where the team is relying on right now. And this is also true that Liverpool has not sold  any of their main or expensive players but still they are facing the worst.

Football is a team sport so the success of the team will depends on how the players individually play and cooperate as a team. It's true that using huge amounts of money to buy players is not a guarantee of trophies.but the fact is that we can't replace the role of quality players in football because, it's quality players that will guarantee quality performance which is crucial to winning any title in football.

[Miles2006]

Arsenal is starting again with her reconoisable pattern? I mean every time they seem super strong and finally decided to fight for the title they start to lose points, the other da against Sunderland was one of that kind of games, afer 8 consevutives games in a row with cleasheets they allow two goals and lose the win in the very last moment.

Arsenal played Sunderland and we can all witness how the match was so tough, at first the match seems so poor during first half both teams didn’t put any effort not after D. Ballard scored the first goal. Arsenal really tried their best, aside going back to performing poorly whenever they’re many step ahead seems strange I mean people now generally classify this whenever the gunners play a draw due to previous seasons, I’m certain this time around things will definitely change but, still unpredictable who’s winning the title now not because Arsenal could not maintain 3 points rather every team is striving hard to win the title.

[sana54210]

Arsenal is very perfect in knowing how to disappoint their fans, and sometimes, I wish I was never a fan of this club, I wish I could make a switch to fan another club but honestly speaking, football fanship looks like there is a spirit that backs it whereby, if one has choosen a club to support, it becomes very hard for such a person to easily switch to another club ever..

The game between Arsenal and Sunderland was a very disappointing one, more disappointing was the fact that I was very happy that Arsenal finally managed to win the match and just in the last minute of the extra time, Sunderland scored their equalizing goal, I wondered how could have Arsenal allowed such to happen, and I then I realized that they may not have changed from their previous pattern of play, I am simply looking forward to their next game to see how it will turn out..

Lol, being a fan of Arsenal must be very tough looking back on the results for the league in the past 20 years, I do not know much of older than that, but I have watched premier league for nearly 20 years now and Arsenal fans have it the hardest.

However, you guys are lucky this season and doing alright, I am not guessing them to be terrible this season, I think they are going to do alright, you guys are leaders after all. Yes I understand the fear that they may lose that spot, and that Sunderland game made you think about it again and fear that it would happen again, but this time you guys look better than everyone else so I do not think that you are going to suddenly start losing and give up your leader position.

[Dzwaafu11]

Arsenal is starting again with her reconoisable pattern? I mean every time they seem super strong and finally decided to fight for the title they start to lose points, the other da against Sunderland was one of that kind of games, afer 8 consevutives games in a row with cleasheets they allow two goals and lose the win in the very last moment.

I don't see Arsenal making the same mistake this season, a lot has changed in the squad and the morale is quite high, there are lots of players in the squad to call upon incase of injuries so there won't be any excuses this time around, the team is scoring goals from set pieces and open play, with all this improvement, I believe Arsenal would be able to navigate well at the second half of the season.

Yeah… I also see Arsenal's performance at a different level this season; there is no sign of repeating the same mistakes as in past seasons. They try to keep their consistency from the start of the season till now, and with the way it is now, they will keep going because there is no sign of weakness in their performance.

However, as you said, there are backupplayers this season, so in case of any injury, they will be able to continue their performance in a good way. However, the game against Sunderland should not be a problem; there is still time, so let’s see.

[liuka]

Maybe Liverpool’s dip in form can be understood to some extent, but what really makes people think negatively is the fact that they spent a lot of money bringing in top-quality players this season, yet their performances keep getting worse and more inconsistent. We saw how Liverpool started the season really well, but after that, their performances in the EPL have been poor and unpredictable.

Honestly, this season I’m starting to doubt them a bit, it feels like Liverpool might end up missing out on the title and could only finish as runners up.

Liverpool decline in performance has been quite highlighted, given their active transfer market activity, but their early season slump was due to the players they brought in not adapting to Arne Slot strategy. In the Premier League, when a team experiences a decline in performance, of course they need time to recover.

I see Liverpool experiencing significant weaknesses this season, as they frequently lose against both top-ranked and mid-table teams. They've been on a losing streak this season, making it easy for other teams to beat them. Spending a lot of money in the transfer market is certainly a major loss for any team if the players they recruit don't contribute to the team.

Liverpool are currently stuck in eighth place. If they fail to return to winning ways, I believe they will be easily overtaken by other teams each week.