⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[emrecemsan]

The way of entering new year in the PL wasn't fun honestly. Last night was really boring I agree about that. Some people might say there were still many attacks, shots and saves which make a match more enjoyable.

But to tell the truth it doesn't sound fun to me unless I see some goals.    After these results Arteta must be quite happy. His team have increased the point gap again. 4 points with Manchester City and 6 with Aston Villa!

[Pandorak]

Sunderland vs Man City 0 - 0
Liverpool vs Leeds 0 - 0
Chelsea vs Bournemouth 2 - 2
Man United vs Wolves 1 - 1

What on earth kind of match is this? 

Looks like the EPL really pulled a surprise on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, with the favorite teams only managing draws. Kinda frustrating, honestly.

Even now, i sometimes wonder how it is possible for big clubs like these to end up with a draw, when they should have had a very good chance of winning. It's very frustrating. But i realise that if the favourite team always won every match, the league would certainly be boring, because the results would be predictable. Such surprises are indeed necessary, serving as a reminder that match outcomes are not solely determined by a team's reputation or the quality of its players, but also require hard work, consistency, and the champion's mentality that every player must possess.

[YUriy1991]

Maresca won the the Club World Cup and also has the record of qualifying for the Champions League with the youngest team ever yet Chelsea didn’t waste no time in dropping him. IMO Maresca’s sack probably has nothing to do with his performance as manager but his relationship with upper management. Rumor has it that Enzo Maresca  may have been talking to Manchester City about that job opening, and Chelsea got wind of it and sacked him.

Following Enzo Mareska's dismissal, there will be changes to Chelsea's first-team squad, which will likely have a significant impact on the team's performance and strategy for the remainder of the season. While his dismissal has come as a surprise to fans due to his impressive performance, he led Chelsea to victory in the FIFA Club World Cup and is still in contention for a top-placed finish in the Premier League this season. I believe there must be something interesting behind his dismissal.

[Hanadawa]

It's very interesting that all four matches played today ended in draws. Also, no match had more than two goals scored. Manchester City, Liverpool, and Tottenham all failed to score this week. Arsenal have thus increased their lead over Manchester City to four points. They have gained this advantage and will know how to use it. It was a bad match for Manchester City, and they lost two points.

Ha-ha, it was one of the most goalless days in the league, three matches ended 0–0 and one finished 1–1. I was itching to bet on Manchester City win, but at the last moment God stopped my hand and saved my money. I guess I was right in my assumption that New Year celebrations might negatively affect the players’ form and the their commitment to show some performance on the field.

I predicted City and Liverpool would win, but it turned out I was wrong. I don't know if the New Year's celebrations affected the players' performance. Maybe most of the players wanted to celebrate with their families, so they didn't play seriously? Haha, of course not. But I think this draw will allow the eight competing teams to spend the New Year without the sadness of defeat. So it's like a win-win solution for all teams. It's truly an interesting coincidence. But I think the busy schedule may have affected each team's performance. As we all know, in the EPL, we have the term "Boxing Day," which refers to the busy schedule between Christmas and New Year.

[Solodoski]

Maresca won the the Club World Cup and also has the record of qualifying for the Champions League with the youngest team ever yet Chelsea didn’t waste no time in dropping him. IMO Maresca’s sack probably has nothing to do with his performance as manager but his relationship with upper management. Rumor has it that Enzo Maresca  may have been talking to Manchester City about that job opening, and Chelsea got wind of it and sacked him.

I really don't understand why Chelsea board sacked Mascera, because I think he is doing a good job at Chelsea,  although they have been getting some poor results lately,  but I still think he has done a good job. I don't understand the reason for the sacking, because Chelsea has a very young team and I don't expect them to contest for the title, but rather aim to end in the top 4 position, which they are on course for it. Chelsea board has made a big mistake in sacking Mascera and I hope it does not affect the team.

[VashaUdacha777]

I predicted City and Liverpool would win, but it turned out I was wrong

I also thought Liverpool and Manchester would win, but I was surprised when I saw the result. I wonder if there were people who bet that Liverpool or Manchester wouldn’t score a goal. They probably won good money. The teams are tired of playing every two or three days — they just don’t have enough energy left to score goals.

[liasbaa]

It's very interesting that all four matches played today ended in draws. Also, no match had more than two goals scored. Manchester City, Liverpool, and Tottenham all failed to score this week. Arsenal have thus increased their lead over Manchester City to four points. They have gained this advantage and will know how to use it. It was a bad match for Manchester City, and they lost two points.

Ha-ha, it was one of the most goalless days in the league, three matches ended 0–0 and one finished 1–1. I was itching to bet on Manchester City win, but at the last moment God stopped my hand and saved my money. I guess I was right in my assumption that New Year celebrations might negatively affect the players’ form and the their commitment to show some performance on the field.

I predicted City and Liverpool would win, but it turned out I was wrong. I don't know if the New Year's celebrations affected the players' performance. Maybe most of the players wanted to celebrate with their families, so they didn't play seriously? Haha, of course not. But I think this draw will allow the eight competing teams to spend the New Year without the sadness of defeat. So it's like a win-win solution for all teams. It's truly an interesting coincidence. But I think the busy schedule may have affected each team's performance. As we all know, in the EPL, we have the term "Boxing Day," which refers to the busy schedule between Christmas and New Year.

I almost certainly predicted Liverpool to win against Leeds and Man City to win against Sunderland. But impressively, the two big teams in the league drew with the smaller teams and failed to put themselves ahead. This created a favourable situation for Arsenal because if they win against Bournemouth tomorrow, they will increase their points and the gap with second position Man City will increase even further. Arsenal are currently 4 points ahead, but if they win the next match, the gap will be 7. Continuing their winning streak, Man City failed to maintain their winning streak at Sunderland's home ground. The New Year or Christmas break may have had some impact on the performance of the players.

[harapan]

Manchester City couldn’t break through Sunderland’s defense.
Sunderland defended so well last night that they completely shut down all of Manchester City’s attacking options.
No matter what Manchester City tried, they couldn’t find a goal.

In the title race, Sunderland dealt a two point blow to Manchester City.
The gap between Arsenal and Manchester City is now 4 points and Arsenal can breathe a little easier.

The defenders where magnificent and they put up an impressive performance against Manchester City. The Sunderland fans also showed a great support. They had a lot of their best players out for the African Cup of Nations, but they have adapted fine in the absence of these players.
They did Arsenal a favour and Arsenal should ensure not to have that fumbled when they travel to face Bournemouth United come their next game.

[mvdheuvel1983]

Sunderland vs Man City 0 - 0
Liverpool vs Leeds 0 - 0
Chelsea vs Bournemouth 2 - 2
Man United vs Wolves 1 - 1

What on earth kind of match is this? 

Looks like the EPL really pulled a surprise on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, with the favorite teams only managing draws. Kinda frustrating, honestly.

Even now, i sometimes wonder how it is possible for big clubs like these to end up with a draw, when they should have had a very good chance of winning. It's very frustrating. But i realise that if the favourite team always won every match, the league would certainly be boring, because the results would be predictable. Such surprises are indeed necessary, serving as a reminder that match outcomes are not solely determined by a team's reputation or the quality of its players, but also require hard work, consistency, and the champion's mentality that every player must possess.

This is the beauty of the game the ability for anyone not to predict the outcome of the results always this is the reason why it is risky to trust big teams despite their performance you don't expect them to be lucky in every game even when they play against teams that is not up to their squad you should still expect some funny outcomes. The truth is that the favourite teams do not win all the time some games are beyond the big teams and that's why you see the recent results becoming draws it's shows that the small teams are now becoming very strong because their results will affect their position as the league is gradually coming to the middle.

[Nightwatchmare]

I am not surprised by that result; Arsenal played much more aggressively with the revenge they had, which made them play much more determinedly, and in terms of overall quality, Arsenal is better compared to Aston Villa. That has to be acknowledged, so I think Arsenal's big win is natural.

Aston Villa has indeed made surprises this season; they were unbeaten in their last 11 matches before facing Arsenal, but it should be remembered that the Premier League always presents fierce competition, and now Aston Villa is experiencing that.

In this season, Arsenal doing much better than last three seasons because they are having strong title chance, and they are not giving any space to have any challenge against them, in upcoming rounds, this is going to be a big advantage for winning with good score, their attack and defense both are well-balanced.

At the top, now two teams are having good control while Manchester City is going to Stadium of Light for their 19th round game, this will give them chance to cut the difference of points and have good space from Aston Villa while Liverpool hosting Leeds United, this is also important game for them after having few good results in last weeks, this will allow them to have chance of staying with Aston Villa for third spot.

To me I just think Arsenal just get to realize that Aston Villa was among the teams that deprived them the league title last season so they got to be more serious this time, because if they had mistakenly drop a single point in that game then we could have given up on them total because Pep Guardiola would do everything possible to climb the league table and if they do I won't be easy to bring them down so this winning from them somehow boost up our confidence and our hope of winning the league still stand, but the only thing I will be of them is to keep consistent.

With the games yet to be played even though Manchester City climbed top of the league today i don't think they can remain there till the end of the season and i don't also think that Arsenal will remain top of the league before two months time. Arsenal knew that they will be in deep pressure if they had draw or lost against Aston Villa, i like Arsenal courage they are very determined to win the league tittle this season but the end of the season will determine who wins the English Premier league tittle i know that the trophy is just between Arsenal and Manchester City.

Manchester City are slowly building themselves back to the Manchester City team we knew 5 years ago, and i think if Arsenal gives Manchester City a chance to top the table, Manchester City will win the title. Arsenal defeating Aston Villa easily speaks volumes, and i believe Arsenal will remain at the top of the league table for a very long time. I was even thinking Aston Villa would cut off Arsenal's chances of winning the title, but Arsenal did what people did not expect. I am happy for Arsenal for defeating Aston Villa because they have reduced the pressure on themselves.

[JeffBrad12]

Maresca won the the Club World Cup and also has the record of qualifying for the Champions League with the youngest team ever yet Chelsea didn’t waste no time in dropping him. IMO Maresca’s sack probably has nothing to do with his performance as manager but his relationship with upper management. Rumor has it that Enzo Maresca  may have been talking to Manchester City about that job opening, and Chelsea got wind of it and sacked him.

After i read whole of story about this. It seems Beghdad who owned majority of shares in Chelsea didn't happy with the way Maresca attacked him. So he decides to part with Maresca, but still give Maresca pretty good compensation for all he did.

btw, Maresca is not only opening for the move to City. He's also asking whether there will be a job available to come from Juventus too. It's possible we will see him coach Serie a club in the future.

[jaberwock]

We started 2026 without scoring a goal. There were no goals in the Leeds and Liverpool matches. There were also no goals in the Manchester City and Sunderland matches. All these results are great for Arsenal. Leeds defended well, and Liverpool had some unlucky chances. They are currently fourth in the league, unbeaten in six games at least.

If they continue to drop points like this, it could become impossible for them to catch up with Manchester City and Arsenal again. Absolute wins are needed in matches like these.

Having results like these are frustrating for both top teams because they have been doing good, but results like these hurting them for their cause, Manchester City is still having good performance in last five games, they scored 11 goals and conceded just 1 while Liverpool scored 9 goals and conceded 5.

More changes are possible in top spots because now upcoming rounds could be more challenging, and they need better performance. Chelsea lost their coach, this is going to be problematic for them while rumours are about Arne Slot are also creating chaos but here Liverpool management need to be more realistic and allow him till end of this season because this will bring stability in their team.

[Nightwatchmare]

I predicted City and Liverpool would win, but it turned out I was wrong

I also thought Liverpool and Manchester would win, but I was surprised when I saw the result. I wonder if there were people who bet that Liverpool or Manchester wouldn’t score a goal. They probably won good money. The teams are tired of playing every two or three days — they just don’t have enough energy left to score goals.

Since Liverpool was slowly getting back on track and Manchester City was on winning streak, i also thought Liverpool and Manchester City would win yesterday, but both teams disappointed me yesterday with the draw they played. Liverpool and Manchester City are big teams, so i believe no bettor would attempt to bet on Liverpool and Manchester City not to score a goal because they have a good chance of scoring a goal. But if there are bettors who bet on Liverpool and Manchester City not to score a goal, they will probably win good money because the odds for that option for Liverpool and Manchester City would be an interesting odds.

[Abbatty]

The way of entering new year in the PL wasn't fun honestly. Last night was really boring I agree about that. Some people might say there were still many attacks, shots and saves which make a match more enjoyable.

But to tell the truth it doesn't sound fun to me unless I see some goals.    After these results Arteta must be quite happy. His team have increased the point gap again. 4 points with Manchester City and 6 with Aston Villa!

Well it was a bad day yesterday, especially for we gamblers, all the 4 premier league games that was played yesterday ended in a draw, which is very unlikely. Well as for me I lost all my best, I gambled on Manchester city to win and for Tottenham to play over 2.5 goals but it all ended in a bad bet. I really hope tomorrow when the premier league games are played we see a lot of goals.

It a 4 points gap between arsenal and Manchester city now and I will tell you that it still a long way to go. It been an exciting season so far and arsenal are looking favorite to win the league this but they would have to put up a big fight if they really want to bring the premier league to London this season.

[hyudien]

Well it was a bad day yesterday, especially for we gamblers, all the 4 premier league games that was played yesterday ended in a draw, which is very unlikely. Well as for me I lost all my best, I gambled on Manchester city to win and for Tottenham to play over 2.5 goals but it all ended in a bad bet. I really hope tomorrow when the premier league games are played we see a lot of goals.

Bro, I'm one of them even my parlay bet has failed since the beginning because of the draw from Chelsea, I tried to recover it from the Man City and Liverpool matches, it's just as disappointing....
Yesterday's match was nothing interesting because of the few goals we could see, tomorrow is hopefully in line with our expectations but maybe it's better to avoid betting first, considering the schedule is too tight so most likely every favorite team is not in its best form.

[slapper]

Maresca won the the Club World Cup and also has the record of qualifying for the Champions League with the youngest team ever yet Chelsea didn’t waste no time in dropping him. IMO Maresca’s sack probably has nothing to do with his performance as manager but his relationship with upper management. Rumor has it that Enzo Maresca  may have been talking to Manchester City about that job opening, and Chelsea got wind of it and sacked him.

Yes, I think it was his personal decision to step down as Chelsea manager because of his relationship with the team management and owners. They are trying by all means to control him for their selfish interest. Maybe he had enough, and that's why he decided to step down completely to save his reputation as a coach because he is a very good coach with good tactics; he can do well if he is coaching big teams like Madrid.

I haven't seen any official statement from the Chelsea management yet to figure out the exact reason for Maresca's decision, but for this same management to sack Pochettino, Tuchel, and now Maresca, they have a problem because all of these coaches have taken bold steps to shape the team.

It seems like the owners of the club are only for business; the coaches need to play all the players they signed regardless of the game condition, and this has been a very big problem for the team, and it can be the main reason why Mareca left.

First manager in Premier League history to get the boot on January 1st - which is almost impressive in how pathetic it is.

He refused to do his press conference after that Bournemouth draw, said he was "sick". Except he'd just been coaching for ninety minutes looking good. Within one day the entire thing collapsed. Guardian called it a red herring, then he was basically forcing their hand. And they obliged. 12:40 PM statement out, done.

So no, he did not walk away to protect his reputation. He got pushed.

BlueCo is quite literally a nightmare. Just not in the way that you're describing. They're not forcing managers to play everybody they signed. That's not the issue. The problem is they've developed this ridiculously young squad (youngest in the league, average age like 23 or something ridiculous) and then go in thinking everyone is going to play Champions League football when it's basically a bunch of kids.

I saw them blow leads at home over and over all season. Twelve points were lost from winning positions in all competitions. Twenty! You know why that happens? Because when your captain is 25 and half your team is barely old enough to rent a car in America, they don't know how to see out a game when the pressure's on. That's not tactics, that's just... Youth. Inexperience. Brain development, honestly.

[Nightwatchmare]

The way of entering new year in the PL wasn't fun honestly. Last night was really boring I agree about that. Some people might say there were still many attacks, shots and saves which make a match more enjoyable.

But to tell the truth it doesn't sound fun to me unless I see some goals.    After these results Arteta must be quite happy. His team have increased the point gap again. 4 points with Manchester City and 6 with Aston Villa!

Well it was a bad day yesterday, especially for we gamblers, all the 4 premier league games that was played yesterday ended in a draw, which is very unlikely. Well as for me I lost all my best, I gambled on Manchester city to win and for Tottenham to play over 2.5 goals but it all ended in a bad bet. I really hope tomorrow when the premier league games are played we see a lot of goals.

It a 4 points gap between arsenal and Manchester city now and I will tell you that it still a long way to go. It been an exciting season so far and arsenal are looking favorite to win the league this but they would have to put up a big fight if they really want to bring the premier league to London this season.

Since almost all the big teams drew in the premier league match day 19, it was really a bad day for the bettors that bet on that day. I bet on Manchester City to win Sunderland home from away, but my bet slip could not survive to the day Sunderland and Manchester City could play their match. I played Manchester United to beat Wolves, and since Manchester United surprisingly drew with Wolves, my bet slip cut on the 30th of December, 2025. Arsenal still need to win plenty of their remaining premier league matches for them to be crowned premier league champions. Even at that, it is better that Arsenal have a 4 point gap with Manchester City because it will reduce pressure on Arsenal, and if they lose their next match, they will still be at the top of the league table.

[len01]

-snip

I'm personally not so surprised, this is primer league a very competitive league even the ones we consider small clubs keep on surprising us every day lol

If you watched the match, you might be surprised by this result, especially considering the performances of Man City and Liverpool. I admit that Leeds and Sunderland played well, but look at how both favorite teams had big chances to score and failed to convert them all. I even briefly thought it felt like a fixed match, but that’s impossible since this is one of the biggest leagues.

[Danica22]

I really don't understand why Chelsea board sacked Mascera, because I think he is doing a good job at Chelsea,  although they have been getting some poor results lately,  but I still think he has done a good job. I don't understand the reason for the sacking, because Chelsea has a very young team and I don't expect them to contest for the title, but rather aim to end in the top 4 position, which they are on course for it. Chelsea board has made a big mistake in sacking Mascera and I hope it does not affect the team.

I guess Chelsea management gave Maresca a big fund to buy players and strengthen the squad before the start of this season. Chelsea spent a lot of money to buy  players. But even then maresca could not stabilize this team. Chelsea could not profit from buying players by spending so much money. Maybe that is why chelsea decided to sack maresca. I will not say it is a bad decision. Because  despite having such a strong squad, they are not playing  as well as expected. We do not see any  positive change in chelsea's performance.

[Volgastallion]

Congratulations to anyone who was or is crazy enough to put a bet on all draws for the yesterday matches, what a boring day was yesterday, congratulations also to the one who spend the day outside and didnt watching any of the games, of 4 games 3 were a boring 0-0, really crazy, seems like the fowards were still on the festives.