An unimaginably curious Premier League season has ended with a triumph of silverware over style at the top, a clutch of unlikely teams qualifying for Europe, Tottenham defying their own commitment to self-destruction and West Ham back in the Championship.The Pep Guardiola era ended with tears, tributes and dropped points in three of Manchester Citys final five league games and Manchester United returned to the Champions League after finding serene form during the second half of the season to land Michael Carrick a permanent job.Liverpools blockbuster recruitment led to a lacklustre title defence, a sharp-tongued end to club icon Mohamed Salahs career and the door for manager Arne Slot, while Aston Villa finished fourth and won the Europa League and Chelsea chewed up coaches on their way to midtable.From the title contenders to newcomers making a mark and giants struggling, 101GreatGoals rates every teams 2025/26 season.Table of ContentsArsenal: AAston Villa: ABournemouth: ABrentford: BBrighton & Hove Albion: BBurnley: FChelsea: CCrystal Palace: BEverton: CFulham: BLeeds United: ALiverpool: DManchester City: BManchester United: ANewcastle United: DNottingham Forest: CSunderland: ATottenham: EWest Ham United: FWolves: FArsenal: ATwenty-two years on from their last title, Arsenal relied on squad depth rather than superstars to see off City as Mikel Artetas side withstood widespread criticism over their tactics and accusations of dark arts to become champions with a match to spare.The race was in Citys hands and the bottler memes were back at the ready among Arsenals detractors after their defeat at the Etihad Stadium on April 19, making this title all the more impressive in a season that culminated in defeat on penalties to holders Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.David Raya made spectacular saves a routine part of his exceptional season, with William Saliba and Gabriel supreme in defence and the inspirational Declan Rice in typically tireless form ahead of them. England fans must pray the midfielders energy does not dip.Aston Villa: AAfter the despair of throwing away Champions League qualification on the final day of last season, Villa fans expectations were further dampened by their relatively low summer spending and a six-match wait for their first win in all competitions, including three points from their first 15 available in the league.Their recovery since then has been scintillating, with their ability to come through uncertain spells perhaps the most pleasing aspect for supporters, who could be forgiven for wobbly nerves after a Europa League semi-final first-leg loss at Nottingham Forest and a 2-0 defeat at Wolves in February that ended in players remonstrating with fans.Closing wins over Liverpool and Manchester City ensured Villa comfortably finished fourth, but the crowning glory was Unai Emerys fifth Europa League title with a third different club, thrashing Forest in the return match and Freiburg in the final.Ollie Watkins finished as the 16-goal leading English scorer in the Premier League and Morgan Rogers ended with 10 goals and six assists in the division. Both could be key at the World Cup.Bournemouth: AThere was a touch of gallows humour to Andoni Iraolas press conference before Bournemouth suffered a respectable defeat at Liverpool in the season opener, shorn of almost an entire elite defence, swiftly followed by Dango Ouattaras departure in attack.Iraola later coped with Antoine Semenyos exit and inspired his squad to go on the longest unbeaten league run of the season by three matches, finishing undefeated in 18 league games to stay in Champions League contention on the final day despite the ingenious Spaniard announcing in April that he was leaving the club.Left-back Adrian Truffert a �14.4 million signing in June has been one of the signings of the season and only Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland averaged more league goals per game than Junior Kroupi, who finished on 13 in the division. As much as Bournemouth wanted him to stay, Europa League football is a fitting gift for Iraola to leave behind.Brentford: BMany backed Brentford at short pre-season odds to be relegated, but the only reason why managerial newcomer Keith Andrews had his head in his hands during added time on the final day was a misplaced Igor Thiago attempt as the Bees missed out on Europe on goal difference.Helped by a run of six wins and two defeats in 10 league matches across the turn of the year, Brentford were seventh for 10 straight matchweeks between February and mid-April, with Thiagos 22 goals putting the Brazilian five ahead of any player in the league except Haaland.In a season dominated by set-piece methodology, Andrews expertise in coaching set plays was only part of the reason behind Brentfords impressive transition after seven years under Thomas Frank, with inconsistency and a little misfortune proving their downfall from heights they scaled against almost all expectations.Thiago scored once in their final six games and seven of their final 10 were draws, with their only win after February coming against West Ham. Still, those relegation prices are certain to be considerably longer in August.Brighton & Hove Albion: BWith wild reactivism shaping the storylines, Brighton and Fabian Hurzeler again demonstrated the value of keeping calm and as the 33-year-old would have it trusting the process.Albion were fifth after earning successive league wins for the first time in November, but a run of one victory in 13 league games including a turgid defeat at home to arch-rivals Crystal Palace that ended with fans calling for the board to act put them among the relegation candidates by February, with Hurzeler favourite to be the next boss to leave for several weeks.A superb turnaround from that hugely testing low owed much to the experience of 40-year-old James Milner, who broke the Premier League appearance record, and 35-year-old Danny Welbeck, who scored 13 league goals and was unfortunate not to be called up by England.Seven wins and two defeats in 10 games allowed Brighton the luxury of losing their final two matches and still reaching the Conference League. For all the patchiness of their campaign, that is some result for the Seagulls.Burnley: FIt seems cruel to remind Burnley fans, but no-one would have foreseen the scale of their drop-off from amassing 100 points, setting a league record for the fewest goals conceded across a season and ending on a 33-match unbeaten run while winning promotion in 2024/25.Scott Parker annoyed supporters by defending terrible performances as part of a wretched attempt to stay up, leaving at the end of April as the Clarets limped to 22 points while frequently playing stultifying football.Much will inevitably depend upon who Alan Pace appoints as Burnleys new boss, with the challenge of raising morale and implementing a more attacking style of play looking a tough one.The potential silver lining is that Burnley should be more competitive in the second tier. This season was bad enough to make most around Turf Moor question whether they want another go at the Premier League anytime soon.Chelsea: CAs second halves of seasons go, the world champions had one for the books. After Enzo Maresca publicly organised his exit, the inexperienced Liam Rosenior oversaw a run of form as dreadful as his cliches to torpedo Chelseas chances of Champions League qualification, although his players lack of effort in the defeat at Brighton that made his job untenable was an absurd and inexcusable advert for much that is wrong with the sport.Enzo Fernandez sulked, Liam Delap flopped and Joao Pedro was perhaps the only bright spark. The club announced the biggest pre-tax loss in Premier League history in April, followed by defeat to City in a poor FA Cup final and a final-day loss at Sunderland, ending their European hopes and featuring a record-extending 11th red card of the season among their players and staff in all competitions.A systems man rumoured to have been a victim of player power at Madrid is next in the chair. Xabi Alonso looks a good call, but the whims of his temperamental squad make this a brave move by the Spaniard.Crystal Palace: BIf you include the Community Shield, Palace went 11 matches unbeaten at the start of the season. By late January, they had nosedived on a run of two points from eight league matches, blown their FA Cup defence at the first hurdle against non-league Macclesfield and been informed by Oliver Glasner that this would be his last season in charge, the Austrians announcement arriving shortly after he accused the club of making him and his players feel completely abandoned.Palace had lost Eberechi Eze to Arsenal in August but the departure of Marc Guehi appeared to be the catalyst for Glasners decision, and for a while the ensuing rancour made it seem like the architect of the clubs finest hour would have to leave early, although their form steadied and a convincing Conference League knockout stage made their domestic malaise immaterial.In the context of those wheels juddering and a 60-game season, Palace will only care about their first-ever European trophy. Glasner was a picture of zen before the win over Vallecano, leaving a hero.Everton: CEverton were never higher than 15th under Sean Dyche last season, so its indisputable that David Moyes has taken them forward.They remained unbeaten at the splendid Hill Dickinson Stadium until late October and won six out of 13 league games from late December to make European qualification a real possibility. Just when they had momentum, a highly passable impression of their former selves emerged, plundering three points from their final seven matches, although there was that humdinger of a 3-3 draw at home to Manchester City in May.Only two teams outside of the relegation zone scored fewer goals than Everton in the top flight, in which Beto was their top scorer with nine. On-loan Jack Grealishs injury didnt help ease their familiar struggle for creativity, and Moyes might be glad for the reset after defeats at home to Liverpool and Sunderland during a dismal final stretch.Fulham: BThe warning signs were immediately there for Fulham, who managed more than a goal in only one of their first nine league matches of the season.A surge up the table followed between November and February including a cherishable win over Chelsea but only Palace and Sunderland scored fewer times outside of the bottom three, with 35-year-old Raul Jimenez their nine-goal top league scorer.Those figures make it weird that Fulham took part in arguably the game of the season along with Manchester Uniteds 4-4 draw at home to Bournemouth when they lost by the odd goal in nine to City in December. Even in defeat, freescoring football must have been a relief at Craven Cottage.Leeds United: ALeeds were sliding down the table and on their way to a sixth defeat in seven matches when Daniel Farke switched to 3-5-2 at half-time at Manchester City at the end of November. It made Farke a manager of the season candidate and transformed the Whites fortunes.Ten wins and five defeats followed between December and the penultimate game of the season, including a run to the FA Cup semi-finals and 14 league goals for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, a free signing in August who had a miserably barren time at Everton last season but deservedly returned to England contention this time around.Farkes side lost once away between November 29 and May 24, and even that was in the 102nd minute at Newcastle. There was a classic 3-3 draw at Liverpool and a hugely impressive win at United. And at the reliably intimidating Elland Road, Leeds took 10 points from their last 12 on their way to finishing closer to European qualification than relegation.Liverpool: DIf building from a position of strength seemed logical, so did predictions of another formidable season for Liverpool. A seven-match winning start offered no hint of the almost season-long slump ahead.There were many reasons: Diogo Jotas death deeply affected the squad, players struggled to adapt to the league or sustained injuries and Mohamed Salah lost his form but repeatedly found ways to bash Arne Slot before announcing he would leave at the end of the season, which arrived shortly before the Dutchmans abrupt sacking.Ultimately, Slots tactics disillusioned fans most. Outsiders might deem his approach pragmatic, but supporters can see no method of progress in systems contradicting Liverpools style under Jurgen Klopp. A meek Champions League qualification seemed to have bought the Premier League winner more time, but Sporting Director Richard Hughes now seems certain to be reunited with Iraola.Manchester City: BAfter City beat Burnley to go top on April 22, the form guide suggested a procession might materialise for a team who had taken 22 of their previous 24 points across games played in May.That they dropped four points out of their next 12 is indicative of their carelessness this season and reflective of a sub-vintage City team, starting with two defeats in their first three matches and hampered by injuries to the likes of Rodri and Mateo Kovacic and Phil Fodens freefalling form.Erling Haaland was unstoppable again after a rare season without a Golden Boot, averaging a direct goal involvement every league match, 0.22 goals more per top-flight game than any of his rivals and five more than Igor Thiago at the top of the standings, as well as firing Norway to a first World Cup during his lifetime.Those EFL Cup and FA Cup trophies decorated Pep Guardiolas finely-orchestrated exit, with protege Enzo Maresca now facing a period of transition speeded by Bernardo Silvas departure. A ruling over more than 100 charges of alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules continues to loom.Manchester United: AHe had less than half a season, but Uniteds season can clearly be considered Before Carrick and After Carrick.Carrick had spent three seasons struggling to make Middlesbrough credible promotion candidates and his low-key interim return came after Ruben Amorims sacking, a draw at Burnley to ensure dropped points in five of Uniteds preceding six games and an immediate FA Cup exit at home to Brighton.Wins over City and Arsenal then started a transformative run of 12 wins and two defeats in their final 17 matches. United, who successfully switched to 4-2-3-1 under Carrick, had not been far from the Champions League qualification places when he arrived, but finishing in them with something to spare is a significant success for a squad who had been projected to finish midtable by the pre-season stats and might well have done so under Amorim.Senne Lammens was a bargain for �20 million and Bruno Fernandes was deemed the Premier League Player of the Season. Off the field, disquiet continues with Uniteds ownership, not helped by Sir Jim Ratcliffe declaring the country colonised by immigrants.Newcastle United: DIt says something about the pain of Newcastles season that Alexander Isaks strike action and exit before a ball had been kicked seems a moderate headache now.Failing to score in four of their first five games might have seemed an obvious result of that transfer, with Yoane Wissa struggling throughout the campaign and Nick Woltemades best position appearing a puzzle to Howe.But a run of nine defeats in 12 league matches between mid-January and April had more to do with players performing poorly across the pitch and allowing the most attempts on target of any team not to be relegated, putting Eddie Howe on uncertain ground when he was summoned to a much-publicised summit with his bosses coinciding with the end of that run.Howe will surely be one of the most pressurised managers if he starts next season in post, although a stretch of one defeat in 10 Champions League matches including a draw at PSG was impressive before a 7-2 defeat at Barcelona that demonstrated Newcastles inability to cope with being pressed and stop teams from playing through them.Bruno Guimaraes is one of the few players who bucks the trend and keeping the midfielder looks crucial to a turnaround next season.Nottingham Forest: CYou ideally dont want your team to be the subject of comedy quiz questions, but naming every coach Forest appointed during 2025/26 will surely be one for the rounds for years to come.The speed with which Forest blew the progress they made last season was almost as impressive as their rise to Champions League qualification contention had been: after Nuno Espirito Santo fell out with owner Evangelos Marinakis, Ange Postecoglou had only just moved to Nottingham when he was sacked after 39 days, which was 75 fewer than Sean Dyche lasted.Vitor Pereira took two points from his first four matches, but a run of 13 from his next 15 gave Forest breathing space and their return to Europe after 30 years away was a memorable one, albeit ending with a tonking at Villa.Morgan Gibbs-White was the 15-goal second-top English scorer in the Premier League and Murillo and Eliot Anderson are also likely to be in demand after outstanding seasons, while no-one bettered Igor Jesus seven goals in the Europa League. Forests prospects, though, probably depend most on Marinakis discovering a steadier approach.Sunderland: ASunderlands return to the Premier League has been nothing short of sensational. The Wearsiders were widely tipped to finish bottom but have spent the majority of the season in the top half and ended it with European qualification on the final day.Under the quiet yet tactically-savvy Regis Le Bris and driven on by signing of the season Grant Xhaka, Sunderland have proven they can mix it with teams who want to play or challenge them physically.Numerous high points included a win at Chelsea as part of 11 initial games featuring only two defeats, a double over Newcastle completed with Brian Brobbeys 90th-minute winner and a four-game unbeaten sequence to reach the Europa League, sealed with a 2-1 home victory against Chelsea.Few cities have such a close relationship with their football club and both are experiencing hugely positive periods that have shifted the dynamic in the north-east.Tottenham: EAside from staying up, Tottenhams finest achievement this season might have been uniting neutrals with an effectiveness rarely seen when it comes to football fans.Could one of the established elite really be mismanaged enough to suffer relegation? No, as it turned out, but only after arguably the most baffling appointment in Premier League history, when Tottenham effectively threw away five games before the end of March by bringing in Igor Tudor, who had no managerial experience in England and an umpromising record elsewhere.Viewers with a long memory may recall Thomas Frank overseeing a slump of two wins in 17 league matches, with contrastingly solid results against middling Champions League opposition before Tudor took Spurs out of Europe in farcical style at Atleti.Helped by consecutive league wins for the first time across April and May, West Hams generosity and a yielding Everton side on the final day, the reliably persuasive Roberto De Zerbi finally brought a measure of joy to the season and avoided one of the all-time great storylines.Owners the Lewis family now say they are intent on winning fans over, which many supporters might be more open to if there are changes in the clubs footballing hierarchy.West Ham United: FNuno Espirito Santo briefly took West Ham out of the relegation in November, but the most stable-feeling part of their forgettable campaign was their place in the bottom three.Graham Potters dreadful five-game start included heavy defeats to Sunderland, Chelsea and Spurs. West Ham then took one point from their first four league games under Santo, who could not keep them up but has agreed to stay on for a daunting-looking return to the Championship.Somewhat cruelly, three more of the six matchdays they spent above the line came in April. Then Tottenham twitched and the Hammers put in limp displays in winnable games at Brentford and Newcastle either side of a volcanically charged defeat at home to Arsenal.The point technology might have helped them earn in that game would not have been enough to stay in the Premier League, with relegation a result of years of poor planning off the pitch. Fan disgruntlement with owner David Sullivan has endured and intensified.West Ham posted the worst financial results in their history, losing �104.2 million before tax. With the monetary wallop of dropping out of the Premier League ahead, the worst may be yet to come.Wolves: FOne of Santos predecessors at Wolves, Mick McCarthy, inadvertently spawned a meme in 2023 with a wry remark about the capacity of teams to plunge unimaginable depths. Wanderers fans must have felt like that for most of this season.Almost two months after replacing Pereira, Rob Edwards earned Wolves their first league win of the season at home to West Ham on January 3. Two more followed across the rest of the season, with Edwards doing little to suggest he is capable of transforming the team and even turning on his players after a 3-0 defeat at Brighton in May in which they conceded twice during the opening five minutes.Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouris exits during the summer were never going to be helpful and some fans were not shy to show they want Edwards, technical director Matt Jackson and executive chairman Nathan Shi to follow at a forum featuring the trio held four days after that thrashing in Sussex.As well as managing to be worse than Burnley, Wolves went through a stack of records to finish bottom of the pile, including becoming the second-ever team to lose to every side theyve faced across a Premier League campaign, after Sheffield United in 2023/24. Topics AFC Bournemouth Arsenal F.C. Aston Villa F.C. Brentford F.C. Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Burnley F.C. Chelsea F.C. Crystal Palace F.C. Everton F.C. Fulham F.C. Leeds United F.C. Liverpool F.C. Manchester City F.C. Manchester United F.C. Newcastle United F.C. Nottingham Forest F.C. Premier League Sunderland A.F.C. Tottenham Hotspur F.C. West Ham United F.C. Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 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