Ranking 10 must-watch games that will define the 2025-26 Premier League season: Arsenal-Liverpool not No. 1

The Premier League season 2025-26 is on the horizon, and it is one that penetrates with a total more intrigues than many recent iterations of the greatest competition in football. Champion Liverpool are aggressive, but that also applies to their likely rivals Arsenal And Manchester City, who may just believe that they can build up even greater separation from the other 17 teams.

Further on in the table Manchester United And Tottenham wants to jump back from trying campaigns, while their potential rivals for Champions League qualification, such as Aston Villa And Newcastle, will have to gamble on internal growth after trying the summers in the transfer market so far. Then, at the bottom of the table, such as Leeds and Sunderland Can realistic strive for the cycle of promoted teams that immediately go back to the championship. All that and we didn’t even mention ChelseaNever less than fascinating.

With that in mind, there are 10 games from the course of the 2025-26 season that promise to be fascinating and possibly critical:

1. Newcastle United vs. Liverpool, August 25

Few competitions in the first weeks will dictate the course of the season, but there is one that could determine the atmosphere in the coming months. All eyes will be on Alexander Isak, which team he also ends up (or in the more likely event that he is not involved in this game), and it is easy to see how a defeat in the St. James’ Park could send opener Newcastle Spiraling. Isak is going, none of proportional quality replaces him and Eddie Howe is set for a grim slog of a season in the Premier League and Champions League.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. One of the emerging stories of the preseason has been the vulnerability of Liverpool in the transition. Now imagine that Newcastle hits those spaces Anthony Gordon And Anthony Luna. We have already seen Palace’s success during the break, can the Magpies set the tone for how the rest of the Premier League attacks her champions?

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2. Chelsea vs. Brighton, September 27

If a team will believe that they can touch the new season with Momentum, it is world champions Chelsea, who seem to have been picked up where they have gone at the club World Cup in the course of their mini-press season. To make things better, the list of fixture in the early season was friendly to the side of Enzo Maresca, who does not come across any direction that ended above 10th until Brighton Rock to Stamford Bridge has six games in the campaign.

Can a clear start start a title campaign? It is difficult to have faith in that where Chelsea is concerned, especially in view of the fact that all those transfer activities have demonstrably improved a team whose title data was so robustly rejected by their manager at the beginning of last season. On the other hand, it seems likely that they could hit 15 or so points of those first six games, giving them headroom about some of those who strive to be for them.

3. Tottenham vs. Manchester United, November 8

Will Manchester United have a clear feeling of who they are and what they can achieve in the early months of the season? They have completely packed the Ruben Amorim project in their recruitment of attackers and yet there is much more too afterwards Benjamin SeskoBryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha. The question is whether an organization that is not known for its patience and a clear assessment of its standing Post-Sir Alex Ferguson will be able to keep the course when the wobbles come.

If you would choose a while when they could, you would probably look at the fall. After a cross-manchester trip to the Etihad on September 20, United Face Chelsea, Liverpool, Brighton and Nottingham Forest Quickly in succession with only two more favorable luminaires around those games. Wobble so early in the season and United could be on its way to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a very unfavorable position in the table. This could be the time in which the old Trafford -Hierarchy must hold their nerve.

4. Everton vs. Arsenal, December 20

A little variance and a reasonable lack of last third Oomph changed competitions such as these in the competitions in which Arsenal fell out of the title race last season. Make no mistake, a total score of 3.01 expected goals up to 1.18 more often results in six points than the two Arsenal received from their meetings with Everton last season, but it is probably honest to say that this team would have done better in traveling like Everton with a little Stardust. In Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke they have added that if those players like these games can swing, Arsenal will be in the mix to the end.

5. Manchester City vs. Chelsea, January 3

Thomas Tuchel’s assessment of the club of the club earlier this summer seemed horrifying for Manchester City and Arsenal. “I think [the Club World Cup] Will have a huge impact and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the following season not to be there, “he said. If that will shine at any stage, it will be traditional in the hectic marketer in turn of the year, when the two representatives of the England of the two -cup in the fourth round -with a third round of the Cup -in the two FA Cups are in the two FA Cups, in the fourth FA Cup, in the fourth -round FA FA, in the fourth FA Cup. FA Cup -in the fourth round FA Cup -in the context of the two representatives and perhaps even an EFL -Cup -Semifin.

At first glance it seems that Chelsea has recruited the depth to tackle this schedule. If their pursuit of Alejandro Garnacho and Xavi Simons is successful, they have at least two options in every position, but will they have enough of them to meet the required standard? And for both teams, will their very best players feel the impact of a shorter preseason and short holidays?

6. Arsenal vs. Liverpool, January 7

This will come too early to be a real title decision maker, but both this and the meeting in Anfield on 31 August promise to have a big impact. Exactly how much will depend on the last points needed to be a champion; The higher that goes, the more it will hurt to hand over points to lead rivals.

When the pointed totals become high, it is when the head matches the head, as Arsenal knows all too well. In 2022-23 it would have cost them to win only one of their two defeats on the hands of Manchester City in front of Mikel Arteta to become crowned champions. In the years since they have become the best big game hunters in England and have become four points of both Manchester City and Liverpool in 2023-24 and 2024-25. That advantage has not been used so far, but perhaps the third time would be the charm.

7. Sunderland vs. BurnleyJanuary 31

If one of these two teams is about to overcome and survive the opportunities, these are the games they have to win. Sunderland certainly looks bigger based on their recruitment, where a team is built that combines veterans such as Granit Xhaka with young legs that can either be sold for a good return or who can have a major impact on the Premier League. They get a chance, but only if these kinds of competitions deliver three points instead of one.

For Burnley it is difficult to shake the feeling that they may even be in an extremely dangerous situation per match 24. The Clarets drove James Trafford’s hot hands to the Premier League and then lost him to Manchester City. On the other side of the field it is hard to believe that Armando Broja and Jacob Bruun Larsen will score the goals to keep their team alive.

8. Manchester City vs. Newcastle, February 21

In every season there is a game where it all clicks in front of Pep Guardiola. Even in their struggles during 2024-25 they clicked in the equipment with a victory over Leicester and did not lose from there. If they had not left themselves with so much land to make it right … This time they must have reached their peak shape in this phase. They may just have to go through this phase, given that their last seven games include meetings with Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa, as well as possible challenging matches against Everton and Bournemouth. If City is doing well, they can fly through these games, if not, they can be pulled in a top four fight.

9. Aston Villa vs. Tottenham, May 2

Can these two teams in the mix for the qualification of Champions League over the top four fights? A lot can come down to how they are doing in Europe at the same time, deep runs that open the prospect that England will have a fifth place at the top table. Unai Emery could very well notice whether winning Europa League is a better route to the qualification of the Champions League.

After a summer where few of those who were in the mix last season were definitely strengthened, could Tottenham be dragged into position? It does not seem outside the rich of possibilities, even though they have lost son Heung-min to MLS. In this phase of the season they can also reinforce James Maddison, perhaps the best attacking players from Tottenham last season. If traces are on the way to the last weeks of the season, Maddison could be an X-factor.

10. West Ham United Vs. Leeds UnitedMay 24

We will save our full predicted Premier League table for elsewhere, but it is sufficient to say, if there is a competition in the last weekend that decides who stays on it and who goes down, it can happen very well at the London Stadium. West Ham may not have ended 17th last season, but they had the worst non-penalty expected goal difference from those who survived with a fair margin and it is not immediately clear how much they will improve in the first full season of Graham Potter.

As far as Leeds is concerned, they have the best team to get out of the championship for a while. The proof of two seasons where those who came up immediately went down again suggests that they should be if they want to survive. Even then it can be a scrap that goes all the way to the last few minutes of the season.