2025/26 Premier League season review
Arsenal won the 2025/26 Premier League with 85 points, seven ahead of Manchester City. It was their first title since the Invincibles of 2003/04 and their 14th league championship. It was confirmed with a game to spare when City drew 1-1 at Bournemouth on 19 May.
Bruno Fernandes set a Premier League record with 21 assists and was named Player of the Season. Erling Haaland won the Golden Boot with 27 goals and was Fantasy Premier League's top scorer on 239 points. Erik Ibsen, a Danish medical student playing his first season, won the game with 2,582.
Think you could have done better? Pick a £100m squad from all 20 clubs and replay 2025/26 week by week, or read the story of the season first.
A £3bn summer
Premier League clubs spent a record £3.09bn in the summer of 2025, well clear of the previous high of £2.36bn set in 2023. Liverpool led the way. The champions broke the British transfer record twice, first for Florian Wirtz at up to £116m and then for Alexander Isak at £125m on deadline day. Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez also arrived as their outlay passed £400m.
The summer was also one of grief at Anfield. Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva were killed in a car crash in Spain on 3 July, and Liverpool retired the number 20 shirt in his memory.
Arsenal spent around £250m trying to turn three straight second-place finishes into a title. Martín Zubimendi, Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Christian Nørgaard, Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié all joined. Manchester City added Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Aït-Nouri, Manchester United rebuilt their attack with Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Šeško, and Chelsea arrived as Club World Cup winners.
Tottenham sacked Ange Postecoglou weeks after he won them the Europa League and hired Thomas Frank from Brentford, where Keith Andrews stepped up. Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland replaced Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton, and Everton moved into the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
How Arsenal ended the wait
Liverpool beat Arsenal 1-0 at Anfield on 31 August, but the champions' early form did not last. Arsenal went top for the first time on 4 October with a 2-0 win over West Ham and spent 238 days there in total. The base was defensive. They conceded 27 goals, the fewest in the league, and David Raya kept 19 clean sheets.
Set pieces did much of the rest. Arsenal scored 19 goals from corners, a Premier League record, and Gyökeres led the club with 14 league goals. Eze scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 derby win over Tottenham in November. By mid-March the lead was ten points after City dropped points at West Ham.
Then came the wobble. Arsenal lost the League Cup final 2-0 to City on 22 March, went out of the FA Cup at Championship side Southampton and lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth. A 2-1 defeat at the Etihad on 19 April left the sides level on points, with City top on goal difference.
Arsenal won their last five league games, four of them by a single goal. City drew 3-3 at Everton and 1-1 at Bournemouth, and the second of those draws settled it on 19 May. Martin Ødegaard lifted the trophy after a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on the final day. Six days later Arsenal lost the Champions League final to PSG on penalties in Budapest, a painful end to their best season in 22 years.
Cup winners and the race for Europe
The Premier League earned a fifth Champions League place again through UEFA's European Performance Spot. Eight clubs qualified for Europe through the league, plus Crystal Palace through the Conference League.
- Arsenal: Champions with 85 points, and Champions League finalists.
- Manchester City: Second on 78 points in Pep Guardiola's final season, after ten years and 20 trophies.
- Manchester United: Third on 71 points, 29 more than the year before, after Michael Carrick took over in January.
- Aston Villa: Fourth on 65 points, and Europa League winners as well.
- Liverpool: Fifth on 60 points, taking the extra Champions League place 25 points behind the champions.
- Bournemouth: Sixth, and into Europe for the first time in the club's history. Their 18 draws were the most in the league.
- Sunderland: Seventh in their first season back, taking the Europa League place freed up by City's FA Cup win.
- Brighton: Eighth, which was enough for the Conference League play-off round.
Three trophies came to English clubs.
- Manchester City: Beat Arsenal 2-0 in the League Cup final on 22 March, Nico O'Reilly scoring both, then beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup final on 16 May with an Antoine Semenyo backheel.
- Aston Villa: Beat Freiburg 3-0 in the Europa League final in Istanbul on 20 May for their first trophy in 30 years. It was Unai Emery's fifth Europa League.
- Crystal Palace: Beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in the Conference League final in Leipzig on 27 May, Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring in Oliver Glasner's last game. They had also won the Community Shield against Liverpool in August.
English clubs reached all three European finals and only Arsenal lost, 4-3 on penalties to PSG after a 1-1 draw. Palace's win took them into the 2026/27 Europa League, the competition UEFA had moved them out of the previous summer under its multi-club ownership rules. Chelsea finished tenth and Newcastle 12th, so neither will be in Europe.
Sunderland soar, West Ham fall
After two seasons in which all three promoted clubs went straight back down, two of the three survived. Sunderland finished seventh under Régis Le Bris and Leeds United were 14th on 47 points. Burnley were the only promoted side to go down, and West Ham joined them on the last afternoon.
- West Ham United: Relegated on the final day despite beating Leeds 3-0, because Tottenham beat Everton 1-0 to stay two points clear. It ended a 14-season stay in the top flight.
- Burnley: Finished 19th with 22 points and conceded a league-high 75 goals. Relegation was confirmed on 22 April and Scott Parker left by mutual consent eight days later.
- Wolves: Bottom with 20 points and three wins. They were the first side relegated, on 20 April, and had the season's longest winless run (19 games) and longest losing run (11).
It was a season of short tenures. Ange Postecoglou lasted 39 days at Nottingham Forest, who used four managers in all: Nuno Espírito Santo, Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Vítor Pereira. Nuno moved on to West Ham, who still went down. Tottenham sacked Frank in February, went through Igor Tudor and finished 17th under Roberto De Zerbi. Chelsea lost Enzo Maresca on New Year's Day and sacked his successor Liam Rosenior in April. Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City came up from the Championship.
2025/26 Premier League final table
| # | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 38 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 71 | 27 | +44 | 85 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 77 | 35 | +42 | 78 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 69 | 50 | +19 | 71 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 56 | 49 | +7 | 65 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 63 | 53 | +10 | 60 |
| 6 | Bournemouth | 38 | 13 | 18 | 7 | 58 | 54 | +4 | 57 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 42 | 48 | -6 | 54 |
| 8 | Brighton | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 52 | 46 | +6 | 53 |
| 9 | Brentford | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 55 | 52 | +3 | 53 |
| 10 | Chelsea | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 58 | 52 | +6 | 52 |
| 11 | Fulham | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 47 | 51 | -4 | 52 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 53 | 55 | -2 | 49 |
| 13 | Everton | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 47 | 50 | -3 | 49 |
| 14 | Leeds | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 49 | 56 | -7 | 47 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 41 | 51 | -10 | 45 |
| 16 | Nottingham Forest | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 48 | 51 | -3 | 44 |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 48 | 57 | -9 | 41 |
| 18 | West Ham | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 46 | 65 | -19 | 39 |
| 19 | Burnley | 38 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 38 | 75 | -37 | 22 |
| 20 | Wolves | 38 | 3 | 11 | 24 | 27 | 68 | -41 | 20 |
The bottom three were relegated. In the game, every result behind this table plays out as it really happened.
2025/26 top scorers
| Player | Club | Goals | Assists | Our price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 27 | 8 | £14.0m |
| Igor Thiago | Brentford | 22 | 1 | £7.0m |
| Antoine Semenyo | Bournemouth / Manchester City | 17 | 4 | £8.0m |
| Ollie Watkins | Aston Villa | 16 | 3 | £10.0m |
| João Pedro | Chelsea | 15 | 5 | £8.5m |
| Morgan Gibbs-White | Nottingham Forest | 15 | 5 | £8.5m |
| Viktor Gyökeres | Arsenal | 14 | 1 | £10.0m |
| Dominic Calvert-Lewin | Leeds | 14 | 1 | £6.5m |
| Danny Welbeck | Brighton | 13 | 1 | £7.5m |
| Eli Junior Kroupi | Bournemouth | 13 | 0 | £4.5m |
2025/26 assist leaders
| Player | Club | Assists | Goals | Our price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruno Fernandes | Manchester United | 21 | 9 | £10.0m |
| Rayan Cherki | Manchester City | 12 | 4 | £7.5m |
| Jarrod Bowen | West Ham | 11 | 9 | £9.0m |
| Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 8 | 27 | £14.0m |
| Dominik Szoboszlai | Liverpool | 7 | 6 | £7.5m |
| James Garner | Everton | 7 | 2 | £5.5m |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 7 | 7 | £14.5m |
| Harry Wilson | Fulham | 7 | 10 | £6.5m |
Only Premier League stats count. Players who moved mid-season show both clubs. Eight players reached seven assists and a large group finished on six, so the list stops at eight.
Surprises and disappointments
The top of the table went roughly to form. Below it, several clubs finished a long way from where they were expected.
- Sunderland: Back after eight years away, they were never in relegation trouble, beat Newcastle twice and reached Europe for the first time in 53 years.
- Igor Thiago: Scored 22 league goals for Brentford, eight of them penalties, in a season when the club had lost Thomas Frank, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa.
- Bournemouth: Sold Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez and Illia Zabarnyi in the summer and Semenyo in January, then finished sixth on the back of an 18-match unbeaten run.
- Liverpool: Spent more than £400m and still lost 12 league games, finishing 25 points behind Arsenal. Salah left after a public row with Arne Slot, who was sacked on 30 May.
- Tottenham: The Europa League holders went through three managers and stayed up by two points on the final day.
On the pitch, Bruno Fernandes's 21 assists beat the record of 20 shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, with the last of them coming on the final day at Brighton. Rayan Cherki made 12 in his first Premier League season despite starting only 19 games. The 380 matches produced 1,045 goals, an average of 2.75, and the highest-scoring of them was Fulham 4-5 Manchester City in December.
2025/26 in Fantasy Premier League
The game changed more than usual. Defensive contributions now earned two points for reaching a set number of clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles, with ball recoveries also counting for midfielders and forwards. Managers had two sets of chips, one for each half of the season, plus extra transfers around the Africa Cup of Nations. The Assistant Manager chip was dropped after a single season.
Haaland finished top on 239 points, but most of them came early. He scored only three times between Gameweeks 18 and 32. Bruno Fernandes ended four points behind on 235, and 129 of those came in the 17 games after Michael Carrick took over. Gabriel scored 209, joining Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold as the only defenders to pass 200 in a season.
Erik Ibsen won the game by 38 points with 2,582, in his first season of playing. He was top from Gameweek 29 and captained Fernandes for 14 points on the final day. He is the first Dane to win it.
- Jurriën Timber: The best single-gameweek score was his 24 points in Gameweek 2, with two goals, an assist, a clean sheet and bonus in the 5-0 win over Leeds.
- Elliot Anderson: The new defensive points suited him best. He earned 52, the most in the game, and hit the threshold in 11 matches in a row.
- Marc Guéhi: Started the season at £4.5m and returned 179 points across Crystal Palace and City, the best value of any player.
- Bruno Fernandes: Recorded 12 double-figure hauls, more than anyone else in the game.
Top real FPL scorers in 2025/26
The ten highest points totals in the official game.
| Player | Position · Club | FPL pts | Goals | Assists | Our price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | Forward · Manchester City | 239 | 27 | 8 | £14.0m |
| Bruno Fernandes | Midfielder · Manchester United | 235 | 9 | 21 | £10.0m |
| Gabriel | Defender · Arsenal | 209 | 3 | 4 | £6.0m |
| Antoine Semenyo | Midfielder · Bournemouth / Manchester City | 202 | 17 | 4 | £8.0m |
| Morgan Gibbs-White | Midfielder · Nottingham Forest | 188 | 15 | 5 | £8.5m |
| Jarrod Bowen | Forward · West Ham | 187 | 9 | 11 | £9.0m |
| Declan Rice | Midfielder · Arsenal | 184 | 4 | 5 | £7.5m |
| Igor Thiago | Forward · Brentford | 181 | 22 | 1 | £7.0m |
| Elliot Anderson | Midfielder · Nottingham Forest | 180 | 4 | 4 | £6.5m |
| Marc Guéhi | Defender · Crystal Palace / Manchester City | 179 | 3 | 3 | £4.5m |
Goals and assists are official league totals. FPL credits some extra assists, so its own counts can be slightly higher.
Most owned FPL players in 2025/26
Ownership in the official game at the end of the season.
- Erling Haaland, Forward · Manchester City · £14.0m in our game · 62.5%
- Bruno Fernandes, Midfielder · Manchester United · £10.0m in our game · 48.0%
- Antoine Semenyo, Midfielder · Manchester City · £8.0m in our game · 46.2%
- Gabriel, Defender · Arsenal · £6.0m in our game · 45.4%
- David Raya, Goalkeeper · Arsenal · £6.5m in our game · 36.4%
- João Pedro, Forward · Chelsea · £8.5m in our game · 34.8%
- Marc Guéhi, Defender · Manchester City · £4.5m in our game · 32.6%
- Virgil van Dijk, Defender · Liverpool · £6.0m in our game · 31.5%
- Igor Thiago, Forward · Brentford · £7.0m in our game · 30.2%
- Martin Dúbravka, Goalkeeper · Burnley · £4.5m in our game · 25.7%
The PFA Team of the Year
The champions supplied five of the XI and Manchester City four, with Bruno Fernandes and Igor Thiago completing the side. William Saliba was picked for the fourth season running.
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | David Raya (Arsenal) |
| Defenders | Jurriën Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel (Arsenal), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City) |
| Midfielders | Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Rayan Cherki (Manchester City) |
| Forwards | Antoine Semenyo, Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Igor Thiago (Brentford) |
Fernandes swept the senior player awards, adding the Football Writers' prize, and was the first Manchester United player to win the PFA award since Wayne Rooney in 2010. O'Reilly did the same double in the young player categories.
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| PFA Players' Player of the Year | Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) |
| PFA Young Player of the Year | Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City) |
| Premier League Player of the Season | Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) |
| Premier League Young Player of the Season | Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City) |
| Manager of the Season | Mikel Arteta (Arsenal) |
| Golden Boot | Erling Haaland (27 goals) |
| Playmaker | Bruno Fernandes (21 assists) |
| Golden Glove | David Raya (19 clean sheets) |
Most expensive players by position
The premium picks a £100m budget forces you to choose between in 2025/26.
Goalkeepers
- David Raya£6.5m
- Jordan Pickford£6.5m
- Alisson Becker£6.5m
Defenders
- Gabriel£6.0m
- Virgil van Dijk£6.0m
- Marc Cucurella£6.0m
Midfielders
- Mohamed Salah£14.5m
- Cole Palmer£11.5m
- Bukayo Saka£11.0m
Forwards
- Erling Haaland£14.0m
- Alexander Isak£11.5m
- Ollie Watkins£10.0m
Erik Ibsen won the real thing with 2,582 points and no hindsight. You have every result in front of you. Can you beat him?
2025/26 quick answers
Who won the Premier League in 2025/26? Arsenal, with 85 points, seven ahead of Manchester City. It was their first title since 2003/04.
Who was relegated in 2025/26? West Ham United, Burnley and Wolves.
Who was the Premier League top scorer in 2025/26? Erling Haaland, with 27 goals for Manchester City. Igor Thiago was second with 22 for Brentford.
Who was PFA Player of the Year in 2025/26? Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United, who also set a Premier League record with 21 assists.
Who won the cups in 2025/26? Manchester City won the FA Cup and the League Cup. Aston Villa won the Europa League and Crystal Palace the Conference League.
Who scored the most FPL points in 2025/26? Erling Haaland, with 239. Bruno Fernandes was second with 235.
Who won Fantasy Premier League in 2025/26? Erik Ibsen from Denmark, with 2,582 points in his first season playing.
Sources
- Premier League: everything decided in 2025/26
- Sports Mole: 2025/26 final table
- Wikipedia: 2025–26 Premier League
- Wikipedia: 2025–26 Arsenal F.C. season
- SoccerNews: 2025/26 top scorers and assists
- Sports Illustrated: 2025/26 most assists
- PFA: 2026 Premier League award winners
- Sports Illustrated: Manager of the Season winners
- Premier League: Ibsen wins Fantasy Premier League
- FISO: highest-scoring FPL players of 2025/26
- Onside Arena: FPL 2025/26 season review and ownership
- Fantasy Football Scout: alternative end-of-season awards
- UEFA: Crystal Palace 1-0 Rayo Vallecano