Premier League 2025/26: Everything you need to know in our Ultimate Guide | OneFootball

English Premier League

Indispensable reading for every bettor - Betfair's ultimate guide to the Premier League

With the 2025/26 Premier League season drawing ever closer Mike Norman delivers his Ultimate Guide, bringing us key dates, TV details, information on all 20 clubs, a guide to the 'big eight' fixtures, managers, captains and key players, a super six quiz and much more including significant betting odds in various markets...

What is the Premier League?

The Premier League is a professional football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. It is widely regarded as the best football league and the most-watched sports league in the world. It is broadcast live in 212 territories to an estimated 643 million homes with a global audience of 4.7 billion people.

The competition consists of 20 football clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system. Each of the 20 Premier League teams play each other twice per season meaning 19 games at home and 19 games away. Three points are awarded to a team for winning a game, while one point each is awarded to both teams should a game end in a draw.

At the end of the 38-game season the team with the most points is crowned the Premier League champions while the three teams that occupy the bottom three positions in the table are relegated to the EFL Championship. To maintain a 20-team Premier League for the following season three teams from the EFL Championship are promoted (the top two in the table plus the play-off winners).

A minimum of six clubs will be awarded a place in the following season's European competitions based on their league finishing position. As a general rule, the top four placed clubs will qualify for the UEFA Champions League, the club that finishes fifth will qualify for the UEFA Europa League and the club that finishes sixth will qualify for the UEFA Conference League.

The Premier League is back - when is it?

The 2025/26 Premier League season commences on Friday 15 August with reigning champions Liverpool hosting Bournemouth at 8pm, live on Sky Sports.

Five more games will be played on Saturday 16 August, three the following day, and the opening weekend of the season concludes with newly-promoted Leeds United hosting Everton on the evening of Monday 18 August.

The season includes 38 rounds of fixtures - 33 weekend rounds and five midweek rounds - spread over 272 days with the final games of the season (Matchday 38) all being played on Sunday 24 May 2026.

How can I watch the Premier League?

The good news is that there will be a record high number of Premier League games broadcast live this season. The bad news is that none of them will be on free-to-air TV after MPs recently voted against a proposal to make at least 10 Premier League games available on free-to-air television each season.

This means that for UK viewers the only legal way you can watch live Premier League football is through subscription services Sky Sports and TNT Sports.

But that's where the bad news ends. Sky Sports will be showing at least 215 live games this season, that's a huge increase from the 128 they showed last season, while TNT Sports have retained their rights to show 52 live games. In total then, from the 380 Premier League games to be played in the 2025/26 season, at least 267 of them will be broadcast live on TV.

And a reminder that if you just want to watch brief highlights and all the goals from each round of Premier League fixtures then the long-running Match of the Day programme on BBC is your port of call.

The BBC will show highlights on Saturday and Sunday nights following the weekend fixtures, and generally on a Wednesday night after a midweek round of fixtures.

What games are live on the opening weekend?

The start of the Premier League season can be extremely exciting with fans up and down the country eager to see how their team will perform, how the new signings fit in, and most crucially of all, will they bag an opening-weekend three points.

For the fans of 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs, the good news is that if you can't attend the game in person then you'll be able to watch your team in action live on either Sky Sports or TNT Sports.

Below is a list of all seven Premier League games to be broadcast live on the opening weekend of the new season, each linked to the Betfair Sportsbook event page.

Friday 15 August

- Liverpool v Bournemouth (20:00) - Sky Sports Premier League

Saturday 16 August

- Aston Villa v Newcastle (12:30) - TNT Sports- Wolves v Man City (17:30) - Sky Sports Premier League

Sunday 17 August

- Chelsea v Crystal Palace (14:00) - Sky Sports Premier League- Nottm Forest v Brentford (14:00) - Sky Sports+- Man United v Arsenal (16:30) - Sky Sports Premier League

Monday 18 August

- Leeds v Everton (20:00) - Sky Sports Premier League

Does the Premier League have any prize money?

Yes, the Premier League offers prize money depending on where you finish in the league table, called merit payments, but beyond that additional prize money is awarded to clubs based on number of televised matches, called facility fees, while all clubs receive a central commercial payment and equal shares revenues.

And it's those latter payments that are quite eye-watering.

Based on last season's payments (this season's payment are not yet known but are only expected to rise) every Premier League club, regardless of where they finish in the league will receive a central commercial payment of £7.9m and equal shares from UK (£29.8m) and international (£59.2m) revenues.

To give you an example of why football clubs up and down the country are so desperate to make it to the Premier League, Southampton - who finished rock bottom of the table last season - were awarded prize money of £109.2m. This was made up of just £2.8m in merit payments with all other payments coming to £106.4m.

Below is a table showing how much was awarded for each finishing position in the Premier League season, and the total prize money paid to each club once facility fees, equal shares and commercial payments were added.

Who are the most successful Premier League clubs?

Since the Premier League's inception in 1992 a total of 51 different clubs have participated in the competition for at least one season. Only six clubs - Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham - have played in all 33 Premier League seasons to date.

There have been seven different Premier League champions with Manchester United the most successful club with 13 titles to their name.

List of Premier League Winner & Titles Won:

(number of times runners-up in brackets)

Who are the Premier League newcomers?

Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland are the three new teams for the 2025/26 Premier League season after they were promoted from the EFL Championship last term.

Leeds United were excellent in securing the Championship title, scoring 95 goals throughout the season and accruing 100 points from their 46 games played. Under manager Daniel Farke the Whites were by far the most entertaining team in the division and especially so at Elland Road where they scored 61 goals, had a goal difference of +49, and lost just once all season.

Farke's men secured promotion to the Premier League with games to spare, but they only secured the Championship title on the last day of the season thanks to a 91st minute winning goal away to Plymouth Argyle.

Burnley also enjoyed a brilliant campaign, and they secured some history of their own in keeping an incredible 30 clean sheets, equalling the all-time record for number of clean sheets in a 46-game season while, like Leeds, also accruing 100 points.

Scott Parker's men lost just two Championship games, conceded just 16 goals, and were cruelly denied the title due to Leeds' last-gasp winner at Plymouth. While 30 clean sheets and many goalless draws point to Burnley not being an entertaining side, their defensive organisation and grit could serve them well in the Premier League.

Sunderland were the third and final team to be promoted thanks to a dramatic late winner in the Championship play-off final. They finished a hefty 24 points behind Leeds and Burnley but perhaps that is a bit of a misleading stat as they secured their play-off berth with five game to go before going on to lose their final five games in the regulation season.

Regis Le Bris' men dusted themselves down for the play-offs and secured a hard fought 3-2 aggregate win over Coventry in the semi-finals before stunning favourites Sheffield United 2-1 in the final at Wembley, their winning goal coming courtesy of a 95th minute strike from teenager Tommy Watson with his final kick of a football for the club.

Unfortunately for all three newly-promoted clubs the Betfair Sportsbook is predicting that they will all be relegated from the Premier League this term, just like the three promoted clubs have in each of the last two Premier League seasons.

Below are various odds for all three of the Premier League newcomers.

So the 20 Premier League clubs for 2025/26 are...

A total of 20 clubs will compete in this season's Premier League up and down the country, from Newcastle United in the north east down to Bournemouth on the south coast.

Bournemouth's Dean Court has the lowest capacity at just over 11,000, while Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium has the highest capacity at just over 74,000. Everton will be playing at their new home, the 52,769 capacity Everton Stadium, for the very first time this season.

There have been just two managerial changes at the time of writing. Ange Postecoglou was sacked by Tottenham and he was replaced by Brentford boss Thomas Frank. Former Bees set-piece coach Keith Andrews was appointed as the new Brentford manager.

Who are the favourites to win the Premier League title?

Despite Leicester City producing arguably the biggest sporting shock in history by winning the Premier League title in 2016 - at odds of up to 5000/1 with some bookmakers - the champions of England tend to be one of the teams that were highly fancied at the start of the season.

And by highly fancied we mean in recent seasons Liverpool or Manchester City, and a bit further back Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.

So it's no surprise then that those five clubs feature towards the head of the 2025/26 Premier League Winner market going into the new season.

Liverpool are the defending Premier League champions and they are the 2/1 favourites to retain their title this season, just ahead of Arsenal - who have finished as runners-up the last three campaigns - at 9/4.

Perhaps surprisingly, Manchester City - who won the title four consecutive years between 2021 and 2024 - are only third favourites to win the title at 3/1, while newly-crowned Club World Cup champions Chelsea are the only other club in single figures at 8/1.

Manchester United at 40/1 and Tottenham at 50/1 complete the traditional 'big six' but, with Newcastle and Aston Villa finishing in and around the top four in recent seasons, it's fair to say that we now have a 'big eight' going into the new campaign.

In fact Newcastle are the fifth favourites to win this season's title at 28/1 while Aston Villa are the only other club available to back at less than triple figures, currently on offer at 66/1.

The below table shows the aforementioned eight clubs' odds in various markets along with their Premier League finishing positions for the last three seasons.

And below that you can see an at-a-glance guide to the dates when the 'big eight' play each other during the 2025/26 Premier League season.

'Big Eight' At-A-Glance Fixture Dates:

Odds to win Premier League title:

*remaining clubs

- Brighton 125/1- Nottingham Forest 175/1- Bournemouth 300/1- Everton 300/1- West Ham 300/1- Brentford 500/1- Crystal Palace 500/1- Fulham 500/1- Leeds United 500/1- Wolves 500/1- Burnley 1000/1- Sunderland 1000/1

Who are the favourites to be relegated?

As we've mentioned already, the three newly-promoted teams - Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland - are the favourites to be relegated back to the Championship, and that is largely due to the perceived gulf in class between the Premier League and the second tier of England football.

In the last two Premier League seasons, the three newly-promoted clubs were all relegated straight back down to the Championship, so it's no surprise that the Betfair Sportsbook make Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland odds-on to be relegated this season.

But this term may well be different, and there's certainly a case to be made for a few other clubs to possibly struggle this campaign, chief among them being Wolves and Brentford.

Wolves were in the bottom three of the table for the majority of last season, but a glorious run of form under new boss Vitor Pereira - six league wins in a row from the middle of March - saw them survive quite comfortably.

However, Wolves have lost a trio of star players - attacking wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, playmaker Pablo Sarabia and top goalscorer Matheus Cunha - since the end of the season and they're yet to bring in any significant replacements. It's no surprise to see them as joint fourth favourites at 7/2 to be relegated.

Alongside Wolves in the market is Brentford, and they have a similar profile in that they have also lost some key players - and one crucial member of staff - since the end of last season.

Defensive midfielder Christian Norgaard - who had some of the best stats for his position in the Premier League last season - has joined Arsenal. Goalkeeper Mark Flekken has also left while their star man by some distance, Bryan Mbuemo, has joined Manchester United.

But, as mentioned above, perhaps the biggest blow of all for Bees fans is the departure of their very popular manager Thomas Frank, who left to take the vacant job at Tottenham Hotspur early in the summer. Former set-piece coach Keith Andrews has taken over the reigns at Brentford.

To Be Relegated:

'Relegation Five' At-A-Glance Fixture Dates:

- HOME teams in left hand column

- AWAY teams in top row

Who are the team captains and star men?

Every successful football team needs a great leader and a smattering of star men, as has been very evident in recent seasons.

Think Virgil van Dijk captaining Liverpool with Mo Salah starring in last season's Premier League title win, or the brilliant Vincent Kompany and later Ilkay Gundogan leading a successful Man City team with the likes of Kevin de Bruyne pulling the strings and Erling Haaland scoring for fun.

This season promises to be no different with many of the top teams featuring some brilliant players in their squad. Below is a table showing each team's captain for the upcoming season, and an opinion on who is the star man and main goalscorer for each team.

And for anyone who plays the extremely popular Premier League Fantasy Football competitions, a player suggestion is made for each team to include in your fantasy squad, including goalkeeprs, attacking full-backs, goalscoring midfielders and those all important assist kings and goal-getters.

*indicates a player not confirmed, but expected to sign for the club in question at the time of writing.

Who is favourite to be Premier League Top Goalscorer

As he has been since arriving in the Premier League to play for Manchester City three seasons ago, Erling Haaland is the strong favourite to be the Premier League Top Goalscorer this season.

Haaland has won the award on two previous occasions but lost out to an inspired Mo Salah last term, largely down to an injury that meant the Norwegian didn't play enough minutes to match, or beat, Salah's total of 29 goals.

Haaland can be backed at 1/1 to be the 2025/26 Top Goalscorer with Salah second favourite at 4/1. In behind that star duo, Newcastle's Alexander Isak - who finished runner-up to Salah last season with 23 Premier League goals - is the 7/1 third favourite with Chelsea duo Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro next in, both priced at 14/1.

It is of course impossible to predict how many games a footballer will play, but if you're having a bet in the Top Goalscorer market then, if recent stats are anything to go by, you're going to need your selection to play at least 28-30 games during the season to have any chance of winning the Golden Boot.

Minutes on the pitch are crucial. In the 2023/24 season Haaland was the top goalscorer with 27 goals, having played 2,558 minutes of Premier League football. Those minutes equate to just over 28 games (based on 90 minutes per game). However, last season Salah played an incredible 3,380 minutes and scored 29 goals. He actually started all 38 games for Liverpool and those minutes equate almost exactly to 37.5 games of football.

Below is a table showing the top 11 players listed in the 2025/26 Top Goalscorer market along with the number of minutes of Premier League football they played last season, how many goals they scored, and their minutes (Mins) per goal ratio.

Premier League Super Six Quiz

Although there's a lot in this Premier League guide aimed at relative newcomers to the competition, we're sure that there'll be a lot of wily old footy fanatics reading also, so how about testing your knowledge with our super six quiz.

There's some Premier League star names past and present mentioned in the questions and possible answers, so give it a go and see if you can score the perfect double hat-trick.

Premier League Quiz

1. Which player has the most Premier League appearances?

A) Ryan Giggs, B) Gareth Barry, C) James Milner

2. How many Premier League goals did all-time scorer Alan Shearer score?

A) 220, B) 240, C) 260

3. Which player scored the most direct free-kick Premier League goals?

A) Cristiano Ronaldo, B) David Beckham, C) James Ward-Prowse

4. Which player has scored the most Premier League hat-tricks?

A) Sergio Aguero, B) Harry Kane, C) Erling Haaland

5. Who is the leading Englishman in the Premier League all-time assists?

A) Steven Gerrard, B) Frank Lampard, C) Wayne Rooney

6. Which goalkeeper has recorded the most Premier League clean sheets?

A) Petr Cech, B) David James, C) David De Gea

*quiz answers below Premier League trophy image

Quiz Answers

1. Gareth Barry (653 appearances)2. 260 goals3. David Beckham (18 direct free kick goals)4. Sergio Aguero (12 hat-tricks)5. Wayne Rooney (103 assists)6. Petr Cech (202 clean sheets)

Now read more Football tips and previews here.

PREMIER LEAGUE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

When does the 2025/26 Premier League season start?

The 2025/26 season commences on Friday 15 August 2025 with Liverpool hosting Bournemouth

Who are the reigning Premier League champions?

Liverpool are the reigning Premier League champions.

Who are the favourites to win this season's Premier League title?

Liverpool are the 2/1 favourites to defend their crown.

What price are Arsenal to win the Premier League title?

Arsenal are 9/4 to win the title this season.

What price are Manchester City to win the Premier League title?

Man City are 3/1 to win the title this season.

What price are Chelsea to win the Premier League title?

Chelsea are 8/1 to win the title this season.

What price are Manchester United to win the Premier League title?

Man United are 40/1 to win the title this season.

Who are the favourites to be relegated?

Sunderland are 1/4 favourites to be relegated ahead of Burnley at 3/10 and Leeds at 17/20.

Who is the favourite to be the Premier League Top Goalscorer?

Man City striker Erling Haaland is the 1/1 favourite to score the most goals.

When does the 2025/26 Premier League season end?

The season concludes on Sunday 24 May 2026.