After finishing second in the past three seasons, will this finally be Mikel Arteta and Arsenal‘s year for Premier League glory?
After addressing the gaps in Mikel Arteta’s squad with some eye-catching signings, Arsenal fans will be dreaming of seeing them lift the Premier League trophy next May. But how do pundits expect the upcoming 2025-26 campaign to play out?
We’ve gathered what seven pundits, writers and sites have predicted for Arsenal this season.
Alan Shearer – 2nd
The Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer wrote up a full 1-20 league table for Betfairtipping Liverpool to retain the title… with Mikel Arteta’s Gunners the bridesmaids once again.
In fact, he expects the full top five to take the same shape as last term, with Manchester City, Chelsea and his beloved Newcastle United ending up third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Shearer expanded on his predictions in his recent appearance on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast.
“I think they’ll challenge. I just think they may fall short again,” he said.
“I like all of their signings. I think that’s exactly what they needed, and I still don’t think they may be finished yet in terms of bringing players in and certainly players going out.
“I’ve definitely got them in the Champions League, but I just don’t see them having enough to win the title – just fall short.”
Gary Lineker – 2nd
The former Match of the Day host agreed with Shearer and Micah Richards, tipping Arsenal to finish fourth for a fourth successive season.
“I think I concur with both of you on that front. I probably wouldn’t have said that if it wasn’t that Liverpool have strengthened so well,” Lineker said.
“A lot too will depend on how Gyokeres does. I mean he scored a terrific goal in pre-season but we all know pre-season is not that important. Although, it is for a striker in terms of that feeling of hitting the back of the net.
“So I think a lot will depend on him but we know he’ll get good service. I think they could go close again but I’m going to agree.”
Joe Cole – 4th
Oof.
The former England international has tipped his former clubs Liverpool (1st) and Chelsea (3rd) to finish ahead of the Gunners, as well as Manchester City (2nd).
Owen Hargreaves – 2nd
Predicting the league table in the same article for TNT SportsHargreaves was more positive about Arsenal – but he still doesn’t think they’ll go and win the title.
Late last season, Hargreaves suggested that Arsenal could take the next step if they add a striker and midfielder, which they’ve done with Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi.
“Go and get someone whose job it is to score goals,” Hargreaves told the official Premier League website in March.
“You’ve got everything else – a great goalkeeper, best defence in the league, the midfield is absolutely fantastic, you just need another one in there with Declan (Rice) and (Martin) Odegaard.
“Go and get a striker and a centre midfielder. Then you can win everything.”
Despite that, he still has Arsenal to finish second. Evidently more impressed with Liverpool’s summer business.
Ian Wright – 1st
Good old Wrighty.
A proper company man, he’s backing his beloved Gunners to finally make it over the line this year.
“I hope so,” Wright responded when Gary Neville asked him if he believes they’ve sufficiently addressed where they went wrong last term – speaking on Stick To Football.
“I think so, because we’ve added to a team that’s finished second three times now and we’ve added goals to it,” he continued.
“You know, Zubimendi, especially with that mid-block (in the opposition) we can’t break, Zubimendi the way he plays, I’m watching him break through (the mid-block). You’ve got Gyokeres who can score a goal. You look at the fact that (Arsenal) were 17 goals behind Liverpool (last season) but defensively we’re brilliant.
“So if we can sort that out, and this mid-block (problem) then yeah, I’m going to go for Arsenal again, of course I am, because absolutely, why wouldn’t I?”
Roy Keane – 1st
“Yeah, I’m going with Arsenal,” Keane responded to Wright.
However, he wasn’t quite as bullish as the ex-Arsenal striker. He has trepidations, particularly with the threat posed by the reigning champions.
“The only thing, and I’ll go back to Liverpool, and Liverpool on a bad day, when they’re off they can score three goals,” he continued.
“Even in the (Community) Shield at the weekend, (where they lost to Crystal Palace on penalties) they still scored two goals. And if you’re scoring two goals on average every game, then that’s hard to stop.”
Martin Keown – 1st
Like his old team-mate Wright, Keown has backed his former club to lift the trophy next May. He’s gone for Liverpool 2nd, Man City 3rd and Chelsea 4th.
“The first six games of the season – including Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle away, and Manchester City at home – are going to be key,” Keown said (via BBC Sport).
“But I am going to turn what might have been a negative for Arsenal into a positive, because Liverpool’s new players will be bedding in, City have had a reset and Newcastle have endured a difficult summer.
“The title race is still going to be very close but if Arsenal and Viktor Gyokeres can click straight away, then the solid building blocks they need to be champions are already in place.”
Other BBC Pundits – 2nd
The 30 BBC pundits’ picks average out with Arsenal finishing runner-up.
Matt Upson, Jermaine Beckford, Leon Osman, Sue Smith and Thomas Hitzlsperger back Arsenal for the title alongside Keown, though.
Wayne Rooney, Shearer, Chris Sutton, Dion Dublin, Steve Sidwell and Theo Walcott are among those who think they’ll finish 2nd behind Liverpool.
Fara Williams, Joe Hart, Michael Brown, Rob Green and Glenn Murray expect them to fall down to fourth.
The Athletic – 2nd
The Athletic‘s team of writers and reporters have Arsenal as the runners-up, once again behind Liverpool but ahead of Manchester City.
However, there’s a pretty even split between their staff on where they’ll finish in the top three.
31% of their voters have tipped them for the title, 31% reckon 2nd and 31% expect them to fall to third. The remaining 7% think they’ll finish fourth, with none expecting a disastrous drop out of the Champions League spots.
Adam Crafton, Nick Miller and Ayo Akinwolere specifically backed Arsenal to go all the way.
“Strange to say about a team who finished second, but I found Arsenal frustratingly sloppy at times last season,” Crafton answered, picking the league’s most improved team.
“They look a much more complete squad this time around, with additions in key positions, and perhaps Eberechi Eze still to come. There really doesn’t look to be a gap in their armour, so Mikel Arteta must have his team firing from the very start to secure the silverware his reign merits.”
“It’s about time,” he added, backing them for the top spot.
“He’s almost been forgotten in the blur of the summer, but Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure to Real Madrid will be big for Liverpool.”
Premier League pundits – 2nd
The Premier League’s official website asked a team of six writers for their 2025-26 predictions.
Half of them tip Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to come roaring back and claim the title this season, just one backs Liverpool and two have tipped Arsenal.
Hale End academy graduate Adrian Clarke thinks his former club will finally get the job done this year, alongside journalist Ninad Barbadikar.
The others have them finishing between second and fourth, averaging out at 2nd.
OPTA – 2nd
Data giants EIGHTH used their fabled supercomputer and ran 10,000 simulations of the upcoming season to give a prediction of how it’ll run out.
It averages out with Arsenal once again second. Liverpool come out on top of the table, with Manchester City and Chelsea rounding off the top four.
The Gunners win the title in 24.3% of their simulations, compared to 28.5% for Liverpool, 18.8% for City and 8.4% for Chelsea.
The vast majority of their simulations have them finishing in the top four, while not even in 0.1% do they end up in the relegation zone. Good to know.
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