Manchester United surely hit rock bottom last season. They ended up 15th in the Premier League, trophyless, and as a result have no European football this year. What are pundits predicting for their chances in 2025-26?
It’ll be fascinating to see how Ruben Amorim fares at Old Trafford following his well-publicised struggles last term. He’s now had a proper pre-season to drill his players into shape, while the club have spent big to back him and reshape the squad in his image.
We’ve gathered what seven pundits, writers and sites have to say about Manchester United’s summer spending and what it could mean for their prospects this season.
Alan Shearer – 6th
Shearer wrote up his 1-20 league table for Betfairtipping Liverpool to retain the title, Arsenal to finish runners-up again and newly-promoted trio Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley to go straight back down.
He didn’t touch on the specifics with United, but gave his thoughts on the Sesko transfer tussle (before the move was officially confirmed) –
“It sounds as if Benjamin Sesko had two clubs to choose from in Newcastle and Man United,” wrote Shearer.
“One that won a trophy last year and is now playing Champions League football this season – and one that didn’t win anything, finished 15th and had a dreadful season.
“I understand that Manchester United are a huge football club, not so much a huge football team at this moment in time. I get it. I understand it.
“It looks as if, by all accounts, he prefers a move to Man Utd. It’s disappointing again from Newcastle, another target it looks like they’re going to miss out on and I said it about a week ago, it looks as if it’s been a disastrous window for the club.”
Despite that disappointment, he still backs his beloved Magpies to finish one place above Amorim’s men in fifth.
Joe Cole – 9th
The former Chelsea and Liverpool midfielder is evidently not convinced. He has United ninth in his 1-20 table prediction, published on TNT Sportswith Liverpool to win the league, Arsenal to finish as low as fourth and Wolves going down along with Leeds and Sunderland.
He doesn’t believe Cunha is the right player to turn the ship around.
“The thing that worries me about Cunha – he’s a brilliant player, wonderful goalscorer and can do everything – but you do hear things about his attitude,” Cole told TNT Sports.
“I wouldn’t want to say he is a bad lad because I wouldn’t want to say that, but he’s a bit of a maverick and I’ve heard people talk about him like that.
“The last thing that United dressing room needs is another maverick, there are mavericks everywhere putting stuff up on social media and all that.
Owen Hargreaves – 7th
TNT Sports also asked United’s 2008 Champions League winner for his table.
He didn’t stick his neck out too much, with the exact same top five in the same order as last season and the promoted sides all going back down.
Hargreaves did back Spurs to finish ahead of United in sixth, though.
Wayne Rooney – 5th
BBC Sport‘s big summer signing has backed United to finish fifth.
“United improving their attack was something that was very much needed and it is great that they identified the players they wanted early,” United’s all-time top goalscorer said.
“Getting Sesko is a really important signing for them because as a target man, a number nine, he is quick and he can use both feet and is good in the air.
“I would still like to see them sign a solid midfield player who is going to help control games for them and help build up play too, but I can see what Amorim is doing and it is looking better for United – I’ve got them down to finish fifth.”
Other BBC pundits – 7th or lower
All thirty BBC pundits have picked some variation of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea finishing in the top four.
Newcastle United and Aston Villa take fifth and sixth when you average out their average scores.
It’s an indictment on how far United have fallen that they’re practically an afterthought when it comes to predictions for the top end of the table.
But Danny Murphy believes that they’ll be much more competitive this time around.
“I actually think Manchester United might surprise a few people now Amorim has had a full pre-season to implement his ideas,” says Murphy.
“Their problem last season was goalscoring but their new forward line of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko could make a huge impact, very quickly.”
Gary Neville – 7th or 8th
Speaking at a Premier League launch event, the former Red Devils right-back admitted his ‘gut feeling’ is that they’ll finish seventh or eighth. But he’s optimistic that the new signings could get them challenging for a Champions League spot.
“Those three signings, if you said to me after that Tottenham game in the Europa League that Manchester United would have a forward line of those three that they’ve signed, I’d take that,” he said (via Hayters).
“I’d have snapped your hand off.
“Two of them are proven Premier League players, obviously they’ve got to step up a level. Sesko’s young, he’s got potential. Can they somehow settle those three players in to how he wants to play in that system?
“Can they embed in themselves at United? Can they get them probably 35-40 goals which would probably be par for those three players?
“If they can get 40 goals, United’s goal record last season was terrible, then they’ve got a good chance of getting into that top six.”
“I think they’ll be looking at Champions League,” Neville added.
“I think that’ll be the ambition obviously. I think we’ve gone past the point now where we say Manchester United have to win the league. I think that’s unrealistic.”
He also says not playing European football can be beneficial for Amorim’s side in their hopes of improving domestically.
“I think it has to help, because there’s basically more training time, it means there’s less pressure on the players, less injuries, it means that the best players can play more often in the league and not have those demands of a Thursday night game,” he said.
“But I think they’ve got to start the season well, they’ve got some tough fixtures early on.”
The Athletic – 8th
The Athletic‘s team of writers and reporters have United down in eighth, averaging out their staff picks.
Not one of their writers have them down to finish in the top five. One has them down to be relegated in 18th. Another has them in 17th, but the majority have them somewhere in the 6th-10th range.
“Manchester United, surely, if only because the bar is so low,” answered journalist Cerys Jones, when asked for a pick on the league’s biggest improvers.
“I have been saying this since I was studying for my GCSEs and should probably know better by now. Joking aside, this Europe-less season and the new-look front line feel like fertile ground for a rebuild.”
Premier League pundits – 5th
The Premier League’s official website asked a team of six writers for their 2025-26 predictions.
None of them have United in the top four, but four have them finishing fifth – which might well be enough for them to get back into the Champions League.
Journalist Ben Bloom has them in sixth, while Alex Keble – once of this parish – has tipped them to finish 10th.
OPTA – 12th
Data giants EIGHTH fired up their Supercomputer (anyone else envisage something from 2001: A Space Odyssey? Just us?) and ran 10,000 simulations of the current season to give a prediction of how it’ll run out.
It averages out with Manchester United finishing 12th. Liverpool come out on top of the table, with Arsenal marginally behind them.
Remarkably, OPTA view United as more likely to be relegated than to finish in the top four.
The Red Devils have a 0.6% chance of winning the league, a 1.4% of 2nd, a 2.0% chance of 3rd and a 2.7% chance of 4th. Whereas they have a 5.0% chance of finishing 18th, 3.6% of ending up 19th and 2.5% of finishing rock bottom.
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