Premier League 2025/26 season review: winners and losers

A full review of the 2025/26 Premier League season covering the title race, relegation battle and standout players.

The 2025/26 Premier League season delivered a new champion, a dramatic relegation battle and plenty of standout individual performances. This premier league 2026 season summary covers who won the title, the story of the title race, who went down and why, and the best players of the season.

Who won the Premier League 2025/26?

For anyone who missed the run in, the short answer to who won Premier League 2026 is Arsenal, who won the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years, finishing on 85 points from a 26-7-5 record with a goal difference of plus 44. It was a landmark moment for a club that had come close on several occasions in recent seasons without getting over the line, and it ended one of the longest title droughts of any traditional top six side in the competition.

The wait had become one of the defining storylines of the Premier League era, with Arsenal having finished as runners-up on multiple occasions in recent seasons without quite closing the gap on whoever won the title. Getting over the line in 2025/26 was as much about consistency across the full 38 games as any single result, with the eventual points total leaving little doubt about who deserved to be champions.

The title race reviewed

Manchester City finished as closest challengers on 78 points, seven adrift of Arsenal, with Manchester United a further step back on 71 points to complete a notably competitive top three. Aston Villa's 65 points were enough for fourth, while Liverpool rounded out the Champions League qualification places on 60 points after a season that never quite hit the heights of recent title winning campaigns.

Position	Club	Points
1st	Arsenal	85
2nd	Manchester City	78
3rd	Manchester United	71
4th	Aston Villa	65
5th	Liverpool	60
6th	Bournemouth	57
7th	Sunderland	54
8th	Brighton & Hove Albion	53

Bournemouth and Sunderland's European qualification through sixth and seventh place were among the more pleasant surprises of the campaign, with Brighton also securing continental football in eighth.

Sunderland's return to European competition, having only just come back up from the Championship, was one of the feel good stories of the season, while Bournemouth's continued progress under a settled coaching setup underlined how far the club has come from its lower league days. For Manchester City and Manchester United, finishing well outside the title picture, in second and third respectively but a considerable distance behind Arsenal, will have prompted a fair amount of reflection over the summer about where the gap to the champions actually opened up.

Relegation: who went down and why

West Ham United, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers were all relegated to the Championship. West Ham's relegation was only confirmed on the final day, after 17th placed Tottenham secured enough points from their final matches to finish two points clear of the drop zone, sending West Ham down instead in one of the tightest survival battles of recent seasons.

Burnley and Wolves, both promoted or rebuilt in recent seasons with an eye on establishing themselves in the top flight, struggled with the step up in quality and consistency the Premier League demands over a full campaign. West Ham's relegation was the most dramatic of the three, given how late it was confirmed, and it left a club with recent European football on their books facing an immediate rebuild in the Championship alongside two sides with far more recent experience of life outside the top division.

Best players of the season

Among the Premier League best moments 2026 produced, several individual performances stood out. Arsenal's title winning campaign was built on strong contributions across the pitch, and their season doubled as a personal breakthrough for several of their key players, many of whom went on to represent their countries at the 2026 World Cup this summer. Across the rest of the division, individual performances at Manchester City and Manchester United helped keep the title race alive for far longer than many predicted at the start of the season.

The strength of Arsenal's title winning squad is reflected in just how many of their players were selected for this summer's World Cup, with representatives across several different national squads rather than a single dominant nationality. That kind of squad depth, spread across multiple positions and countries, is often what separates a side capable of winning a one-off cup competition from one capable of sustaining a 38 game title challenge.

What the season showed

Any premier league season recap 2025-26 has to start with Arsenal's title after 22 years without one, which is the headline story of 2025/26, but the season will also be remembered for a genuinely competitive top of the table and one of the closest relegation fights in years. With three sizeable clubs dropping into the Championship, next season's second tier looks unusually strong.

The season also underlined how thin the margins have become at both ends of the table. A seven point gap separated champions from runners up, while just two points separated survival from relegation for West Ham. Both of those facts point to a Premier League that remains fiercely competitive from top to bottom, even in a year with a clear and deserving champion.

Relive the season with Match Bingo

Whether your side finished at the top or went down fighting, Match Bingo is a great way to stay engaged with Premier League football all season long. The app turns matchday into an interactive experience for every fixture. Download Match Bingo and get ready for the new season.