Premier League 2026-27 preview No 12: Ipswich

They have a new manager and a higher net spend than Manchester City, but will that be enough for Ipswich to avoid another yo-yoing relegation?

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 19th (NB: this is not necessarily Will Unwin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 2nd (Championship)

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Premier League fans’ previews: our club-by-club guide to 2026-27

The Guardian’s fans’ network looks ahead to the new season: fresh talent, weak links, and who will be sacked first

Having finally got the title monkey off our back, and with much of the competition in a state of flux, there’s plenty of optimism. Obviously the target is for Arteta to sustain the same appetite and intensity to mount a credible defence. The big questions are whether we can reproduce the same resilience at the back with Saliba on the long-term missing list, and will the introduction of Guimarães be the catalyst for the sort of midfield chemistry we’ll need to carve open opponents who plan to park the bus?

Bernard Azulay onlinegooner.com; @GoonerN5

Jonathan Pritchard

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Premier League 2026-27 preview No 10: Fulham

With Marco Silva leaving after five years, can the club take advantage of the links their new coach, Álvaro Arbeloa, has with Real Madrid?

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 15th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 11th

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Premier League 2026-27 preview No 9: Everton

Modest but sensible-looking recruitment befits the club’s new air of stability but a continuation of their spring slump could test David Moyes’s appetite for the fight

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 10th (NB: this is not necessarily Andy Hunter’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 13th

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This week’s soccer questions: is the Premier League wide open and should Barça avoid Rodri?

We look at the many contenders for the English title this season, one of the big potential moves of the summer and chaos at Fifa

It’s difficult to recall a Premier League season starting amid such widespread uncertainty as this one. Half the division, including Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, is under new management. The Pep Guardiola era is over and, as Jonathan Wilson put it, the Premier League has no alpha manager possibly for the first time ever.

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Premier League 2026-27 preview No 5: Brighton

Fabian Hürzeler has lost key players including Welbeck and Van Hecke with Brighton needing squad depth to cope with the demands of European football

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 9th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 8th

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Premier League 2026-27 preview No 3: Bournemouth

New head coach Marco Rose has a lot to live up to after last season’s sixth-placed finish while fans have a first year in Europe to look forward to

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Ben Fisher’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 6th

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Are Manchester United returning to relevance under Michael Carrick? | Jonathan Wilson

In a mailbag edition of his newsletter, Jonathan Wilson answers questions about Michael Carrick, VAR and the Premier League’s new teams

Manchester United finally seem to have something that resembles stability in the dressing room under Michael Carrick. I feel with quality signings in defence and midfield, they could mount a decent challenge for the Premier League next season. How do you feel they will fare? – Sterling.

There’s an odd sense that Michael Carrick’s level of achievement last season was at precisely the most awkward level for the board. United didn’t produce indisputably brilliant football under him but equally 12 wins and three draws in 17 games was good enough that they pretty much had to give him the job. But it’s one thing to turn out those kinds of results when the pressure’s off, you’re already out of both cup competitions and you don’t have any European football; it’s quite another to do it in the heat of a full season. United don’t have to have an especially amazing season to play 15 more games this season than they did in 2025-26.

This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian US. Subscribe for free here.

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Vinícius Júnior to Arsenal doesn’t make sense. That’s why it may work | Jonathan Wilson

Mikel Arteta’s team and the Brazilian star could be a perfect match. It also could be a risk that ends in disaster

Sometimes what is needed is something different.

There is a long history in football of counterintuitive thinking being successful, of the benefits of creative tension, of adding grit to the oyster to generate the pearl, but even so, the news that talks between Vinícius Júnior and Arsenal on personal terms are progressing comes as something of a shock. Mikel Arteta’s great followers of a blueprint adding a free spirit like the Brazilian? Really?

This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian. Subscribe for free here.

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