Biggest Talking Points Heading into the 2025/26 Premier League Season

Manchester United's Stadium Old Trafford Entrance Screen
Source: Unsplash

The Premier League is almost back, and with it comes the excitement, drama, and stories that only the greatest league on earth can provide. Reigning champions Liverpool will raise the curtain on August 15th as they look to kick off their title defence in style at home to Bournemouth. However, it's the game two days later that has set pulses racing.

Arsenal will head to Manchester United on August 17th in a clash with huge stakes, despite it being both teams' first game of the season. Can the Gunners finally shed their "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" status, or will the Red Devils bounce back from their worst campaign in 40 years with an impressive victory? If online sports betting sites are to be believed, it's the North Londoners who should emerge with three points.

The latest of Bovada's sport betting odds currently price Arsenal as 3.25 second favorites for the title next season, behind 2.70 frontrunners Liverpool. United, meanwhile, are all the way out at 30.00, and it would be a huge shock to see them in contention come next May.

But with the dawn of a new campaign just around the corner, there are plenty of unanswered questions. Here are the biggest storylines heading into the season opener at Anfield.

Can Isak Complete the Liverpool Jigsaw?

The Merseyside machine is hungry for more. After roaring to the summit last term, Liverpool have refused to stand still. The club's transfer business is somewhat unprecedented, especially for the usually frugal Reds. Generational German talent Florian Wirtz is already bedding in, while his former Bayer Leverkusen teammate Jeremie Frimpong has also headed to Anfield. Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike has arrived to much fanfare, but it's the high-profile pursuit of Newcastle's Alexander Isak that could truly send the champions into another stratosphere.

Liverpool tabled an eye-watering £110 million bid for Isak in recent days, a figure swiftly dismissed by Newcastle, who value their striker at a towering £150 million. The Swede's CV is glistening after a career-best campaign in which he notched 23 league goals-trailing only Mohamed Salah. Slotting Isak into a Liverpool front line already boasting Salah, Cody Gakpo, and now Wirtz and Ekitike doesn't just add options-it supercharges a squad aiming for back-to-back titles and European glory.

Yet a question persists: will Newcastle hold firm, or will Liverpool test their resolve with an even higher bid? The Magpies' own season could hinge on this tug-of-war, and the Tyneside outfit harbors top-four ambitions of its own. Regardless, Liverpool's transfer ambition is an unmistakable message to rivals-standing still is not an option.

Is Viktor Gyökeres Arsenal's Difference Maker?

Three consecutive seasons. Three runner-up finishes. Arsenal's wounds run deep, but the Emirates rises once more, swollen with belief-and the hope that this is finally their year. Enter Viktor Gyökeres, the Swedish goalscoring sensation plucked from Sporting CP in what could prove a season-defining move.

The stakes here are colossal. Arteta's Arsenal dazzled at times last term: Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli combined to devastating effect on occasion. But when crunch time arrived, the Gunners' attack ran into a familiar problem. Both Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz suffered season-ending injuries, resulting in midfielder Mikel Merino being deployed as a makeshift striker, and that was ultimately the difference between another decent season and silverware.

Enter Gyökeres, a striker renowned for his physicality, movement, and ruthless finishing-qualities that made him a nightmare for Primeira Liga defenders and saw him rack up a whopping 39 goals in 33 matches. The analytics back up the signing: Arsenal produced the most shots in the Premier League last year but posted a conversion rate of just 11.2% in the second half of the season. Tasked with obliterating that inefficiency, Gyökeres will need to be the clinical force in decisive moments.

But football's margins are razor-thin, and this question lingers: Is one world-class striker enough to rewrite Arsenal's script, or does something deeper need to shift in the club's mindset? Arteta's record in big games, his ability to manage pressure, and his squad's collective nerve are all in the dock. The season ahead is set to be an acid test of psychology as much as talent.

Ruben Amorim Reckoning at Old Trafford

Turmoil. There is no other word to describe Manchester United's 2024/25 campaign-a 15th-place finish - their lowest in 40 years - a Europa League final heartbreak against rivals Spurs, and a dressing room reportedly paralyzed by uncertainty.

Enter Ruben Amorim, battered and bruised by an opening year that saw his tactics unraveled and his authority persistently challenged. The off-season demanded sweeping change. Yet, the Old Trafford arrivals list reads unexpectedly modest: Bryan Mbuemo, acquired from Brentford for his directness and work rate, and Matheus Cunha, snapped up from Wolves after a breakout year.

The data paints a stark picture. United scored just 44 goals last season, the second lowest in the league outside of the three relegated teams, nowhere near the standards once expected under the Stratford End's withering glare. Mbuemo and Cunha will add pace and ingenuity, but do they really move the needle for a club with ambitions beyond mere respectability? The consensus elsewhere is grim: United's net spend is dwarfed by their rivals, and key frailties in midfield and at center-back remain glaringly unsolved.

Amorim knows the stakes. Lose again especially in the blockbuster opener against Arsenal-and the talk of Old Trafford will shift from hope to crisis. Can the Portuguese tactician find the alchemy to transform two astute but unspectacular signings into the backbone of a new era? Or is his head already on the figurative chopping block?