Liverpool will launch their bid for a record 21st English top division title on Friday. When the new season of the English Premier League begins, Liverpool is a strong contender for the title. Arsenal and Manchester City are two such teams, who will challenge Liverpool. Chelsea and Manchester United have more questions than answers.

The French news organization AFP has prepared five such facts, which are the subject of discussion, as the new season 2025-026 begins. 

Will Arsenal change? 

For the last three seasons, Arsenal have been in second place in a row. Now Arsenal are starting to feel that their team will be able to break the long wait and win the Premier League. Under the leadership of coach Mikel Arteta, Arsenal had the opportunity to win the title in 2023 and 2024. Arsenal were 10 points behind leaders Liverpool last season after being plagued by injuries. 

Arsenal have not won the league since 2004. The only major title the team has won since Arteta's arrival is the 2020 FA Cup. Arsenal have already spent 180 million pounds for this time. Arteta himself is saying to believe that the performance of the team will be better this time. "The last few seasons we came very close, with the league title. Now our team has the confidence to win,' says Arteta. 

Liverpool at the top

Liverpool will face Bournemouth in their first game. The team will field such a team in the game, which is very expensive. There will be great expectations on it. Liverpool last won back-to-back league titles in 1982–83 and 1983–84. The Liverpool players at the time were Kenny Douglas and Ian Ross. If Liverpool really win the league next season, they will overtake Manchester United. 

A record number of wins in the top division of English football will mean a lot to the Anfield club. Not only this goal, Liverpool's aim is to perform equally well in the European Champions League. For that, coach Arne Slott has spent 343 million dollars this season. Florin Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremy Frimpong and Milos Kerkez have entered this series. 

Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz have left Liverpool at this time. So Liverpool's attack will be different this time. Alexander Isaac is likely to be added to it. "Last season we played with a lot of control over the ball," says Slott. But this situation is not always beneficial. We will now aim to create more chances than last season.'

City has a long way to go

Pep Guardiola did his best to stop Manchester City's collapse performance last season. In the 'window transfer' of January, Guardiola tried to change the team. Meanwhile, City have bought Ryan Ait-Nuri, Ryan Cherky, Tizani Rejinders and James Trafford. Kevin De Bruyne and Kelly Waldker have left the club, while Jack Grealish has chosen Everton as his new destination. 

So the Etihad team has changed for this time. Last season was City's first title-less spell since 2017. In the last 8 seasons, City won the league 6 times. Last season's third-place finish was a poor performance for the team. The lack of Rhodri, who used to perform magical games, is highly visible in the team's performance. 

Enthusiastic Chelsea

Chelsea, who almost surprisingly won the Club World Cup title, want to repeat the momentum they achieved at the same time in the Premier League. Enzo Maresco's side produced a sensational 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the final of the tournament in America. The question is, was this a natural performance of Chelsea? Is it equally true? 

Last season, Chelsea fielded a team whose average age of players is the lowest among all clubs in the Premier League. That meant Chelsea was full of young players. The journey to the league itself wasn't great, but qualifying for the European Champions League was an achievement in fourth place. Players like Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez are emerging as new stars.