This summer, all attention is on the FIFA Club World Cup. Currently, 31 of the planet’s best teams are in the United States and battling it out to leave MetLife Stadium on July 13th as World Champions. However, soon enough, attention will turn back to the beautiful game’s more regular scheduling, and the one thing we simply cannot wait for is the return of the English Premier League (EPL).
The 2025-26Â EPL season will get underway on August 15th as reigning champions Liverpool host last season’s surprise package, Bournemouth, at Anfield. But it isn’t just us who are salivating at the prospect of the greatest league on earth’s impending return. Popular online betting sites are also chomping at the bit.
Esports Sites Provide A Virtual Alternative
Even though the actual Premier League doesn’t come back around for another two months, such websites are so excited that they have started offering e-soccer betting around the clock, specifically playing out games between Premier League sides. Websites offering betting on esports games usually focus on the likes of Valorant and CS2, but right now, they are offering a slew of 2025 EPL eSim games, such as Manchester City vs Chelsea and Liverpool vs Manchester United.
Coming Changes in the EPL Before the 2025-26 Season Start
These options provide a perfect opportunity for punters to get closer to the greatest league on earth while it’s in its annual midsummer hiatus. But what of the actual teams preparing for the real Premier League’s return? Well, here is how the favorites to contest for next season’s title are gearing up for yet another blockbuster campaign.
Liverpool’s Transfer Drama
Liverpool ended the 2024-25 campaign surprisingly as the champions. Many expected them to struggle following the departure of Jurgen Klopp, but incoming boss Arne Slot managed to take the team to new heights, dominating throughout the entire season to ultimately win the title by a landslide. Now, however, the landscape is changing somewhat at Anfield.
Long-service full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has controversially left the club for the bright lights of Real Madrid in a move that has divided supporters on Merseyside. The club has moved quickly to replace him, bringing in the impressive Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen. He has been joined by his former talisman at the BayArena, Florian Wirtz, who heads to Liverpool for a British record fee thought to be around £116m.
However, further movement is expected at the club in the coming weeks. Both Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz are expected to depart. Players such as Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak and Eintracht Frankfurt man Hugo Ekitike could well replace them. But despite all the transfer drama, it’s the Reds that the bookies make the 2/1 favorites to win the title once again next season.
Will Arsenal Finally Add Some Firepower?
Since Mikel Arteta took over as Arsenal manager five and a half years ago, the Spaniard has rebuilt the Gunners and turned them back into contenders. For three straight years, they have finished as runners-up in the Premier League, as well as reaching the UEFA Champions League semifinals last season. But for all the building and the trusting of the process, the North London outfit remains without silverware.
For the first time in his reign, Arteta heads into next season under some pressure. His continued failure to bring a trophy to the Emirates, coupled with the fact that even arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur managed to win silverware last term, has supporters demanding that the time is nigh for Arsenal to finally achieve something. They are considered a joint-second favorite for the title next season, and if they are to finally get over that final hurdle, they will need to add some firepower in the striking department.
Both Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have tried their hand at leading the Arsenal line, but a lack of goals, coupled with persistent injuries, has ultimately hurt the Gunners’ title challenges. Now, Sporting CP’s prolific Viktor Gyökeres is widely expected to swap Lisbon for London. But will he be enough to deliver a first title to the club in 22 years? We’re about to find out.
Manchester City’s Rebuild
Manchester City has dominated English football under iconic manager Pep Guardiola. Throughout the Catalonian’s nine-year reign, he has won 16 trophies, six of those being Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin between 2021 and 2024. However, he now has a huge rebuilding job on his hands after his side conceded the title with a whimper last season.
Since January, the Blues have signed no fewer than nine new players for a combined fee well in excess of £300m. Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki are the pick of the bunch, but following the departure of longtime creator in chief Kevin De Bruyne, it remains to be seen whether City can return to contention next term. The bookies certainly think they can, pricing them at the same odds as Arsenal to end the 2025-26 season as champions. But there can be no denying that the Blues are heading into a period of uncertainty for the first time in the better part of a decade.
