European Football Preview 25/26: France & Spain
The Spanish and French leagues kicks off this weekend, so we’ve taken a quick look at what we can expect in the French top division, where PSG are massive favourites, and in the Spanish top division, where Real Madrid and Barcelona are expected to dominate again.
Read Part 1 of our PL Preview here.
Read Part 2 of our PL Preview here.
Read Part 3 of our PL Preview here.
The Spanish League
Favourites to win title: Real Madrid (1.77), Barcelona (2.10), Atlético Madrid (9.00), Villarreal and Athletic (both 50.00).
Relegation favourites: Real Oviedo (1.82), Elche (2.00), Levante (2.38), Espanyol (3.00) and Alaves (3.75)
Can Atlético Madrid upset the usual suspects Real Madrid and defending champions Barcelona this season? It’s doubtful, with Real Madrid and Barcelona expected to battle it out for the title once again. Real Madrid finally managed to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool, and the Real Madrid faithful will be hoping to see him settle in quickly as the season get off to a proper start this weekend. Dean Huijsen had a fantastic season at Bournemouth last year and the central defender also made his move from the PL to the Spanish league this summer, while Franco Mastantuono have signed from River Plate. Lucas Vazquez left the club after 10 years as a Madridista, while Luka Modric has moved to Italy and AC Milan.
Barcelona haven’t made any huge signings, with their financial constraints still looming large over the club, but they still have the quality to push for the title with their current squad. Lewandowski is still banging in the goals for Barca, and with the help of their wonder boy on the right side and Raphina on the left side, Barcelona will be as exciting a team to follow as ever this campaign.
Atlético Madrid are 9.00 to win the league, and it would take a lot for them to go all the way. One would expect Barcelona and Real Madrid to run away with it, but Girona’s 23/24 season showed that the Spanish league isn’t completely free of upsets with the Catalonia club finishing in an impressive 3rd position in the standings.
On the other side of the standings, Real Oviedo, Elche, Levante, Espanyol and Alaves are favourites to go down, with the former three all having been promoted to the division last year. Will they go straight down again?
The favourites to become top scorer is unsurprisingly Mbappe and Lewandowski, with Raphina one of the outsiders.
Girona host Rayo Vallecano in the league opener tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to another season of top football from Spain as game round 1 is finally here!
The French League
Favourites to win title: PSG (1.12), AS Monaco (13.00), Marseille (15.00), Lille (21.00)
Relegation favourites: Angers SCO (2.00), Le Havre (2.55), FC Metz (2.75), FC Lorient (3.50), FC Nantes (3.50)
PSG will win the title again, which would be their 5th in a row after Lille won it in 2020/21, and there shouldn’t really be any competition this season. AS Monaco have made a few interesting signings, not the least of which is Paul Pogba who returns after a long spell away from football. How will his return impact the Monaco side and the French league as a whole?
PSG have decided to part ways with Donnarumma and have opted to gamble on new goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier instead, a somewhat surprising move considering the Italian goalkeepers status and importance to the club over the last few seasons. The club still boasts an almost unprecedented amount of star players for a French league club, with Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha and Doué just the tip of the iceberg. The question doesn’t seem to be if PSG can win the title again, but how much will they win it by?
Monaco have added Ansu Fati on loan from Barcelona as well as the aforementioned Pogba, as well as Eric Dier and goalkeeper Lucas Hradecky. The team is looking strong on paper and they will be hoping to improve on their 3rd position from last season, when Marseille grabbed 2nd.
Marseille is another team that have made a few interesting signings, including Timothy Weah (on loan from Juventus), Neal Maupay (Everton), Pierre-Emile Hojberg (Tottenham), Igor Paixao (Feyenoord) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Al-Qadsiah). They’ll be hoping to cause a proper upset by knocking PSG off the top of the table, but there’s also the chance of chaos at Marseille should things not go their way initially.
PSG should win the league comfortable here, and we predict Monaco could overtake Marseille for the 2nd spot this season.
Newcomers Angers, Le Havre and FC Metz are favourites to go down this season, followed by Lorient and Nantes, while Dembele (3.75), Greenwood (4.00), Goncalo Ramos, Kvaratskhelia, Barcola and Doué (all 9.00) are top scorer favourites.
Check out all our outrights on the French league here.
Last updated: 14.08.25
Odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
