PL 2026/27 Preview Part 2: European Spots?
Not every ambitious PL club can realistically begin the season talking about winning the title. For Manchester United, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth, European qualification represents a more realistic measure of success in the 2026/27 PL campaign.
United and Villa have CL football to look forward to after finishing third and fourth respectively last season, while Bournemouth’s excellent sixth-place finish secured the first European campaign in the club’s history.
Newcastle and Tottenham are approaching the season from very different positions. Newcastle have undergone a dramatic summer rebuild following a disappointing 12th-place finish, while Spurs survived a relegation scare by the narrowest of margins and have responded with major investment.
All five have European ambitions. For some, failing to achieve them would represent a major disappointment.
Read Part 1 of our PL 26/27 preview here.
Read Part 3 of our PL 26/27 preview here.
Read Part 4 of our PL 26/27 preview here.
Read our preview of the French 26/27 season here.
Read our preview of the Spanish 26/27 season here.
Read part 1 of our preview of the Italian 26/27 season here, with part 2 also out.
Manchester United – Can Carrick build on an outstanding start?
Last season: 3rd
Manager: Michael Carrick
Manchester United’s 2025/26 season effectively came in two parts. The first ended with Ruben Amorim leaving the club in January. The second began with Michael Carrick returning to Old Trafford and completely transforming their fortunes.
Carrick won 11 of his 16 PL matches after taking charge and guided United to third place with 71 points, securing CL qualification in the process. That was enough to earn him the job permanently, with a contract running until 2028.
Now comes the harder part. United have spent the summer reshaping their midfield following Casemiro’s departure. Youri Tielemans has arrived from Aston Villa, while Andrey Santos has arrived from Chelsea.
It is potentially an excellent combination. Tielemans provides PL experience, composure and creativity, while Santos gives United energy and ball-winning ability. Together they should provide Carrick with a considerably different midfield platform.
Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia have also left following the expiration of their contracts, while Rasmus Hojlund’s loan move to Napoli became permanent after the Italian club qualified for the CL.
One unexpected development is the return of Marcus Rashford. Barcelona declined the opportunity to make his loan permanent despite Rashford producing 25 goal contributions during his spell in Spain. With Amorim gone, Carrick has opened the door for the England international to rebuild his United career.
That could effectively give United another major attacking option without spending a transfer fee.
Pre-season has provided mixed results but encouraging signs. United lost 1-0 to Wrexham in their opening friendly before responding with a 5-0 victory in a friendly in Scandinavia. They then beat Atlético Madrid 2-1 before drawing 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain in Gothenburg, with Bryan Mbeumo scoring United’s goal.
Carrick has not yet had his complete squad available. Benjamin Sesko and Matthijs de Ligt have been among those dealing with injuries, while Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens missed the PSG game through illness. Rashford and several other players who went deep into the international tournament this summer have also returned later to pre-season.
United nevertheless begin the campaign in a much healthier position than they occupied 12 months ago. The attacking group of Sesko, Mbeumo, Cunha, Amad and potentially Rashford provides Carrick with considerable variety, while Bruno Fernandes remains the team’s creative reference point.
The question is whether last season’s remarkable improvement under Carrick represented the beginning of something sustainable.
ArcticBet verdict: Third place last season changed expectations. United should no longer simply hope to sneak into Europe; CL qualification has to be the objective. Another title challenge may be premature, but Carrick has already demonstrated that he can get results from this squad. A top-five finish looks realistic.
Aston Villa – CL football returns to Villa Park
Last season: 4th
Manager: Unai Emery
Aston Villa’s rise under Unai Emery continues. Fourth place secured another CL campaign, while Villa also lifted the EL trophy, making 2025/26 one of the most successful seasons in the club’s modern history.
The challenge now is maintaining that level while dealing with significant changes to the squad. Morgan Rogers has joined Chelsea in a huge £117m transfer, removing one of Villa’s most dangerous attacking players. Tielemans has also left for Manchester United, while Amadou Onana suffered a long-term injury while on international duty this summer.
That amounts to major disruption through the centre of Emery’s team. Villa have responded aggressively.
Johan Manzambi has arrived from Freiburg following an impressive tournament with Switzerland, while Joao Gomes has joined from Wolves. Alejandro Garnacho has moved from Chelsea on loan, with an obligation to buy if certain conditions are met, and young centre-back Modou Keba Cisse has arrived from LASK.
The midfield rebuild is particularly interesting. Gomes provides aggression and PL experience, while Manzambi offers enormous potential. They will be expected to compensate for the loss of Tielemans and Onana’s absence.
Replacing Rogers may be harder. Garnacho offers pace and direct running, but Rogers developed into one of Villa’s most influential attacking players. Emery may therefore still want another creative addition before the window closes.
Real Madrid forward Endrick is among the players currently being considered on loan, while Villa are also working to strengthen at left-back. Fortunately, there is continuity where it matters most.
Ollie Watkins remains the focal point of the attack after scoring 21 goals last season, and Emery has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to improve players and build competitive teams around changing personnel.
Villa opened pre-season by beating Walsall 5-0 before embarking on a demanding programme designed to prepare them for another European campaign. Their Asian tour concluded with a 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in Hong Kong.
The schedule is already demanding, with Villa also having played PSG in the Super Cup, a game they lost 1-2. This workload could become one of their biggest challenges.
Competing simultaneously in the PL and CL requires depth, and Villa’s summer departures mean Emery is still rebuilding important areas of the squad.
ArcticBet verdict: Villa have earned the right to expect European football every season. The departures of Rogers and Tielemans are significant, while Onana’s injury makes the midfield rebuild even more important. Emery remains their greatest asset, and another top-six challenge should be expected, although repeating fourth place will be difficult.
Newcastle United – A summer of enormous change
Last season: 12th
Manager: Matthias Jaissle
No club in this group has experienced a more turbulent summer than Newcastle. A disappointing 12th-place finish already demanded change. What followed has been closer to a reconstruction.
Eddie Howe, the manager who delivered Newcastle’s first major trophy in decades and returned CL football to St James’ Park, is gone. Matthias Jaissle was appointed as his replacement on August 5 and has been given the task of leading a substantially altered squad.
Several of the players who defined Howe’s Newcastle have also departed. Anthony Gordon has joined Barcelona. Sandro Tonali has moved to Tottenham. Bruno Guimaraes has now completed a £75m transfer to Arsenal.
It is difficult to lose that level of quality without becoming weaker, and Newcastle’s recruitment must therefore be viewed in the context of replacing key players rather than simply adding depth.
Bazoumana Toure has arrived from Hoffenheim after contributing 14 goals and assists in 30 league appearances last season. Young midfielder Aladji Bamba has joined from Monaco, while Sean Steur has arrived from Ajax.
There has also been significant investment in goalkeepers. Lukas Hornicek has been brought in from Braga and is expected to become first choice, with Ewen Jaouen another expensive addition. Nick Pope now appears likely to leave after being omitted from the squad against Valencia.
Jaissle at least enjoyed an encouraging first match. Newcastle came from behind to beat Valencia 2-1 at Mestalla, displaying some of the intensity associated with the new coach’s football.
The German wants Newcastle to press aggressively and play with energy, characteristics that should make the transition from Howe less dramatic stylistically than it might otherwise have been.
But there is no disguising the scale of the job. Guimaraes, Gordon, Tonali and Isak represent an extraordinary amount of talent to remove from one team. Newcastle are still active in the transfer market, particularly in midfield, and further additions appear essential.
There are players to build around. Malick Thiaw has developed into an important defender, Lewis Miley remains one of England’s most exciting young midfielders, and several of the summer arrivals have considerable potential. Potential, however, is different from proven PL quality.
ArcticBet verdict: Newcastle are the hardest team in this group to predict. The lack of European football should help Jaissle on the training ground, but losing so many elite players in one summer makes an immediate return to the top six far from certain. European qualification is the target, but Newcastle still need more reinforcements before the window closes.
Tottenham Hotspur – De Zerbi gets his rebuild
Last season: 17th
Manager: Roberto De Zerbi
Tottenham could hardly have come closer to disaster last season. Their PL survival went all the way to the final day, when a 1-0 victory over Everton kept Spurs above West Ham and preserved their top-flight status.
For a club with Tottenham’s resources, 17th place was unacceptable. The response has been emphatic. Roberto De Zerbi remains in charge and has been given a dramatically reshaped squad designed to play his football.
The midfield has undergone the biggest transformation. Sandro Tonali has arrived from Newcastle, while Mateus Fernandes has joined from West Ham. Together they give De Zerbi a new central partnership with the technical ability and mobility required for his possession-heavy approach.
Fernandes has already made an impression, scoring a superb volley to give Tottenham a 1-0 victory over MK Dons in their opening pre-season friendly.
The defence has also been rebuilt. Jan Paul van Hecke has reunited with De Zerbi after previously playing under him at Brighton, joining for a substantial fee. Marcos Senesi has arrived on a free transfer from Bournemouth, while former Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson adds enormous experience and a winning mentality.
Martin Dubravka provides another experienced option in goal. There have been departures as part of the overhaul, including Luka Vuskovic’s move to Brighton. The amount of business tells its own story: Tottenham have accepted that minor adjustments were not enough after last season.
There is still an obvious question in attack. Spurs need more goals. Dominic Solanke and Mathys Tel provide options, but there remains a strong case for adding another forward before the transfer window closes. De Zerbi’s teams can create chances, but Tottenham cannot afford another season in which promising build-up play fails to translate into enough goals.
Pre-season has given De Zerbi the opportunity to introduce his ideas without the immediate pressure of a relegation fight.
Spurs beat MK Dons 1-0 before travelling to New Zealand and Australia, where the schedule included games against Auckland FC, Sydney FC and Chelsea. Spurs also drew 2-2 against Hoffenheim in their last friendly before the season kicks off. This should be a completely different Tottenham. The question is how quickly the new pieces come together.
ArcticBet verdict: Last season’s 17th place should not be used as the benchmark for this squad. Tottenham have recruited aggressively and intelligently, particularly in midfield and defence. If they add another reliable attacking threat, a push towards the European positions is entirely realistic.
Bournemouth – Europe arrives on the south coast
Last season: 6th
Manager: Marco Rose
Bournemouth were one of the PL’s biggest success stories last season. Sixth place represented the highest league finish in the club’s history and secured European football for the first time. Their reward is a completely new challenge.
Andoni Iraola’s outstanding three-year spell ended with his move to Liverpool, leaving former Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose to take over.
Rose inherits a strong team but also one that needed attention in defence. Marcos Senesi left at the end of his contract to join Tottenham, creating another hole in a back line that had already undergone considerable change in recent transfer windows.
Bournemouth’s response has been ambitious. Antonio Silva has arrived to replace Senesi. The 22-year-old Portugal international brings CL experience and, importantly, a commanding aerial presence.
That matters because Bournemouth struggled badly defending set pieces last season. Only relegated Burnley won a lower percentage of aerial duels, while the Cherries conceded one of the highest expected-goal totals from set pieces in the league.
Silva has therefore been recruited to address a specific weakness. Alvaro Rodriguez has also joined to provide competition for Evanilson. The former Real Madrid striker scored seven goals and supplied five assists for Elche in La Liga last season and gives Rose another physical option through the middle.
Bournemouth’s pre-season began impressively with a 4-1 victory over St Pauli in Austria, part of a programme that has also included matches against Augsburg, Genoa and Real Betis.
The bigger issue is how the squad copes with Europe. Bournemouth’s success under Iraola was built around intensity, pressing and a relatively settled core of players. Adding EL matches creates a very different workload.
Rose is well suited to maintaining an aggressive style. His teams have traditionally pressed high and attacked quickly, meaning Bournemouth should not need to abandon the identity that took them into Europe.
But repeating sixth place while playing additional midweek matches will test the depth of a squad unused to this schedule.
ArcticBet verdict: Bournemouth thoroughly deserved European qualification and should not be dismissed as a one-season surprise. Rose is a logical replacement for Iraola and Silva addresses an obvious defensive weakness. The EL workload makes another top-six finish harder, but Bournemouth should again be competitive in the race for Europe.
Who has the best chance of qualifying for Europe?
This group contains five clubs with dramatically different stories. Manchester United and Aston Villa are attempting to remain among the CL clubs. Newcastle are trying to rebuild after losing a manager and several of their best players.
Tottenham are attempting to transform themselves from relegation candidates into European contenders in the space of one summer.
Bournemouth are discovering what happens when a club accustomed to concentrating almost entirely on domestic football suddenly adds European competition to the calendar.
United look best placed. Carrick’s impact last season was too substantial to dismiss as a short-term bounce. Third place was earned through an excellent second half of the campaign, and the additions of Tielemans and Santos address an area that clearly needed renewal.
Villa should remain close, particularly with Emery in charge, but losing Rogers and Tielemans while Onana is injured creates uncertainty. Tottenham are our candidate to make the biggest jump up the table.
De Zerbi has been heavily backed, and the arrivals of Tonali, Fernandes, Van Hecke, Senesi and Robertson give Spurs a squad that bears little resemblance to one that nearly went down.
Bournemouth can challenge again, although European football complicates their season. Newcastle have the greatest uncertainty. Jaissle could prove an inspired appointment, but replacing so many important players simultaneously is an enormous undertaking.
ArcticBet prediction
5. Manchester United
6. Aston Villa
7. Tottenham Hotspur
8. Bournemouth
9. Newcastle United
Manchester United are our strongest choice from this group to secure European football, with Villa close behind.
Tottenham should improve dramatically and could become one of the surprise packages of the season if De Zerbi’s rebuild clicks quickly.
Bournemouth remain capable of another strong campaign, while Newcastle’s position depends heavily on what happens during the final weeks of the transfer window.
Don’t forget that we also have Early Payout on this league, which you can read more about here.
Please note that the odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
Last Updated: 21.08.2026
