Fans see Liverpool as most likely to win the league, though most Arsenal and Man City fans also believe they have a realistic chance of the title Ahead of Liverpool vs Bournemouth kicking off the new Premier League season on Friday, a new YouGov* study looks at fans’ hopes and expectations for the 2025-26 competition.
What do Premier League fans see as realistic
for their teams in the 2025-26 season?
While most fans are optimistic of their teams’ chances this
season, their sights are set at different levels. Among the ten clubs with fanbase samples
large enough for us to look at in detail, just three teams’ fans primarily
think topping the league is within their grasp. Three quarters (75%) of
Liverpool fans say they can realistically hope to retain the title, while 59%
of Manchester City supporters and 55% of Arsenal fans believe they can win the
league this season.
Topping the table is an ambition also held by 32% of Chelsea
supporters, though most (56%) see qualifying for the Champions League as their
best plausible outcome for the new season.
Nearly half of Aston Villa and Newcastle fans (45-46%) also see
qualifying for the Champions League as their main goal, with 25-29% seeing
qualifying for the Europa or Conference Leagues as more realistic targets.
Last season wasn’t great for Man United and Tottenham
Hotspur, who both finished in the bottom half of the table. Most fans of these
two teams believe they can do better this year, with 33-36% seeing qualifying
for the Champions League as their top plausible goal, while a further 29-30%
see getting into other European competitions as more realistic. However, one in
seven of both teams’ fans (14-15%) see finishing mid-table as their best hope.
For teams more used to mid-table finishes, a tendency to
avoid high expectations is the norm. For instance, half of West Ham fans (52%)
see another mid-table performance as their realistic hope for 2025-26, while
14% think that merely avoiding relegation is their best possible result. A
quarter of Hammers (24%), however, have European qualification in their sights.
With all three newly promoted teams getting relegated last
season, for the second year in a row, it’s no wonder 55% of supporters of
Championship victors Leeds see avoiding relegation as their team’s best hopes
for this season, though 30% believe a mid-table finish is a reasonable
expectation.
Which Premier League fans are most confident
in their managers?
Central to realising these ambitions will be the teams’
managers. At present, fans largely have faith in their managers, though some
enjoy more confidence than others.
Among the ten clubs with fanbase samples large enough for us
to examine, it is Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim and West Ham’s Graham Potter
who command the least confidence from their fans, with 24% and 21% of their
respective supporters saying they have little to no confidence in their
managerial abilities.
At the other end of the scale are Manchester City’s Pep
Guardiola, Liverpool’s Arne Slot and Newcastle’s Eddie Howe, with around
two-thirds of the fans of these clubs (65-67%) saying they are very confident
in their ability to lead their teams.
Nearly half of those who follow the Premier League (46%)
believe Liverpool have the best chance of winning the new season, with this
rising to 75% of Liverpool fans. Man City, who have been champions for four of
the last five seasons, are currently seen as having the best chance by 12% of
Premier League followers, while Arsenal are the current favourites for 8%.
Views on rivals
Asking who fans least want to see claim the title this
season highlights the strength of both traditional and newer rivalries – and
indeed how reciprocal they are.
Two thirds of Tottenham fans (67%), for instance, target
age-old North London rivals Arsenal as the team they’d least like to win the
league this season. However, just 28% of Gooners reciprocate the feeling, with
many instead opting for teams that have stood in the way of recent Arsenal
campaigns, such as Man City (19%) and Liverpool (10%), as well as 2000s title
rivals Man United (10%).
Nearly half of Leeds fans (45%) say Man United are the team
they’d least like to win the Premier League, as do 35% of Liverpool fans and
31% of Man City fans.
Among supporters of United themselves, Liverpool are the
least desired champions (39%), followed by Man City (25%).
The Tyne-Wear derby still comes top for Newcastle fans, 29%
of whom say Sunderland is the team they’d least like to see win the 2025-26
title, ahead of the 18% who say Liverpool and 17% who say Man United. For 29% of Chelsea fans, Arsenal are the
least desired winner, ahead of Man United (15%) and Man City (10%).
See the full results here: https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Internal_PremierLeague_250807.pdf
*The writer is a shareholder in YouGov
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