In brief
Ahead of the 2025–2026 season, Micah Richards has shared his opinions on each Premier League team.
Burnley’s solid defensive system led him to assume that they would stay up.
Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool will compete for the championship.
A beloved pundit Ahead of the 2025–2026 season, Micah Richards has revealed his predictions for each Premier League team. The promoted teams will be seeking to break the trend of newly arriving teams struggling to survive, while Liverpool will be looking to hold onto their title and increase their lead as the nation’s most decorated club. However, nothing is ever certain in the home country of football.
While AI provided its own guesses on who the top division’s top goal scorers might be, Alan Shearer recently took the effort to predict the entire league table. Richards, a former Manchester City and Aston Villa player with Premier League experience, has now entered the discussion.
Although he hasn’t made a precise prediction regarding each team’s final standing, he recently offered his opinions on how each club’s season might play out in an episode of The Rest is Football podcast. He joined Shearer and Gary Lineker to discuss the possible difficulties of the upcoming season, which begins on August 15.
Richards’ 2025–2026 Predictions for All Premier League Clubs
Arsenal: Not champions, but challenging
Richards spent a lot of time recognising Kai Havertz’s contribution in the offensive midfield position and applauding the acquisition of Viktor Gyokeres. But after three straight second-place finishes, he isn’t sure that will be enough to get the Gunners across the finish line. “I believe they’re back to how they were last season after one or two injuries. Thus, he said, “I’m going to say challenging but not champions.”
Sixth or seventh place for Aston Villa
Yasin Ozcan and Evann Guessand are the only additions made by Aston Villa during a quiet off-season during which the team has had difficulty adhering to PSR regulations. With no significant exits however, the three analysts concurred that they anticipate more of the same from Unai Emery’s team, which has maintained its position in the Europa League with an offensive led by Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins.
Bournemouth: Just below the tenth spot
Due to the departures of Milos Kerkez and Dean Huijsen, Bournemouth has suffered some significant losses this summer, making their defence appear, to put it mildly, vulnerable. Richards thinks Bournemouth should maintain a stable place “just below halfway” under Andoni Iraola, who was one of the league’s top managers the previous season.
Brentford: A fight for relegation
Richards worries that Brentford, who were so stable under Thomas Frank, would be drawn into a relegation struggle under new manager Keith Andrews as a result of the abrupt transition. He remarked, “They have to be in the relegation battle for me because you’re starting over brand new,” alluding to the exits of Bryan Mbuemo, Frank, and Yoane Wissa.
“If the managers remain the same, you can always switch up the players, but you can’t switch up the managers and players at the same time. It will simply be challenging.’
The bottom half of Brighton & Hove Albion
Although Richards is clearly thrilled by the signing of Maxim De Cuyper, he is sceptical that Brighton will have enough to continue their pursuit of European football in the 2025–2026 season. However, only time will tell if the seemingly limitless pool of talent at every level of the club at Amex Stadium can overcome uncertainty once more.
Burnley: Remaining awake
All six of the Championship’s promoted teams have been relegated in the last two seasons, but Richards is certain that Burnley’s defensive structure provides them the means to break that trend. “Guys, I believe they’re staying up. Based solely on their defensive structure, I believe they’re staying up,” he declared confidently.
“We all know that losing Trafford was a huge blow, but if you watched Burnley play in the Championship, you would see that they would score a goal and then recover. Alan raises a valid concern when he says, “I don’t think they can score enough goals.” That’s my one concern, but Everton has proven time and time again that they simply fight their way to victory.”
Chelsea is vying for the championship.
Richards has projected that the Blues will contend for the title after Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro led Chelsea to a Club World Cup success during the summer, but he also thinks that the team’s poor defensive performance could cost them the crown since they frequently “over-commit” in attack. Last season, Enzo Maresca’s team gave up the second-fewest goals, but they are in desperate need of reinforcements after losing Levi Colwill to an ACL injury.
Crystal Palace: In a comparable or slightly inferior position
After losing their bid to be promoted back into the Europa League, Crystal Palace, who just won the FA Cup and the Community Shield, will have to settle for playing in the Europa Conference League next season, it was confirmed Monday morning. Richards has taken the easy route and predicted that the Eagles will finish in 12th place, as they did the previous season, or slightly lower, with more games to go. “I just think they could struggle with strength in depth if they’re going to Europe,” he complained.
Everton: They’ll be all right.
Although Richards’ remarks regarding Everton were ambiguous, his assessment that they will be “just fine” indicates that he believes the Toffees will finish in the middle of the league. Although many think they could continue after moving into a new stadium, acquiring new ownership, and fielding a team that combines a strong defence with Jarrad Branthwaite back to fitness, a midfield with Iliman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and an attack that will be strengthened by the arrival of Jack Grealish, he cited David Moyes’ familiarity with the squad as a crucial factor.
Relegation but a slim possibility of survival for Leeds United
Richards had conflicting feelings about Leeds United, another recently promoted team. Leeds and Burnley may have a chance to escape this fate, he said, acknowledging the trend of promoted clubs getting relegated. He emphasised their defensive tenacity in the Championship and said they may “nick points” and stay in games if they can continue this in the Premier League despite the substantial improvement in talent. He did, however, ultimately include Leeds in his “relegated bunch” list.
Liverpool is once again the champions.
When Richards talked about how they could be unbeatable next season if they can get the most out of their new record signing, Florian Wirtz was the name that everyone was talking about. “I believe he has every instrument necessary to open any door. Given their lacklustre performance against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield final, he remarked, “So, yeah, I have to say Liverpool will win it.”
Rodri’s unfitness for Manchester City is a worry.
Richards acknowledged that he might have anticipated his old team would win the league again, as they had in the four seasons prior to Arne Slot’s arrival, if Rodri had been healthy. With Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland, he thinks their assault is at its peak, but he isn’t as sure about the defensive. He made it apparent that he has fears for the Cityzens, especially during transition, although he did not say exactly where he expected Pep Guardiola’s team to end.
Top six: Manchester United
Although Manchester United had their worst Premier League finish ever under Ruben Amorim, Richards believes the Red Devils might place in the top six with the addition of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko. His first worry is the formation since he thinks that by concentrating on offence, they can leave gaps in other areas.
According to Richards, Amorim may solve these problems by keeping Bruno Fernandes in the starting lineup rather than moving him out wide and by bringing in Carlos Baleba from Brighton & Hove Albion to provide defensive cover and midfield energy.
Newcastle United: ninth or eighth place
Newcastle may have trouble in the 2025–2026 season without Alexander Isak and with the pulling power of a small fishing hook in the transfer market. Nevertheless, Richards believes they can still place eighth or ninth, without providing an explanation. Their solid home record and squad core, which consists of Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes, and Dan Burn, are probably to blame for this.
Mid-table Nottingham Forest
Following Nottingham Forest’s incredible run last season, in which they defied relegation predictions and earned a spot in the Europa League, Richards, Shearer, and Lineker all agreed that the team’s performance would probably decline a little. “I believe that they had an absolutely amazing season as a club last season. That will be difficult to duplicate. “So, yeah, mid-table for me.” Richards answered, “Me too,” in response to Shearer.
Sunderland: Dropped
In an attempt to avoid the dreaded dotted line, the Black Cats signed ten players to the first team this summer. However, Richards has stated that the sheer volume of new players will ultimately be their undoing. “Relegated only because they’re bringing in so many players in such a short period of time to get them to gel and know exactly what they’re doing,” he said.
“They’ve had a fair shot, in my opinion. Fair play to them, but I believe they may find it too much, therefore I’m afraid they’re going down.”
Tottenham: Sixth place
Richards thinks Thomas Frank might bring Tottenham back to life, even if the north London team is likely to take a completely different turn under the manager, who will undo the harm caused by Ange Postecoglu’s carefree attacking style and stabilise a more defensive mindset. Although he acknowledged that it will be a “jump into the unknown” for them, he still ranked them among his top six.
West Ham: In the same spot as the previous campaign
Graham Potter, who replaced Julen Lopetegui in the winter, led West Ham to a 14th-place finish the previous season. Jarrod Bowen finished the 2024–25 season in better form than anybody else in the division, and they played a lot of their greatest football around the conclusion of the season. Given Niklas Fullkrug’s stellar preseason, they might be a dark horse. Richards disagrees, primarily because they are still far too simple to beat.
“My thoughts are precisely the same as they were last season. He remarked, “I believe they can score, but sometimes they can’t really defend, can they?” “The manager now has a complete preseason, but it’s too simple to score against them. We’ll see what he can accomplish. However, they’re still a bit too simple to beat, in my opinion. Therefore, I do believe they will finish in a similar position as they did the previous season.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: A fight for relegation
This season, Wolves’ biggest problem might be the loss of Matheus Cunha. Although Richards praised Jorgen Strand Larsen as a striker who can easily cover the void, he thinks inconsistent play could be an issue, but they should be able to stay in the Premier League with some strong play in patches.
“The manager’s confidence and statements are admirable. He clarified, “I’m not sure if the players are skilled enough to carry out his wishes. “I think they do it in little patches, but I think the struggle I think it’s going to be a relegation battle for Wolves this year.” Listen to the entire podcast below:
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