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Predicting a Premier League season is rarely straightforward. New signings are still bedding in, new managers are implementing their ideas and, with the transfer window still open, squads could look very different by the time the deadline passes. But that hasn't stopped us trying. Ahead of the new campaign, we asked the ESPN UK team to predict the Premier League table from first to 20th, before combining their selections to produce one consensus ranking. - Arsenal transfer news: LIVE updates, rumours and deals - Man United transfer news: LIVE updates, rumours and deals - Liverpool transfer news: LIVE updates, rumours and deals Each club's final position was determined by its average prediction across the panel, while we have also calculated the highest and lowest placing each team received -- as well as the standard deviation to show where opinion was most divided. So, who do we think will win the title? Which teams are backed to qualify for Europe? And who should be worried about relegation? Here's ESPN's collective prediction for how the Premier League season will unfold -- and the biggest talking points from our picks. Arsenal champions, with Man City only rivals? All but two of our writers predicted Arsenal to win the league again this season -- with Manchester City the only team offered up as potential champions other than Mikel Arteta's side. That follows a summer in which Arsenal have largely kept their title-winning band together amid significant change elsewhere. Five of the traditional 'top six' essentially have new managers, including City, where Enzo Maresca has replaced Pep Guardiola, while several of Arsenal's rivals have also made significant alterations to their squads. Arteta, meanwhile, is the Premier League's longest-serving manager and returns having made few moves in the transfer market. That relative lack of upheaval did not convince everyone, though. One of our writers predicted Arsenal to finish as low as fourth, perhaps questioning whether a side that has changed so little can maintain its edge while their rivals evolve. Arsenal are perhaps the safest pick of the top six -- but it doesn't mean that's right. Chelsea lead the chasing pack under Alonso From 10th ... to third? That's the prediction from our writers on Chelsea, who have splashed the cash this summer -- much of it on proven Premier League quality. After Maresca and then Liam Rosenior struggled to get an inexperienced side clicking last year, there is clearly optimism that Xabi Alonso -- one of Europe's most sought-after managers before a brief spell at Real Madrid, which was nowhere near a disaster -- can turn things around at Stamford Bridge. Everyone expects them to finish between third and fifth. It was, though, very close between Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, who drop from third to fifth in this scenario despite clicking under now-full-time boss Michael Carrick in the second half of 2025-26. Some feel both Liverpool and United can finish second, while some believe they could be as low as seventh. Tottenham are another London club who leap up this table, with predictions ranging from a top-four finish to eighth. After only avoiding relegation on the final day last season, they're up to sixth and ahead of Champions League qualifiers Aston Villa here, clearly buoyed by a big-spending summer of their own under Roberto De Zerbi. Villa round off a clear top seven, perhaps docked for losing star man Morgan Rogers to Chelsea. One writer feels they can still finish second -- which would be remarkable even for Unai Emery -- while they could also finish 10th, seemingly. Where did we agree -- and disagree -- the most? To measure where our writers agreed most -- and where opinions were wildly different -- we've used standard deviation: put simply, the lower the number, the greater the consensus among our predictions. You can therefore see that there was almost full agreement on Hull being the league's basement club, and on Manchester City being in the top two. Brighton being in the top half, Ipswich and Coventry being relegated, and Arsenal battling for the title are the others where we matched up. But at the other end of the scale, the higher numbers show what teams split opinion. Take Leeds, who average out in a fairly mundane 13th place: one writer had them in sixth, and one had them being relegated. Nottingham Forest also divide opinion, with Oliver Glasner seemingly having a good a shot at taking the club back to Europe as being involved in a relegation dog fight. Newcastle tough to predict, back to reality for Sunderland Newcastle are another team whose finishing position is tough to predict after a summer of change. Eddie Howe, Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali are all gone, replaced by relatively unproven off and on-pitch talent. While they settle in at 11th in the table, they could easily find themselves much higher, or lower depending on how the recruits settle in. There was much more consensus on Sunderland -- but not in a great way for Mackems. While Sunderland finished seventh on their return to the Premier League last season to qualify for the Europa League, many saw that as fairly lucky when looking at the statistics, and that -- as well as an increased workload -- seems to be reflected in a prediction of 17th place here. Nobody thinks they'll finish higher than 13th. Bottom three nailed on -- but who else could go down? They're not a team any of our writers believe will be relegated, however, with those three slots taking up almost exclusively by Ipswich, Coventry and Hull. While two believe either Ipswich or Coventry could survive, the highest Hull managed in any of our predictions was 19th. The only other teams thought to have a chance of going down are the aforementioned Leeds, and Fulham. Fulham have been a midtable and above club under Marco Silva but his departure -- replaced by the well-regarded but unproven former Real Madrid temp Alvaro Arbeloa -- has led to some mixed predictions, with two believing they will be heading to the Championship next season.