With the 2026 World Cup only drawing to a close last month, there has been essentially no rest for Europe’s elite.
Watching Arsenal finally end their 22-year wait for a Premier League crown, the Gunners will officially get the defence of their domestic title underway this weekend as the 2026/27 campaign opens.
With proceedings set to get underway on Friday night as the reigning Premier League champions welcome top-flight newcomers Coventry to north London, we have taken a glance at the major talking points ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
Manchester City
While Manchester City might have signed off the 2025/26 campaign with a 2-1 loss at home against newly-crowned Europa Conference League champions Aston Villa on May 24th, few around the Etihad will remember that result in years to come.
In what was an emotional afternoon from the blue half of Manchester, Pep Guardiola officially walked down the Etihad tunnel for one final time as the mesmeric Spanish tactician bid farewell after a trophy-ladened decade stint in charge.
Overseeing an astonishing era of dominance, the former Barcelona boss guided Man City to 20 major trophies during his tenure-spell. Alongside six separate Premier League crowns, Guardiola was also the mastermind behind their maiden Champions League success back in 2023.
However, bidding farewell to a manger who stands alongside the likes of Is Alex Ferguson in contention as the greatest Premier League manager in history, Enzo Maresca has a monumental pair of boots to fit in.
While the former Chelsea boss might have worked alongside Guardiola during City’s treble-winning campaign in 2023, there could be some teething issues in the blue half of Manchester.
Blown away in the Community Shield last weekend as they slumped to a 3-0 drumming against reigning Premier League champions Arsenal at the Principality, Maresca will already find the expectations on his shoulders starting to boil.
Enzo Maresca succeeds Pep Guardiola as @ManCity manager 🤝🩵 pic.twitter.com/KuI66EoDTf
— Premier League (@premierleague) June 29, 2026
Liverpool
Watching Arne Slot’s rollercoaster tenure at Anfield officially draw to a close not even a fortnight after Xabi Alonso’s unveiling in west London, it has certainly been a sliding doors summer for the former Premier League champions.
While Andoni Iraola might have arrived in the red half of Merseyside back in June with his stock at a red-hot high following a record-breaking three-season spell with Bournemouth, the mood around Anfield remains a frustrated one.
Despite it officially being announced on Monday that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has purchased almost 40% of the club following prolonged negotiations with Fenway Sports Group (FSG), Liverpool fans feel that they are miles off mounting a genuine title charge this season.
Watching attacking icon Mohamed Salah draw a line under his historic nine-year reign this summer, the Reds are certainly getting a new era underway at Anfield.
Suffering a pair of high-profile collapse against Monaco and domestic foes Leeds during their pre-season preparations, Iraola’s new squad have failed to find any kind of fluidity this summer.
With plenty of raised eyebrows following the announcement that Iraola has only put pen to paper on a two-year deal on Merseyside, Liverpool get proceedings underway on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Newcastle.
We can confirm Andoni Iraola has agreed a deal to become the club’s new head coach ahead of the 2026-27 season 🤝
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) June 4, 2026
While Chelsea might have only been crowned as the Club World Cup champions in North America last year, those 13 months must feel like a lifetime ago for fans around Stamford Bridge.
Despite opening up the 2025/26 campaign under the guidance of Maresca and with many billing them as a legitimate title contender, it appears from the outside that the mood around west London was at a real high.
However, watching Maresca complete a messy New Year’s divorce following a public feud with the Stamford Bridge hierarchy, Liam Rosenior’s nightmare three-month stint in the capital will be remembered as an infamous one.
Going through two permeant managers in the space of just a few months and also fined £10million last month after breaching rules related to paying agents between 2009 and 2022, Chelsea are simply hoping for some sort of stability both on and off the pitch.
Watching Alonso complete a shock arrival in west London this summer, the former Real Madrid boss is desperate to immediately bounce back from his own nightmarish managerial stint in the Spanish capital.
Although the 44-year-old might have lasted just eight months with Los Blancos, he did guide Bayer Leverkusen to a maiden Bundesliga crown in 2024 and still remains one of Europe’s most well-regarded coaches.
Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Xabi Alonso as Manager of the Men’s Team.
The Spaniard will begin his role on July 1, 2026, having agreed a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 17, 2026
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