Premier League season storylines: Arsenal's new role, Chelsea's big chance, Aston Villa's 'Big Seven' claim

The Premier League returns with plenty of unfamiliarity with a new dean of managers, an unfamiliar defending champion, and new faces in and out of the European tournament picture. Arsenal have their first Premier League title in over two decades and Mikel Arteta is now the longest-tenured manager in the division after old mentor Pep Guardiola called time on a legendary career at Manchester City. MORE — Premier League season predictions That puts new bosses at City, Chelsea, and Liverpool plus relatively-new managers at the other two 'Big Six' teams to give Arsenal a chance to make a serious charge at defending their crown and doing it in decisive fashion. It won't be easy. MORE —  PST predicts the 2026-27 Premier League table After all, Chelsea and Spurs will have a relatively rare opportunity to charge back into the top four without any European encumbrances, with Brighton, Sunderland, Bournemouth, and Crystal Palace joining Aston Villa as teams outside the 'Big Six' to claim a place on the continent this offseason. How will these storylines and some other juicy subplots affect the 2026-27 Premier League season? Read on... Does Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have dominance in their DNA? Arsenal have been Premier League contenders if not favorites in recent seasons but Mikel Arteta's side enters the 2026-27 Premier League season as reigning champions and heavy favorites with no reasonable claims to underdog status. There's no "They don't believe in us" with this Arsenal, who have improved at any weak spot and will get better once William Saliba and Jurrien Timber return to the team. It's different gravy — to borrow a term from our British friends — to lead from the front. Yes, there's always a chance of a team or two catching fire right away under a new boss but Arteta is the only manager returning to a Big Six club on the heels of a good season. Oh, and they added one of the very best midfielders in the world to a unit that was already thick with world-class talent. Two-deep at every position and able to prioritize whichever competition they like, the Gunners have a shot to establish an early table lead and ride into deep into the season. Will they take this chance in stride? Can new managers at Big Six clubs set table with early success? Xabi Alonso, Enzo Maresca, and Andoni Iraola all have bonafide resumes while Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi are bringing solid finishes with their new teams into first full seasons at their clubs. There are reasons to believe all five can thrive and of course the dark underpinnings of fear within each team's set-up, too? Carrick's never won anything as a manager. Iraola hasn't led a Champions League side. The insatiable De Zerbi has only managed more than 100 matches at a single stop once in his career. Alonso didn't thrive after making the leap from Leverkusen to Real Madrid. Maresca is taking over for Man City's best ever boss (who could also be the best in the history of the game). It only takes a loss or three to turn up the heat on a manager at a big club. And in this Premier League season, finding steadiness and even success in the first few weeks can go a long way toward building a foundation that lasts a long, long time. Are things actually different at Manchester United? The club of false dawns seems to have real momentum at the moment, as Manchester United have been tipped by many to reclaim a place in the Premier League title fight? Now, will they — you know — actually do it? It's a loaded question because a healthy United can make a lot of claims. They moved up the table under Michael Carrick last season thanks to borderline heroic campaigns from Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro and despite missing Matthijs De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez for long runs of games. They've added two players to their midfield in Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans in a bid to mitigate the loss of Casemiro to Inter Miami (Carlos Baleba could also join the fray soon). And they're hoping Benjamin Sesko, Amad Diallo, and Kobbie Mainoo take the next steps in their careers. Is all of that reasonable? Sure, if the 45-year-old Carrick is really the man . It seems like United is betting on Carrick being their Arteta after years in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson wilderness. A lot of that will have to do with culture, because few would doubt that the Red Devils have had some very, very good managers in the job while laboring to find their way back to title contender status. Because let's be real there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to Carrick, whose managerial resume is less experienced than almost any 'Big Six' boss in recent memory. Will Spurs, Chelsea shake up title race thanks to simple schedules? The fixture lists have been quite kind to De Zerbi and Alonso as they look to take advantage of Europe-free schedules. De Zerbi's Spurs don't meet a traditional 'Big Six' side until October 10 at Old Trafford, while Alonso's Chelsea go to Arsenal in Week 2 but don't meet another of the six until late October — Spurs. So the two powers with new, respected managers and no Champions League, Europa League, or Conference League fixtures don't really find 'Big Six' competition until those teams are mixed up in European congestion? It's a near-perfect recipe to turn early hype into an on-ramp to surprise contention near the top of the table. Will either or both London sides seize the opportunity? Can Bournemouth, Sunderland, Brighton, Palace avoid Europe-related table dips? First of all, it is awesome to see all four of the above teams in Europe for the first or latest time. Full stop. Awesome. Now, have any of them done enough to ensure that giving a solid showing in Europe won't sap too much of their energy for a proper Premier League run? And do their fixture lists plunge one, two, or more of them from the top half to the bottom half or even bottom third of the table? These are very valid fears inside of very fun times for the fan bases of the Cherries, Black Cats, Seagulls, and Eagles. Bournemouth have largely the same team apart from manager Andoni Iraola, defender Marcos Senesi, and injured Eli Junior Kroupi, and new boss Marco Rose has experience 'on the continent.' Palace walked the European tight rope last season while losing stars and will benefit from that. This is new to Brighton but there's reason to believe that Tony Bloom, Fabian Hurzeler, and Co. have made it through the summer with minimal tumult. Sunderland have the biggest question marks in terms of depth — how have they not learned from their Northeast rivals? — but return almost every key piece. So, yes, you can make the case for any and/or all of the four getting the job done without finding themselves in relegation fights. But now the rubbed meets the road. How much of a wizard is Unai Emery? Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is one of the very best to ever do it. It's saying something that he's the second-longest tenured boss in the Premier League (ironically trailing only a man who took his previously warm seat at Arsenal). Should he make it the length of this Villa season — and we'd bet that he does unless he makes a surprise decision — he'll be in the longest stretch with one club of his managerial career. Yet the five-time Europa League winner has now seen Villa sell the following players over the past three seasons: Morgan Rogers Youri Tielemans Donyell Malen Lucas Digne Jacob Ramsay Douglas Luiz Jhon Duran Moussa Diaby Ezri Konsa ( reportedly ) Oh, and Emiliano Martinez and Ollie Watkins could still also skip town. Throw in this summer's ghastly injury to Amadou Onana and Emery's going to have to turn every knob and flick a lot of levers to keep Villa near its standards. Unlike similar teams in PSR situations — cough, Newcastle United, cough — Villa have really impressed with their mix of young and/or experienced players. Yohan Manzambi looks elite, Joao Gomes is a wise purchase, and Zion Suzuki makes Martinez expendable. Brian Madjo could be a steal, Alysson's time could be coming, and who knows, maybe Emery's the man to mature Alejandro Garnacho from clapped-up potential to consistence performance. This is all to say that Villa could realistically start calling it a 'Big Seven' if it delivers another top-five caliber run under their Basque-born boss.