Five things that will happen in the 2025-26 Premier League season

It’s that time of the year again where the world’s biggest league, the Premier League, cranks into gear with defending champions Liverpool facing Bournemouth in this season’s opening match.

In the build-up to the first whistle at Anfield, fans of all 20 clubs will be dreaming of a season to remember, but it will be the few, not the many whose dreams will become reality.

What makes the Premier League a global event are the myriad of happenings which occur in England’s top flight and ahead of that first game on Merseyside, DAZN News’ Matt Astbury predicts five things that will happen during the course of the 2025-26 season.

VAR controversy

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Yes, it’s back, every football fan’s worst nightmare, VAR, will no doubt be involved in several controversial decisions.

Unfortunately, VAR is going to be part of football whether fans like it or not, so expect plenty of angry managers, players along with analysis in the aftermath of why a replay going at super slow motion has altered the course of a match and possibly the season.

If VAR is to be looked upon in a positive light, all that everyone associated with the beautiful game is for it to be a ‘good process’ in the words of referee Simon Hooper.

Pep Guardiola’s seasonal player confrontations

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There is no doubt Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is one of the best and most passionate managers in world football, and that passion is on full show on the touchline.

One thing Guardiola is not afraid to do in public is player confrontation and he has form for this doing with his own or even opposition players. Take last season’s exchange with Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke as an example.

So teams of the Premier League beware because one of your players could be involved with a fiery Guardiola come the final whistle which will be broadcast to an audience of millions around the world.  

A manager from the promoted clubs sacked by Christmas

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Sadly for the teams coming up from the Championship, Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland, the odds are immeasurably stacked against them when it comes to staying in the Premier League.

Leeds and Sunderland especially have not been afraid to splash the cash, but the gulf between the established sides and the Premier League’s new faces is growing bigger each passing season.

Unless their respective managers have got a good enough tactical plan, then the three newly promoted sides will find themselves as prime candidates for relegation if the first few months don’t go to plan.

If the season is looking bleak, then changes will be made and I expect a manager to be sacked before Christmas.

If I was to choose one it would be Daniel Farke at Leeds United who has struggled in previous Premier League managerial tenures.

A ‘big’ name gets relegated

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Yes, it is logical to put the three promoted teams from The Championship to go down, but if last season was anything to go by, there are some of the bigger clubs who could be faced with relegation this season.

I don’t expect Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur to be involved in the fight for survival after finishing 15th and 17th respectively, but one team I fear could find themselves in English football’s second tier is West Ham United.

After their Europa Conference League win in 2023, it feels like the club has stagnated and even the arrival of Graham Potter in January showed little signs of galvanising the Hammers.

If West Ham play anything like they did for the second half of last season, then relegation is a real possibility, so it’s over to Potter and his group of players to prove me wrong, and prove it was just a difficult transition into a team which is now firing on all cylinders.

No Boxing Day 1963 results graphic

Eyebrows were raised when the fixtures were first announced and none taking place on Boxing Day.

Boxing Day football in England is a yearly tradition enjoyed by fans up and down the country, but at this current moment in time, there are no Premier League matches scheduled.

TV picks amongst other things may change that, but if there are no fixtures scheduled for those nursing Christmas food comas and hangovers, then we will sadly be rid of the opportunity to be treated to the now infamous Boxing Day 1963 Division One results graphic.

Where else will fans get their yearly dose of Fulham 10-1 Ipswich, West Brom 4-4 Tottenham and West Ham 2-8 Blackburn Rovers results amongst others!?

How to watch the Premier League in Canada

Soccer fans in Canada can watch every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season on DAZN.

With Fubo Sports on DAZN, Canadians can catch Premier League action as well as Serie A. Additionally, DAZN is the home of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Bundesliga and more.

For pricing information and to sign up to watch, click here.