The Real Football

Author’s Note: This article was written on August 20th prior to the start of the Premier League season on August 21st.

So, you tuned into the World Cup and got completely hooked, finding yourself spending your afternoons watching football, whether on the couch, with a crowd in a public area, or even at the stadium itself. The entire country got caught with World Cup fever, and there was some noticeable dullness on the day it ended. If you want to continue watching high-quality football with the best players in the world, the Premier League has you covered.

I know a few of the stars that made big rounds at the World Cup (Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe) don’t play in the Premier League, but don’t let that fool you. The Premier League had the most players in the World Cup of any league (182), is the highest quality league in the world, is the most convenient (in English, and already shown on big American channels such as USA and NBC), and lastly, it has everyone’s true favorite footballer: Erling Haaland. If you still want to watch those aforementioned stars, you can also watch the Champions League, which is a just a big tournament (like the World Cup) that runs parallel to the league season and where the best teams in Europe face each other.

How does the Premier League work? Well, it's different from American sports. There are no playoffs, and there is relegation, where the bottom three teams go down to a league below. Yes, in the rest of the world, we punish the teams that play badly instead of giving them the first overall pick in the subsequent draft. There are 20 teams who play each other twice (once home, once away) and whoever has the most points wins the league. A win is 3 points, a draw 1, and a loss 0. But there is not only competition for top spot. Like I mentioned, each year the three worst teams get relegated and the three best teams from the league below get promoted. The top four or five teams get a spot in the following year’s Champions League and the teams that finish sixth through eighth get a spot in the Europa league (the less fancy version of the Champions League with lesser teams, but still a European competition nonetheless). This makes every match have the potential to be a must-watch game.

Now, who are the teams? Who should you root for? Well, I don’t have the time to preview every team so here are some picks:

The Big Six (Most popular, valued, and—kind of—successful teams of the last 15 years): 

• Arsenal: Just won the league for the first time in 22 years since their invincible team of 2003-04 after having come in 2nd place three years in a row. Managed by Mikel Arteta, the gunners are the favorites to retain the title after boasting the best defense in the league, and somehow even bettering their squad over the summer. The only caveat: they play perhaps the most boring style of football ever seen.

• Man City: This is the team Erling Haaland plays for, so if you love him, there is an easy in. Before the year 2010, Man City were irrelevant. But after being bought by the Abu Dhabi royal family, cash injection after cash injection made them a perennial contender. This was taken even further in 2016 when Pep Guardiola became manager and went on to win 20 trophies, and 6 league titles, in 10 years. However the drawback is that they are entering a new era after Pep quit this last year and have been on a slow downturn the last two years. That being said, you can’t count them out.

• Liverpool: This is my team, so I will try not to be biased. Liverpool is the most successful team in English football with a rich tradition and a legendary history. After rough patches in the 90s, 2000s, and early 2010s, they found their way back to the top under manager Jurgen Klopp, and then Arne Slot winning the league in 2025. This past year however was a horror show, with them whimpering to 5th and firing their coach. After losing some key players of the last decade, they seem to be going through a transition phase, so while I don’t think they will be a clear-cut contender this year I still think they will be solid and show some signs for the years to come.

• Tottenham Hotspur: How they are a Big Six team is beyond me at this point. They have always been around there but have never been able to make the step forward to win actual silverware. They have finished 17th the last two years, and while I think they will be much better this year, I don’t see them being anywhere near title contending. I’m not trying to be too down on Tottenham; they can definitely be a team that competes for some lesser trophies over the coming years. However, they haven’t won the league since 1961, and I don’t think that drought will be ending soon.

• Man United: The Red Devils are the second most successful team in English football also with iconic history and rich tradition (just not as good as Liverpool’s, however). Managed by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson through the 90s and 2000s they were the dominant team in England. However, since his departure in 2013, they have had 11 coaches in the last 13 years, none of whom have been able to come close to replicating any of that success. However after a great second half of the season last year, and some good summer business, things could be turning a corner in the red side of Manchester.

• Chelsea: A team that before 2004 was not anything special, until they were bought by Russian Oligarch and close Putin ally Roman Abramovich. The team was super competitive through the late 2000s and the 2010s; however, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich was forced to sell the club. The buyer was a man named Todd Boehly. Since his takeover in the last four years, Chelsea have spent $3 billion on 51 players and have finished 12th, 6th, 4th, and 10th, seen nine managers and happened to fire their only two decent managers due to disagreements with the board rather than on the pitch performance. While they have a massive squad with decent players and a promising manager in Xabi Alonso, it will still be sometime before they are title contenders again especially with the current ownership.

Here are some other niche teams that won’t win the league but will be competitive for those European-competition spots: Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Brentford, and Everton. There are some others, but those are the ones I will predict will do the best this year.

I hope that after this run-down, people consider watching football more regularly and choosing a team to support. Anyway, here is my go at a full table prediction:

1. Arsenal 

2. Man City 

3. Liverpool 

4. Chelsea 

5. Man United 

6. Brentford 

7. Brighton 

8. Tottenham 

9. Aston Villa 

10. Everton 

11. Leeds 

12. Bournemouth 

13. Newcastle 

14. Nottingham Forest

15. Crystal Palace 

16. Fulham 

17. Sunderland

18. Hull 

19. Ipswich 

20. Coventry