Predictions Reckoning: How the Experts Got It Spectacularly Wrong (and Right)

The 2025/26 Premier League campaign has wrapped up, and that means one thing: dragging everyone's pre-season predictions into the light to see exactly how badly they aged.

Spoiler alert: very badly indeed. Though some managed to be considerably worse than others.

Title Talk: A Collective Failure

Not a single voice tipped Arsenal to lift the trophy. Winty stood firm against the Gunners, joining Stead and Watson in backing Manchester City instead. Liverpool attracted three separate predictions from Ford, Williams and Oldham, while Chelsea somehow managed to fool Soutar and Nicholson into thinking they had a shot.

Nicholson's reasoning proved particularly amusing in hindsight—he methodically eliminated every rival before deciding that Mikel Arteta's continued presence would be Arsenal's downfall. Ouch.

Top Four: The Great Unknown

Here's where things get properly embarrassing. Nobody—and we mean absolutely nobody—predicted either Aston Villa or Manchester United to finish in the top four. Every single combination featured Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in some arrangement. Ruben Amorim's first year at Old Trafford clearly tanked expectations, while Unai Emery somehow pulled off miracles at Villa Park.

Relegation Roulette

Scott Parker's Burnley? Everyone got that one. Beyond that, the accuracy rate drops sharply. Gold stars to Nicholson, Williams, Soutar and Oldham for spotting Wolves' catastrophic implosion, while Oldham deserves credit for predicting West Ham's demise.

Curiously, nobody saw Tottenham in trouble. Instead, there was plenty of doom-mongering about Europa League-bound Sunderland, Leeds, and some particularly misguided pessimism about Brentford. Watson's concern about Brentford losing key players without replacement proved unfounded—they've finished in the top half, as have Bournemouth, who are preparing for European football while Chelsea languishes below them.

Pleasant Surprises That Weren't

Four contributors were seduced by Jack Grealish and an Everton side that probably should have sacked David Moyes. Winty fancied them for a top-eight finish. They delivered neither success nor watchability.

Newcastle's story was particularly entertaining. Stead confidently predicted they'd rise from the doldrums and secure another top-five finish. They didn't.

Nicholson (Leeds), Watson (Manchester United) and especially Williams (impressed by Sunderland's recruitment) all fared considerably better. Soutar broke even with Brighton.

Golden Boot Gymnastics

Six contributors wisely accepted that Erling Haaland owns this award. The problem? Johnny Nicholson went for Liam Delap—a player who accumulated four times as many bookings as goals. At least Watson's Viktor Gyokeres finished in the top seven.

Stead, meanwhile, predicted Alexander Isak would have a "Luis Suarez season" before securing a move. The reality proved rather different.

New Signing Sweepstakes

Joao Pedro attracted three backers (Winterburn, Soutar and Oldham) and delivered the goods. Gyokeres earned votes from Watson and Williams, while Hugo Ekitike impressed Nicholson.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall looked promising for Ford until Everton's late-season collapse, and Tickers nailed it with Joao Palhinha—correctly identifying that the midfielder would shore up defences and prevent unnecessary goals.

Stead, meanwhile, suggested Lucas Perri would remind Leeds fans that decent goalkeeping exists, while predicting that Tijani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri would solve Manchester City's problems. Best not to dwell on that one.

Flops and Bargains

The flop predictions were scattered across Ekitike, Sesko, Gyokeres, Madueke and Mbeumo. Rayan Cherki (Soutar) probably deserves the wooden spoon, though Watson showed genuine insight by identifying Alejandro Garnacho as not worth Chelsea's investment.

On the bargain front, Stead's enthusiasm for Jhon Arias at Wolves and Nicholson's faith in Angus Gunn on a free transfer at Forest both look rather cold. Williams, however, showed decent foresight spotting Michael Kayode as Brentford's long-throw bargain.

Player of the Year: A Complete Whiff

Nobody predicted Rodri, Cole Palmer or Florian Wirtz. No one called Bruno Fernandes either. The actual winner remains something of a collective embarrassment.

Managerial Departures: One Bullseye

This is where things get interesting. Scott Parker's sacking came eleventh on the predictions list, while Vitor Pereira ranked fourth. Nicholson, Watson, Soutar and Oldham all had Parker in their predictions, though Nicholson also—embarrassingly—suggested Arteta would depart before Parker.

Winty, Ford and Williams all backed the wrong horses, tipping Andoni Iraola, Keith Andrews and Daniel Farke respectively. All decent managers, but not the ones leaving first.

The real triumph? Tickers absolutely nailed it with Nuno Espirito Santo. The prediction was surgical: Marinakis was riding high on main character energy, Forest had limped through the previous campaign's final nine games earning just eight points, and the pre-season form was dire. The conclusion was inevitable—Nuno would be vulnerable if things started poorly. And so it proved.

European Glory

Only Williams (Paris Saint-Germain) and Soutar (Arsenal) remain in contention for the Champions League prediction points. Neither will enjoy the experience of being right.

The moral of the story? Pre-season predictions are a beautiful disaster, and we'll be back next August to do it all over again.