Premier League 2025-26 review: the team of the season

The Athletic’s 2025-26 Alternative Premier League Awards

Arsenal won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years; Manchester United posted the season's biggest swing (+29 points under Carrick), while Liverpool's title defense collapsed by 24 points to a 5th-place finish. Squad depth and set-piece efficiency — not transfer spend — proved the clearest differentiators between contenders and pretenders across the 2025-26 table.