The Premier League hope-o-meter 2025-26: How are fans of every club feeling about the season?

It has often been said — usually by me — that the best thing and worst thing Rafa Benitez did at Newcastle United was restore hope.

Why best? Because here was a Champions League-winning manager who peeled away the toxic mediocrity of Newcastle’s present (this was 2016 when they were flailing towards the Championship), and saw what lay beneath; stature, history, power. Fans lifted their heads and remembered themselves. They roared.

Why worst? Because when Benitez left St James’ Park three years later, he was worn down. He finally understood that his vision of what Newcastle could be, if only they would “do things right”, was not shared by Mike Ashley, the club’s owner. Ambition was strangled. The following season, 10,000 season-ticket holders walked away.

Returning to the norm could never be business as usual on Tyneside, because having stretched for the sky and found it just out of reach, their fall back to earth landed harder.

We shall come back to Newcastle — my word, yes — but the point is this: hope hurts.

There is a pantheon of fluffy quotes about hope. “Hope is a waking dream”, “hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul”, ”if it were not for hopes, the heart would break”.

Rubbish, bunkum, romanticised bullcrap, fraud, nonsense, baloney. Hope is a liar, a cheat and a stone-cold killer. Hope is an absolute, all-time b******. Hope sucks. Up yours, hope. F*** you, hope.

And, on that note, welcome to The Athletic’s great Premier League hope-o-meter for season 2025-26!

OK, so here’s the deal. Every year we pose a very basic question of our subscribers: how are you feeling about your club’s prospects this season? There are two possible responses: optimistic and pessimistic, although there is also scope for readers to leave comments afterwards.

A small deviation. The most-liked comment in the Newcastle version of that article comes from Mark D: “Bloody terrible, thanks for asking.”

Second most-liked is from Morgan M: “Are we sure the 2025-26 season can’t turn us down, too?”

No, shut up, I am not crying.

Granted, none of this is hugely scientific. Rarely for these pages, it is not xG or heat maps, pizza charts or hotdog vectors or whatever, but it is pure. We crunch the numbers, we build a table, we present the results, I make “jokes”, you call me unfunny and bosh! We all get some of our aggression out.

This year, we are doing things differently, because change can be cleansing and good. Change can be as simple as asking colleagues to provide you with 50 words on the club they cover, thereby leaving you with much less work to do yourself. We should all embrace change.

Here we go, in descending order.

Chelsea

There’s nothing better to stoke optimism than becoming champions of the world — well, at least until Gianni Infantino unveils his shiny new Club Galactic Cup in two years’ time.

What is this strange magic? Not long ago Chelsea supporters were protesting against the ownership outside Stamford Bridge, shouting some very rude things at Enzo Maresca and sounding off on social media. That last one is a constant, but it’s amazing what winning 14 of 16 games to close a season — and winning two trophies in the process — can do.

A cynic might point out that any fanbase which is 98 per cent optimistic can only end up disappointed, but let’s not puncture the vibe. This is the happiest Chelsea supporters have felt going into a season since 2020, when Covid ensured none of them could show it in stadiums.

Liam Twomey

Literally minutes after I file this, Chelsea confirm Levi Colwill’s done his ACL.

Liam Twomey

I have kept this interaction with Liam complete and unabridged not to embarrass him, but rather as a perfect encapsulation of what a t*** hope is.

If I did want to embarrass Liam, I would point out — gently, with love — that I asked him for 50 words and he provided me with 150. Having garnered a hard-fought reputation for pithiness, nobody at The Athletic wishes to be associated with over-writing .

Liverpool

After a chaotic summer packed with unthinkable twists and turns, Liverpool still go into the season with unrivalled confidence.

Yes, they’re still a striker away from owning the most potent and potentially prolific frontline out there, and who knew such fuss could be made over recruiting a fourth centre-back? But with togetherness and unity, fuelled by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota, this is a season where Liverpool can dominate again and the supporters know it.

Gregg Evans

I hate to be that guy, Gregg, but Liverpool are second in this table. Not first. So their confidence is, in fact, rivalled. It is rivalled by Chelsea, who are above them, or at least were until Liam stuck his oar in.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Sell top scorer Joao Pedro to Chelsea Hove Albion and reach the Champions League? I like it!

Only eight extra points to find from Fabian Hurzeler’s injury-ravaged first season, with a leaky defence bolstered and Kaoru Mitoma still causing havoc. Faith in the smartest succession planners is clearly undiminished.

Andy Naylor

Does anybody remember Weebles? They were a children’s toy in the 1970s, egg-shaped and made of plastic. They had a weight in the bottom which meant that however far you tilted them, they would pop back up, hence the advertising tag-line: “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.”

Brighton are Weebles, basically. You can take all their players, you can take their manager and you can take their sporting director, but you’ll never take their freedom to somehow find a way to survive and thrive.

Andy would remember Weebles because he is one of the few people employed by The Athletic who is older than me. I love Andy.

Sunderland

This feels more a question of excitement than optimism and if you strip it all back, it might be the alcohol still talking from that dreamy day at Wembley. Do all those giddy supporters foresee survival in nine months? Unlikely. But recruitment, most notably Granit Xhaka, has given reason to believe Sunderland are not just here to make up the numbers.

Philip Buckingham

Two things. One, alcohol is great. Two, this is classic hope-o-meter territory. Sunderland are a newly-promoted club who have not been in the Premier League for a while, therefore it is a beautiful novelty and naturally 91 per cent of their fans are optimistic.

Just as this time 12 months ago, 89 per cent of Ipswich Town fans were optimistic. Ipswich won four games last season and finished second-bottom.

Moral of the story: first you drink to celebrate, then you drink to forget.

Manchester United

The signings of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko have helped wash away the foulness of last season. The club still have pull, even after a 15th-place finish. Ruben Amorim’s charismatic way of speaking also helps. When he says “good times are coming”, you find yourself getting swept along.

Carl Anka

Until Sir Jim Ratcliffe sacks another 1,000 staff including players, leaving Amorim unable to fill his substitutes’ bench. He is gone by Christmas.

Manchester City

Does this mean jeopardy is a thing again? Pep Guardiola’s team have been so superior for so long that they have pretty much had a monopoly on optimism. But after a season that threatened to become completely derailed, a mammoth 15 per cent have some doubts. If it were any other team the optics would be a lot more gloomy, particularly with the Premier League charges pending, but this is a juggernaut that has added shiny new parts this summer. City fans appear to trust that the genius of Guardiola can find one final reinvention to deem last season nothing more than a temporary glitch in the matrix.  

Jordan Campbell

Jordan obviously doesn’t read anything I write, because City have not had a monopoly on optimism at all. In last season’s hope-o-meter they were 13th, with 21 per cent of respondents expressing pessimism. I’m not angry Jordan, I’m just really disappointed and angry.

Arsenal

It’s understandable that 10 per cent of Arsenal fans are more pessimistic heading into this season than last. Three successive second-place finishes can be draining, but overriding optimism comes from their consistency. The arrivals of Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi will also help that feel-good factor as potential game-changers.

Art de Roche

This is exactly 50 words, Art. Thank you. Nothing else to see here: Arsenal will finish second.

Everton

It’s nice to see Everton fans a tad more optimistic ahead of the new season. The past few years have been bleak — we’ve had relegation battles, points deductions and a fight to avoid financial implosion.

Under new owners The Friedkin Group, and with David Moyes back as manager, though, things are looking up. They just need to sign some more players to make sure they’re ready to capitalise.

Patrick Boyland

Since Paddy wrote this, the club have moved for Jack Grealish, which means we are now well inside Everton’s boom period — don’t blink! — and therefore hurtling towards bust.

Nottingham Forest

This time last year Forest fans were derided for their lofty, seemingly unfounded levels of optimism, following two years of fighting relegation. Was there something in the water in Nottingham? As it turns out, they apparently knew something that everyone else didn’t, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s men forged a surprise challenge for Champions League football, before ultimately finishing seventh. This year, Reds supporters are more mid-table in their expectations and hopes for the new campaign. Let us hope that is not reflected in what unfolds over the next 10 months.

Paul Taylor

In this very same space a year ago, I asked the following question of Forest’s optimism: “What is all that about?” I called it “strange” and a “mystery” and wondered aloud whether we might have fallen victim to election interference.

Turns out, I called it wrong, but I do not take kindly to Paul’s tone here. It was not derision on my behalf. Far from it. It was actually a combination of ignorance and total indifference. Honestly, imagine using a platform like this to make fun of a colleague. Unbelievable.

Aston Villa

Villa’s reason for happiness is Unai Emery. Without him, there would be far less optimism and more focus on the darker underbelly (hello ticket prices). But he is a deity in the Midlands and while Villa’s squad appears weaker on paper, with a Marcus Rashford-led group of loanees returning home, as the banner in the Holte End reads, ‘Do you want to bet against us?’

Jacob Tanswell

No, and I wouldn’t want to be playing them on the first day of the season eith… oh, right, yes. That’s Newcastle.

Tottenham Hotspur

Remember that feeling when Spurs won the Europa League in May? It was Tottenham’s greatest moment since 1991, the breaking of an emotional dam, transforming how it felt to support Spurs. The key to optimism this season is to bottle that feeling and harness it. Even though the manager and captain from last year have gone, the hope is that Tottenham can maintain that positivity, while making necessary changes on and off the pitch.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Three clubs that don’t often — or ever — win trophies, won a trophy last season. Spurs are 12th in our optimism table, Crystal Palace are 13th and Newcastle bottom. What does this tell us? That having burst through this emotional dam, as Jack puts it so beautifully, everything else is an anti-climax? Or is it that being good is actually quite hard?

Crystal Palace

Palace fans are usually the ultimate pessimists so this is a welcome change to see so many feeling good about the season. Inevitably, therefore, ask this question later in the year and they will have flipped to fear and alarm. But maybe this time is different and belief will remain throughout the season.

Matt Woosnam

But if we waited until later in the year, Matt, it wouldn’t be the hope-o-meter any more, it would just be the league table. What a weird thing to say.

Leeds United & Burnley

A Championship title, 100 points, sensible owners, Elland Road redevelopment plans and seven new signings worth around £75million ($101m) before the end of July. You can see why the majority of Leeds fans are optimistic for what’s to come. However, everyone knows how big the jump is, especially with three starting attackers still to arrive.

Beren Cross

Daniel Farke has experienced a relegation battle before and will be hoping to avoid a repeat this time (Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)

Understandably scarred from their last Premier League adventure two years ago, it is not a huge surprise that Burnley fans are the least optimistic of the three promoted sides. Their approach will be different under Scott Parker, with a sturdier defence key to the hopes that lessons have been learned.

They have lost important pieces from last year’s team — goalkeeper James Trafford, centre-back CJ Egan-Riley and captain Josh Brownhill — but this survey was also conducted before they spent big on Chelsea pair Lesley Ugochukwu and Armando Broja. A midfielder and striker who were desperately needed.

Andrew Jones

I’m lumping Leeds and Burnley fans together because they represent the other side of the promotion coin. Unlike Sunderland, they have recent experience of the Premier League and they fully understand that nothing good can possibly come of it.

Brentford

Brentford finished in the top half of the table last season and had three players reach double digits for goals, so why are fans feeling so nervous? They are hovering above the relegation zone because this has been a huge summer of change. They have lost their head coach Thomas Frank, captain Christian Norgaard and top goalscorer Bryan Mbeumo. Yoane Wissa is desperate to leave, too. New head coach Keith Andrews has a huge task on his hand and there is some scepticism around his lack of experience but Brentford’s squad still possesses quality players.

Jay Harris

Brentford are very Weeble-y, too, but surely even Weebles can’t subvert gravity forever. I don’t know enough about how Weebles work — or how gravity works — to answer this question, sorry.

Keith Andrews is taking charge of a team in the Premier League for the first time (Harry Murphy – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Bournemouth

Last season was a record points haul (56) for Bournemouth as they almost grabbed a European spot. This season, things are going to be different and Bournemouth fans know it. One of the key reasons for that is their outstanding backline has been completely broken up with goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga no longer on loan, centre-back Dean Huijsen having joined Real Madrid, left-back Milos Kerkez now at Liverpool and central defender Illia Zabarnyi on the verge of a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Caoimhe O’Neill

I have to be honest, I’m running out of things to say/sneer about. That always seems to happen when I get to Bournemouth.

Fulham

Hello ambivalence, our old friend. No senior signings (unless you count 34-year-old backup goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte), a head coach constantly linked with other clubs and some of the most expensive regular-season tickets in world sport — no wonder Fulham fans are getting twitchy. Still, at least the away kit is nice.

Justin Guthrie

Ambivalence is underrated IMO. Ambivalence means no hope and therefore no despair. Ambivalence means a look of cool, ironic detachment which would doubtless work very well in that away strip; lime green with a hint of no f***s given.

West Ham United

Some sensible signings, I think, in Mads Hermansen and Kyle Walker-Peters, but otherwise it’s as you were, which was not particularly inspiring. Even though people were pretty happy when Graham Potter replaced Julen Lopetegui, it was a difficult time to come in and things didn’t really improve. There’s nothing shiny and new to get excited about and so the apathy and dirge hasn’t been replaced.

Benji Lanyardo

Benji is a regular, brilliant contributor to The Totally Football Show and has done me a massive favour with this response, so I’m not going to offer any criticism or mockery. Purely by coincidence, The Apathy and Dirge is the name of my local pub.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Remind us, what is hope? It’s not a phenomenon that we often see in the Black Country, although there were a few rare sightings in the Wolverhampton area during six successive wins towards the end of last season. Now, after the loss of Wolves’ two best players and an underwhelming set of signings so far, Wolves fans (and possibly head coach Vitor Pereira) are staring nervously into their Banks’s Bitter.

Steve Madeley

Why do I need to remind you, Steve? Haven’t you been paying attention? It’s the whole point of this whole bloody piece. Hope is genuinely awful, much like this whole bloody piece.

Newcastle United

You can only admire those 19 per cent of Newcastle fans whose optimism remains intact following the most destabilising of summers (for the second successive year). Player rejection after player rejection in the transfer market? We can deal with that. No sporting director and an outgoing CEO? No sweat. And their star striker doing everything possible to force his way out of the club? Things will be fine once the season kicks off. Promise. We’re not worried at all…

Chris Waugh

True story: I worked for The Times for 21 years before being hired by The Athletic. After I left, I discovered that my editors there had a nickname for me: the Pope of Mope. This was because I reported on north-east football — Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough — and for large chunks of my spell there, north-east football was a wasteland.

The very strong intimation is that I was nourished by this wasteland. I grew and blossomed in it.

Last season, Newcastle won their first trophy in my lifetime. Wembley was a tear-streaked masterpiece. It all felt so very hopeful. It was also way beyond my skill set. Give me hardship and bad decisions and I can churn out gore-flecked words in 30 minutes, crammed with pain and fury and gorgeous disappointment.

Give me glory and… well, I’m bereft.

So hand me my misery cloak. Pass me my pen of doom. Gather ye, oh clouds of despondency, rain blood down onto Gallowgate and soak the ground red. Let it shake. My time cometh again and hope withers in my presence.

(Header illustration: Kelsea Petersen / The Athletic; Darren Walsh; photos: Getty, Serena Taylor / Getty)