Expectations for the 2026/27 season

BuzzKillington

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Now the transfer business has been done, what are peoples expectations for this season.

I’m expecting some negative predictions because most of you are a bunch of bedwetters, feel free to go ultra negative as it makes it easier for the rest of us to quote you later on in the season.

Im feeling positive about the business we’ve done and the position the team is in, so I’ll try and start this off on a positive note.

League

I reckons we’ll finish second or third, I fancy arsenal might run away with it this year as they have the most stable team and setup. But they were really lucky with injuries last year in the large part, and their best players have been ran into the ground over the last 12 months. So, if we can just stay in and around it come March, number 21 may be on its way.

There’s been a lot of change at most of the other traditional league challengers. I think our fairly restrained business may actually suit us as long as we can get a little lucky with injuries.

Champions league.

I’d be happy to make the knockouts this season. Whilst I’m happy we have decent names to play again and I’m looking forward to it, every game looks both winnable and a potential humbling for different reasons. Regardless I reckon we’ll get some crackers, and not doing that Thursday/Sunday grind will be great regardless.

Cups

We’ll win one of them, not sure which, but I fancy a cup this season.

What are your shouts for this year?
 
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Arsenal do look to be favourites, they have the best defence and midfield and superb cover for both. Their attack is not amazing but is likely good enough, unless they get a big injury to Saka or Havertz or similar.

City look next best. None of their transfers look good value for money but Anderson and Fernandez are clearly good players and Ndiaye gives them a more natural option for the right... seems like Doku and Semenyo are better from the left and not sure where Foden plays. Weird they didn't try to get a new right back though.

After that, not sure. Liverpool should be favourites for third logically, but every time I watch them they look leaky. Maybe if they get Bradley back for the right and Kerkez shows more of his Bournemouth form they will be better. Jacquet looks decent. Barcola will be flashy but I don't think he solves their main issues.

We have overall good quality... maybe the best for a while, but concerns over both full backs and a bit of a lack of depth up front. Really not sure about the Baleba signing tbh. Chelsea won't be far off, they look good in attack but not sure about the rest. Spurs and Villa have spent crazy money and some of their new signings will be real duds I think. Both might be a mess to begin with but could be useful in the second half of the season. Goals could be an issue for them. Villa have the benefit of a much smarter manager. I expect De Zerbi to get sacked by half way. Newcastle have done some decent business and might be better than last year. Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton all look decent. Sunderland, Fulham and Everton should be safe but a bit dull. Forest and Leeds have strengthened and should stay up. Palace might be relegated. The new teams will mostly struggle I think, but there are some interesting new players in the mix especially at Ipswich and Hull.

CL - we will win some and lose some, doubt we get past the QFs. Bayern, PSG, Arsenal, Real, Barcelona, City etc. will be amongst it.

Cups - no idea, can't be worse than last year.
 
Bonkers saying we’ll finish second
We’ll be in and around top 4-6, defence is far too easy to play against, it would work for a lower team parking the bus but we’ll get caught on the break often. Strikers will need to bail us out so can see us winning and losing lots without many draws
 
I think we’ll finish anywhere from 3rd to 5th. Despite the negativity we do have a good squad and Dorgu may even end up a left back anyway - that’s where he was playing when we signed him. Defensive injuries could feck us up though.
 
I'll start with ultra negative.

League - between 4th - 8th... take your pick

Champions league - bottom half of table somewhere. Knocked out whenever first opportunity presents itself.

Domestic Cups - might go on a cup run of sorts but won't win any of them.
 
Just get to the CL again man. The tables have completely turned between us & Arsenal now. They play for league titles while we are hoping to be in the CL again
 
you know luke shaw will get injured and dorgu is pretty offensive so we will drop points in the league because of our failure to sign a proper lb

4th finish behind Arsenal, City, and maybe Chelsea or a surprise
decent cup runs, up to semi at least
probably not a great showing in the UCL
 
I think as soon as the season starts to settle we’ll look pretty solid for top 4 and hopefully have a good cup run.

Our transfer window isn’t the absolute shambles doom and gloom everyone is saying. There’s still a major hole to fill in LB. But we have likely fixed the biggest problem which was our midfield. It was a solid window. Now the window is over we can stop spinning out about the window and just focus on the actual sport at hand. (I think a lot of people on forums live for transfers).

I can see us revisiting LB and striker in jan depending on how the season goes. But I think we have enough for the first half of the season to make a start. We just need players back to fitness and some consistency and we’re golden.

Our best team and our second string team are pretty good.

Sesko
Cunha - Bruno - Amad
Mainoo - Baleba (we’ll see what our best midfield is soon)
Shaw - Lisandro - De Ligt - Dalot
Lammens

Mbeumo
Rashford/Dorgu - Mount (probably not) - Lacey
Santos - Tielemans
Maz/Amass - Heaven - Maguire - Maz/Yoro (based in pre season)
Darlow

Obviously there’s a few major sick notes there. But some may just come back from injury and be fine again (Fingers Crossed De Ligt). And others can be purely rotational for cup games (Mount).

That should get us to Jan just fine. Yes it’s not us challenging for the prem, but that’s just where we are. And I don’t think a strong LB and backup striker would have even got us challenging yet event then.
 
Mickeza said:
I think we’ll finish anywhere from 3rd to 5th. Despite the negativity we do have a good squad and Dorgu may even end up a left back anyway - that’s where he was playing when we signed him. Defensive injuries could feck us up though.
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Agree with this.

Mbeumo and Cunha are coming into their peak years
Mainoo and Sesko a year on in development
Hopefully Dorgu, Yoro and Heaven too.

Midfield should be more functional than last season, though we likely won't be as strong from set pieces.

Depth might be an issue if injuries hit but most sides have that.
 
Let's hope 5th gets champions League again, even that will be tough to get

Champions League will be shambles, am ready for some dire experiences in Europe

We are not winning any of the domestic cups

There isn't anything we do consistently well to sustain a successful season.

We will have good runs but the lack of quality and consistency in important areas will bite back at us
 
6th in the league, I think the squad won't be able to manage UCL + EPL without significant injuries and there will not be any investment in January
Will get knocked out in the UCL first round, after finishing mid-table
Will be out of Carabao Cup vs Brighton
FA Cup will be a solid run
 
The depth is what worries me. We are going to be playing more games this season and quite literally need our players to stay injury free otherwise it’s looking threadbare. I’d take 4th (5th if it’s CL) this season. CL is just a glamorous bonus, just see how far we can go without any specific expectations. Would be nice to win a domestic cup but won’t be surprised if we exit that too.
 
No way anyone being pessimistic is being quoted at the end of the season

That hasn’t happened 9 out of the last 10 years
 
Somewhere between third and fifth in the league, early knock-outs in the Champions' League, Brighton banana skin in the League Cup, quarter final in the FA Cup.

A back-up striker to come in during the January window.
 
6th.

The betting markets have us as the 5th most likely team to finish in the top four.

And while I wouldn't bet on any individual one of the teams below that (Brentford, Brighton, Spurs, Newcastle, Villa) to finish ahead of us, I'd probably now back that field against us given our failure to strengthen any positon other than CM.

With the squad we have, in addition to an unproven manager, there are a lot of different ways things could go badly wrong.

My big hope for the league would be less what we do, and more the possibiity of a team like Liverpool imploding. Because while I'm not happy with the position we're in, I do recognise that it's a generally volatile year.
 
4-6 sounds right. Get to the CL knock-outs, scrape through a round or two of knockouts... Qualifying for next year is more important, however that happens. A good domestic cup run would be by far the best chance of winning a pot... although even dropping to the EL might not be so bad pot-wise and also CL-qualification-wise. Plus I think we owe that fkn tournament one. Still haven't got over those two finals, they hurt far more than those two Barcelona CL final defeats. At least we lost to a great team in those.
 
We will come 6th, make it to the 1/4 finals of domestic cups and probably in Europe too.

After the transfer window we've just had that would be an "as expected" season I'd say and anything better would be an over achievement.

The big caveat on that is if our best team on paper stays fit and we sign a left back in January we could feasibly win a cup and finish top 4.

Lammens
Dalot De Ligt Martinez Winterwindow LB
Baleba Mainoo
Amad/Mbuemo Bruno Cunha/Rashford
Sesko
 
RedEarth said:
4-6 sounds right. Get to the CL knock-outs, scrape through a round or two of knockouts... Qualifying for next year is more important, however that happens. A good domestic cup run would be by far the best chance of winning a pot... although even dropping to the EL might not be so bad pot-wise and also CL-qualification-wise. Plus I think we owe that fkn tournament one. Still haven't got over those two finals, they hurt far more than those two Barcelona CL final defeats. At least we lost to a great team in those.
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There’s no dropping into the Europa from the CL anymore
 
Before the start of the season I thought 3rd but I didn't think there was any possibility we wouldn't at a minimum sign a lb and I thought we'd sign a backup striker too. I think Chelsea will finish ahead of us now in addition to Arsenal and City who I already expected to finish above us. I still think Liverpool are rubbish so that's the one good thing, but I also think there are some very good midtable teams ready to step up. I'm hoping we have enough to at least get top 5 and CL football but I'm a lot less confident than I was a couple weeks ago. Chances of winning a cup are dramatically lower imo.
 
We have a lot of talented youngsters. Hope to see good improvements from them this year, with signs that they can be part of a title challenging team. Hopefully we'll be good enough to keep our CL spot.
Lammens (22), Yoro (21), Heaven (20), Mainoo (21), Baleba (22), Santos (22), Amad (24), Sesko (22) is a good group of young players, and maybe Lacey, Gabriel etc. can add to that.

Then we can wait a year until the correct full backs are available (Hall?, new RB), and see if we need to add a CB, winger or striker as well. Reminds me of how Arsenal were building with young Ødegaard, Saka etc. from the start and then adding quality were they found they needed it.
 
Think it will be harder to come 3rd again. Chelsea will benefit from the one game a week like we did and Arsenal and City are still ahead, so I expect that's your top 3.

4th or 5th probably. Spurs obviously have the new signings but will take time for them to gel and Liverpool have even more gaps than us.
 
Cl - not top 8 but the qualifiers positions

Cups - caraboa probably quarter finals
Fa cup - 5th round

Prem - miss out on CL places after picking up injuries to players who we have no alternative tom

Carrick relived off manager duties. And then we overspend next season for a new manager who is probably completely different to the style of Carrick....

Expectations being different to predictions
 
Between 5th and 9th in the league. Will go out with a whimper in Europe. Squad is much too thin and too many injury prone players. I have huge doubts over the quality of our midfield signings but I’ve already been abused for mentioning that on here after we signed Baleba so don’t fancy getting that again.

Hoping Carrick pulls of a masterclass; the new players prove me wrong and we can push as high as some of you reckon. I’d LOVE that! I genuinely just don’t see it for reasons mentioned above
 
Arsenal and City are out of reach, Chelsea looks way better than last season and not having Europe will help them massively. I think the best we can get is about 4th. My expectation is we'll finish anywhere between 4th and 8th.
 
This reminds me of ETH's second season where we finished 8th. Disappointing summer after qualifying for UCL. I do think though this team is better than in ETH era.
There are 3 teams which will finish definitely ahead of us in the league - Arsenal, City, Chelsea. In a more optimistic scenario we fight with Liverpool for 4th and finish there or 5th and qualify for UCL. More pessimistic is 6-8 range.

It's a good thing that Villa is weaker this year, Newcastle imploded and Spurs still seem to struggle even after spending a fortune. I'll be slightly optimistic and say 5th.

In UCL, we'll play R32(finish 9-24 in the group phase), probably pass that and exit in R16.
 
When you aim for the league, you usually finish in CL places. That's what Arsenal, City, and Liverpool usually do, and that's what Chelsea have been trying to do. And when you spend to just stay in the CL, you usually finish in the EL places. That's mostly us, Villa, Newcastle.

This year, Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and wildcard Spurs have all spent like they want to win the league. Newcastle have fallen off, but Villa and us have spent like we are happy to just stay in the CL.

So in the league, given that we no longer have the one game a week advantage and other sides do, this is my guess

1 - Arsenal
2 - City
3 - Liverpool
4 - Chelsea
5 - Spurs
6 - United
7 - Villa

We don't have the squad depth or quality to finish in CL places, not unless Bruno has another player of the year season.

Perhaps preseason and game one was not a good marker, but I also don't think we have the mental fortitude to want the game more and go for it to win key knockout games, something seen in the cups last year as well. We're just an underdog team. So no expectations in cups either. And definitely none in the CL.
 
I'm confident we'll have a good season.

A few young players need to step up though, Yoro especially. Time to deliver on the early hype. He needs to show something.
 
5th. There's no doubt in my mind we're going to have a defensive injury crisis this season.
 
Somewhere 6-8th imo. I think an under appreciated concern is that our best midfield, just speaking in roles, is Baleba + one of the 3. Way too much pressure on one player to produce after a terrible season, and we have no one even close to being capable of replicating his role.
 
We have one world class player. Bruno Fernandes. We have some very good players that are not at an elite level but should contribute to a top 5 finish. That should be the expectation, though it could be tough.

If I’m being honest it’s a squad that looks solid but it doesn’t fill me with confidence for the future especially against inveterate cheaters City and a really strong Arsenal squad. A lot depends on our young players really developing into top class players- never a guaranteed thing but you never know. I certainly hope they do.
 
I’m surprised by the optimism of your post Buzz. We’ve played 2 of the easiest games of the season and looked awful in 1.5 of them (second half vs Ipswich being the massive exception)

I think we’ve got our midfield rebuild wrong as all our best combinations require Baleba to play to give it athleticism - think we should’ve got 2 athletics ones and then either Tielemens / Santos.

I feel we’ve stood still in many aspects this summer when I think if we got this summer right we could’ve cemented ourselves back in top 4.

Instead I think we will be competing with Liverpool, Villa, Newcastle, Brentford for it.

I think it’ll be
1 Arsenal
2 City
3 Chelsea

Big Gap.

Then us lot competing for 4th I wouldn’t be that shocked if Brentford manage it - no Europe, held onto their squad and made 2 good additions
 
Gandalf Greyhame said:
When you aim for the league, you usually finish in CL places. That's what Arsenal, City, and Liverpool usually do, and that's what Chelsea have been trying to do. And when you spend to just stay in the CL, you usually finish in the EL places. That's mostly us, Villa, Newcastle.

This year, Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and wildcard Spurs have all spent like they want to win the league. Newcastle have fallen off, but Villa and us have spent like we are happy to just stay in the CL.

So in the league, given that we no longer have the one game a week advantage and other sides do, this is my guess

1 - Arsenal
2 - City
3 - Liverpool
4 - Chelsea
5 - Spurs
6 - United
7 - Villa

We don't have the squad depth or quality to finish in CL places, not unless Bruno has another player of the year season.

Perhaps preseason and game one was not a good marker, but I also don't think we have the mental fortitude to want the game more and go for it to win key knockout games, something seen in the cups last year as well. We're just an underdog team. So no expectations in cups either. And definitely none in the CL.
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I think we’ll struggle massively in Europe and go out at round of 32 so early February, think we go out of both cups very early like Brighton in Carabo Cup and Fa Cup 4th or 5th Round so I’m anticipating 52 Matches and therefore we will be ok in EPL.

Can’t see Spurs or Villa finishing that high, think Brentford, Brighton, Everton and Leeds pose bigger threats.

The EPL comes down to wins and Carrick seems to have something about him to have a 60% win rate at the end of the season, his team will score goals but they will also concede plenty!

If we assume that he wins 60% of his 36 games left, that’s 21 wins from 36 matches, most of them will be at home. Even if he loses 10 more and draws 5 that’s 71 points which will comfortably in the top 3/4.

Why am I so confident because he seems to know what he wants and so far he managed United in 22 matches I don’t count friendlies, he has 15 wins 4 draws and 3 Defeats, he currently has a 68% win rate overall or 67% in the PL with 14 out of 21 wins.

He also has an awful lot of firepower in this squad plus I believe that young attacking players like Shea Lacey, T Thompson, Victor Musa, Noah Ajai, JJ Gabriel, Abragimov and Jayden Kamarson are all coming through.

Let’s get behind Carrick, he’s been let down massively but he gets the club and is going to have a real go trying to play attacking football and at times, we will be awful but in other spells we’re play some exhilarating football!
 
I'd expect top 5 and solid cup runs. Depends on CL draw but aim for the quarter finals across all competitions basically. Don't think we have the squad for anything more, but with some luck you can have a deep cup run
 
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