It’s now less than a month until the new Premier League campaign gets underway, with all 20 teams kickstarting their pre-season preparations, whether that be at home or abroad.
West Midlands sides Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers will be determined to kick on in 2025/26 after superb ends to the 2024/25 season. Villa were disappointed to narrowly miss out on Champions League football but secured Europa League qualification with an impressive sixth-placed finish after a mega winning run. Wolves, meanwhile, survived relegation by a healthy 17-point margin.
The target for Villa will undoubtedly be to thrust themselves back into the top five, though that could be tricky with financial resources limited and several high-earning players expected to be sold to help comply with UEFA’s squad cost rules (SCR). Wolves, on the other hand, will be targeting a mid-table finish or better and have funds to play with following the lucrative sales of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Other battles to keep an eye on will be the title fight and relegation scrap. Liverpool will be eager to retain their crown but are likely to be challenged by Arsenal, Manchester City and possibly Chelsea, whereas Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland will be keen to escape the newly-promoted curse by surviving relegation back to the Championship.
With the 2025/26 campaign being tipped to be one of the most competitive ever, it’s almost impossible to predict how things will turn out. That’s where artificial intelligence can come in handy and there has already been a Supercomputer prediction, brought to us by AceOdds.
The data, collated through a probability model, is not determined by human predictions or bias. What happens is the Supercomputer estimates the outcome of each remaining fixture based on a team’s current strength - based on factors such as league position and form - and betting market odds.
Here’s where the Supercomputer is tipping the West Midlands clubs to finish compared to their rivals...
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13. 8th: Man Utd
The Red Devils are tipped for major improvement but 8th would still represent a disappointment for the Red Devils | Getty Images
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14. 7th: Tottenham
Spurs are tipped to improve their 17th place finish from last season in their first campaign under Thomas Frank | Getty Images
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15. 6th: Aston Villa
Unai Emery's men are being tipped for another close finish to the Champions League spots while just missing out | AFP via Getty Images

16. 5th: Newcastle United
The Magpies are forecast to finish in the top five again, it will not be confirmed until later in the season if fifth place will be a Champions League spot again | Getty Images
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