I feel that this is the start of the season, so it is indeed very difficult to gauge performance, and sometimes there are surprises, but as time goes on and the schedule becomes more packed with other competitions, especially for big clubs, everything will return to normal as before.
Liverpool and Arsenal remain among the top favorites for the title, especially since they were the EPL champions last season, and Arsenal has been a consistent runner-up in recent seasons. Therefore, it’s only natural that they remain among the frontrunners in the title race.
However, on the other hand, Liverpool still need to be cautious about their performance because in their first two matches, although they secured three points, they struggled against teams that were strong defensively. This is something they need to learn from and implement a better strategy in the end.
Other clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea are also currently working to make the competition more exciting, even though Manchester City lost control in the previous week, their chances are still very high.
It is quite difficult for any team to maintain consistency and keep their players performing well, especially when faced with a busy schedule and the constant threat of injuries. So the coach must be even more adept at managing his strategy and line-up, both when playing in the domestic league and when facing matches in the European league.
Judging from last season's results, only Liverpool was able to maintain impressive performances despite a packed schedule, although their consistency eventually faltered when they reached the Champions League round of 16.
Returning to 2025/26, the competition this season will be even tighter, with surprises coming not only from the big teams and underdogs, but possibly even from promoted clubs such as Sunderland, who have immediately improved their squad upon returning to the top flight of English football. As for Manchester City, I believe that Pep's era may be coming to an end, so the club must consider a coaching change for the next season, unless Pep can deliver another trophy to Manchester City this season.
I am quite sure that this season will certainly be a little different from last season, especially for Liverpool because seeing from what is happening now, of course we must be aware that the expectations of Liverpool now are much greater than before, especially in view of the trophy as a goal.
Last season there was indeed a trophy goal to be obtained but of course we are aware that the expectations previously had 2 sides just because of the new coach slot and by going to the extreme of doing several things including not bringing in any new players which made a level of pessimism arise. It's different this time because they are one of the clubs that are expected to have the same success as last season which did exceed expectations. So when there is even the slightest mistake including a performance that is not too good then surely this will trigger more attention in the end.
Surprises are always there every season and I'm certainly ready for this kind of condition.