Joe Cole predicts Arsenal to finish 4th; Owen Hargreaves backs Manchester United to be 7th as both players name final 2025/26 Premier League table

Former Premier League stars Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves have predicted where Arsenal and Manchester United will finish in the league table in the upcoming campaign. The Gunners ended the 2024-25 season on second placed for the third season running, finishing 10 points behind champions Liverpool.

The north London side scored 69 goals, the third-most in the league behind the Reds and Manchester City, who finished third. Arsenal conceded just 34 goals in 38 games, the lowest in the Premier League.

Manchester United, meanwhile, finished 15th in the league table last season, 42 points behind the champions. The Red Devils scored just 44 goals, the fifth lowest in the league behind Everton and the three relegated teams.

Cole and Hargreaves recently sat with TNT Sports to predict the league table for the 2025-26 season. They both tipped Liverpool to successfully defend the league title, and backed Manchester United to improve their league position.

However, neither them believe that the Red Devils will finish in the top four. While Cole put Amorim's team on ninth place, Hargreaves placed his former team on seventh position in the final league table.

Arsenal have shown signs of improvements in recent seasons, and Hargreaves backed Mikel Arteta's men will finish second once again. However, Cole believes that the Gunners to end up fourth, and placed Manchester City on second and Chelsea on third. Hargreaves, meanwhile, backed City to finish third and the Blues to end up fourth once again.

Who have Arsenal and Manchester United signed so far this summer?

Manchester United and Arsenal have both strengthened their squads over the summer. The Red Devils signed Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of the transfer window.

Paraguayan left-back Diego Leon arrived at Old Trafford from Cerro Porteno before Bryan Mbeumo joined Ruben Amorim's roster from Brentford last month. Recent reports have suggested that Manchester United are hot on the heels of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have already added six new faces to their squad so far. Mikel Arteta has signed Kepa Arrizabalaga and Noni Madueke from Chelsea, and Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad.

Cristhian Mosquera was added from Valencia, while Christian Norgaard arrived from Brentford. The Gunners also roped in Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting to spearhead their attack next season. The Swedish ace registered 54 goals and 13 assists from 52 games across competitions for the Portuguese club last season.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9500 articles for the website, and has garnered close to 21 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Deepungsu Pandit