Are you looking to get into the Premier League for the 2026/27 season? Here's everything you need to know about English football’s most prestigious competition.
What is the Premier League?
The Premier League is the highest level of men’s professional football in England. Launched in 1992, it consists of the country’s top 20 clubs battling it out to be crowned English champions.
Known for its competitive and compelling football, it is the most-watched sports league in the world, attracting some of football’s biggest stars.
Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer, Bruno Fernandes and 2025/26 Premier League champion Declan Rice currently play in the Premier League, while the likes of David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry all graced the competition in the past.
Last season, matches were live broadcast in 189 of the world’s 193 countries recognised by the United Nations.
Which teams play in the Premier League?
For the first three seasons of the Premier League, there were 22 teams in the competition. That changed ahead of the 1995/96 campaign and there have been 20 ever since.
For 2026/27 those clubs are: AFC Bournemouth, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, and Tottenham Hotspur.
Six clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Man Utd and Spurs – have been ever-present in the Premier League since the competition launched in 1992.
The clubs new to the Premier League for 2026/27 are Coventry, Hull and Ipswich, who were all promoted from the EFL Championship, English football’s second-tier competition.
They replace Burnley, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were relegated from the Premier League last season.
How does the Premier League work?
Every team plays each other twice over the course of the season: once at their home ground and once away at the opposition’s ground.
Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. All teams are ranked in order of points to determine the final standings.
In total, each club plays 38 matches, with a maximum of 114 points up for grabs.
The team that ends the season top of the standings are crowned English champions. There are also a number of places available for teams to qualify for European competitions in the form of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League.
The bottom three teams in the Premier League standings are relegated to the Championship, where they are replaced the following season by those that finish in the top two of the Championship, with the third spot decided by the winner of the Championship playoffs involving six teams who finish third to eighth.
If multiple teams end level on points in the table, they will be separated by goal difference, which is the difference between how many goals they have scored during the season and how many goals have been scored against them.
If teams are still level, they will be ranked according to goals scored, head-to-head record and then away goals scored in head-to-head matches.
What are the big talking points this season?
Arsenal claimed their first Premier League title in 22 years last season as they pipped rivals Man City to top spot, after a number of near misses. They became the third different team to win the Premier League title in the last three years, after Man City (2023/24) and Liverpool (2024/25).
Now, Arsenal are hoping to do something they’ve never achieved before and go back-to-back in the Premier League. Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd are the only three teams to have won successive titles since the league's 1992 inception.
Meanwhile, out of the 20 Premier League clubs, NINE have changed their manager since the end of last season, which is a record number in an off-season.
The nine managers who are new to the Premier League or have switched clubs are: Marco Rose (Bournemouth), Xabi Alonso (Chelsea), Pierre Sage (Crystal Palace), Alvaro Arbeloa (Fulham), Gary O’Neil (Ipswich), Andoni Iraola (Liverpool), Enzo Maresca (Man City), Matthias Jaissle (Newcastle) and Oliver Glasner (Nottingham Forest).
Additionally, Michael Carrick (Man Utd) and Roberto De Zerbi (Tottenham Hotspur) take over for their first full season at Old Trafford and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, respectively, having taken charge during the last campaign.
Also notable is that Coventry will play Premier League football for the first time since the 2000/01 season. The Sky Blues have been in the lower leagues for the last 25 years, including a brief spell in League Two (three levels below the Premier League) but they are back in the top flight after finishing top of the Championship last season.
While promoted sides often go straight back down, two of the three teams stayed up last season. Leeds finished eight points clear of the relegation zone, while Sunderland finished as high as seventh and qualified for Europe.
What do you get for winning the Premier League?
Arsenal's title win earned them the coveted Premier League Trophy.
In fact, there are actually two trophies, which are identical and include an engraved base detailing past Premier League champions.
During the season, one stays with the Premier League winners, while the other is used by the league.
The Premier League offers no specific prize fund for winning the competition. Instead, the team that finishes top receives the highest amount from the Premier League’s "central payments", based on a sliding scale according to finishing position.
The champions receive 20 times the basic merit payment, the club finishing second 19 times, and so on, down to the club finishing bottom receiving one times the merit payment.
Premier League champions also gain a place in the UEFA Champions League and a spot in English football’s traditional curtain-raiser, the FA Community Shield, against the winners of the FA Cup.
How can I watch and follow the Premier League?
Your No 1 destination for all things Premier League is the official Premier League app.
Features include Matchday Live for the latest updates, Matchday stories from every game, and myPremierLeague, which allows you to shape your app and alerts around the players, clubs and matches that matter most to you.
You will also find the AI-assisted Premier League Companion, Premier League Radio, the Premier League Archive of highlights, and much more.
Outside of the app, Premier League football is aired live across the world. You can see here which broadcaster is covering each match in your territory, to watch or listen to.
Which Premier League team should I support?
With 20 clubs to choose from there is a team for everyone.
If in the United Kingdom, you may choose to support a team based on where you live. For the 2026/27 campaign, London, for example, has six teams: Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Spurs.
Those in the Midlands could go for Aston Villa, Coventry or Nottingham Forest, while the North East is represented by Newcastle and Sunderland.
If you live outside of the UK, you may find an affinity to a particular club based on their player history: For example, Man City signed the first, and to date only, Uzbekistan national in Premier League history when they landed defender Abdukodir Khusanov from French side Lens in January 2025.
If red is your favourite colour then you could choose a team whose home shirt is red. Nineteen Premier League titles have been won by teams in red, with the remaining 15 claimed by those in blue.
What are the rules?
You can find the Premier League Rules in full via the Premier League Handbook. Read here.
For the International Football Association Board (IFAB) Laws of the Game, click here.
There are in fact some law changes new for 2026/27. Take a look at them below.
Fantasy Premier League
For the full Premier League experience, you can sign up to play Fantasy Premier League.
It’s a free-to-play game where you win points based on the real-life performances of players in the Premier League. You pick the team, and if one of your players scores a goal, or assists one, or keeps a clean sheet, you get Fantasy points.
You can have Haaland, Fernandes and Palmer all in one squad - your very own dream team - and you can buy and sell players during the season.
You'll move up and down the world rankings based on your performance (more than 13million people played last season, a record). And more importantly, you can create private mini-leagues where you're just competing against your family, friends or work colleagues.