​A new era of the Premier League begins on Friday as defending champions Arsenal kick off what looks to one of the most unpredictable seasons in years. Pep Guardiola’s departure from Manchester City following a decade of dominance coincides with Arsenal’s return as defending champions for the first time 22 years. Mikel Arteta is now the longest-serving Premier League manager and the relative stability at the Gunners comes in sharp contrast to the upheaval across the top-flight. Nine Premier League clubs have changed managers over the summer, while Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi begin their first full seasons at Manchester United and Tottenham, respectively. There are many unknowns across the Premier League, with Andoni Iraola taking charge of Liverpool and Xabi Alonso arriving at Chelsea. Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City were promoted from the Championship last season, replacing the relegated West Ham, Burnley and Wolves, and will hope to take inspiration from a Sunderland who qualified for Europe last term in their first season back in the top-flight. How does it play out this time? This is our predicted table… 20 – Hull CityLast season: Promoted via play-offs A very warm welcome back to Hull and apologies in advance for your ranking. But Hull’s return to the Premier League comes after one of the strangest promotion seasons in history. According to Opta, Sergej Jakirovic’s side ranked 23rd in the Championship in expected points, but defied those underlying metrics to not only avoid relegation to League One but reach the play-offs and secure promotion by beating Middlesbrough at Wembley (after Southampton were kicked out, of course). Despite a busy window of comings and goings, Hull are relegation favourites and this could be a long campaign. Hull City are back in the Premier League just two seasons after finishing 21st in the Championship (PA)19 – Ipswich TownLast season: Championship runners-upIpswich get an immediate shot back at the Premier League after their rather forgettable relegation in 2024-25. It’s brought a change of approach, too. Deviating from hoovering up the best of the Championship and broadening their net has led to the club-record signing of striker Emersonn from Toulouse and Daizen Maeda from Celtic. But will that be enough? Gary O’Neil, formerly of Bournemouth and Wolves, still has a huge job on his hands after taking over from Kieran McKenna – who confirmed he needed a break from football after three promotions and a relegation in four seasons, while perhaps also sensing the size of the challenge ahead. Gary O’Neil left Strasbourg to take charge of Ipswich following the sudden resignation of the popular Kieran McKenna (Getty)18 – Coventry City Last season: Championship winners Of the three promoted sides, it feels as if Coventry have the most momentum behind them, due to ending their 25-year absence from the Premier League and the emotion of last season’s unexpected promotion campaign under