Games Ladbrokes predicts an upset in for the 2025/26 Premier League season

With the 2025/26 Premier League fixtures now released, Ladbrokes' team of writers have predicted the games in which fans may expect to see a big upset.

One of the best things about the Premier League is that, no matter the strength of the top teams, even the sides right at the bottom of the table can cause an upset on their day.

Premier League fans have been treated to a plethora of shock wins over the last few seasons, and we expect the forthcoming season to be no different.

One of the biggest games taking place on the opening weekend of the 2025/26 Premier League season sees Arsenal travel to Manchester on August 17 to play Man United.

In 2005, suggesting that Man United taking points off Arsenal wouldn't have been a wild prediction, but fast forward 20 years and many think it's a formality that the Gunners take six points from their two games against the Red Devils.

Man United finished in the bottom half of the Premier League last season, closer to the relegation zone than the top of the table, while Arsenal battled Liverpool for the Premier League title, ultimately falling short.

With a full summer to prepare and Arsenal still finding their feet, our team of writers is predicting that Man United at least draw against Arsenal on the opening weekend, potentially even winning.

One of the biggest games of the 2025/26 Premier League season takes place on April 18 when Liverpool play Everton in the first-ever Merseyside Derby at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The game may be taking place towards the end of the season in 2026, but our team of experts already predicts that Everton may have a surprise for Liverpool, who are favourites to win the title come the end of the season.

Liverpool lost and drew in their last two games at Goodison Park, and while Everton's new stadium may not have the same hostile atmosphere as their former home, they do always manage to pull something out of the bag when they face the Reds.

On paper, sides promoted to the Premier League from the Championship should be the easiest to play against, but that's rarely how things work out in England's top-flight.

Promoted sides always have a surprise or two up their sleeves when it comes to playing one of the biggest sides in the division, and our team of writers think that Leeds could end up pulling something out of the bag when they face Man City at Elland Road.

The game takes place on February 28 and could be one of the fixtures were Leeds, who are one of the favourites to get relegated, surprise one of the big teams.

From one promoted side to another, Ladbrokes also thinks that Sunderland may be able to take something from Newcastle in the first Premier League Tyne–Wear derby in nearly a decade.

Despite also being one of the teams who the bookies think are likely to get relegated come May 2026, Sunderland are going to be more than up for their game against their North-East rivals at the Stadium of Light on December 13.

In fact, it'll be the game that fans of Sunderland probably looked for first when the fixture list was published, so don't be surprised to see a fiesty derby between the two, with the Black Cats getting something from the game.

Tottenham sacked Ange Postecoglu weeks after the Australian boss won the Europa League, replacing him with Thomas Frank shortly afterwards.

We're expecting Frank to do well in North London, but the final game in our list of predicted upsets for the forthcoming Premier League season is for Brentford to beat Spurs when the Dane returns home on December 30.

Brentford's club is built around sustainability, with their data-led approach intended to enable to the club to survivor managerial changes and player departures, so we also expect them to be fine, even after losing their top coach.

Expect a closely-fought contest when the two sides meet in both of their final 2025 games, but our team of experts are tipping Brentford to beat the Champions League club.

View the latest Premier League odds here.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.