Hello, this is international football commentator Derek Ray, your Premier League preview for the 2025, 2025, 2026 season here on Ranks FC.

It's your favourite transatlantic football podcast.

My name's Jack Collins and joining me

across the waters. The one and only Mr. Dean Jones. Hey, do you. Hello, mate. Yeah, am I all right?

I don't think I am actually. I'm started to, uh, started to worry about what I said about

Man United and Belabor and whether they're actually going to finish fifth since we recorded the

last show. I'm like, I've gone, I've gone too far. I've taken this too far.

Because if they don't get him, then you're right. They're eighth or ninth.

And I've over-egged it. But whatever. Whatever.

You were basing it on the premise that they get a central midfield area.

Yeah. I bet the thing is like, it's a lot of money, isn't it?

And I keep going back over, it's like, but it means, I know I'm being told that, like,

well, they're going to make the office, like, but this is Brighton.

I keep forgetting that this is Brighton, and you don't just get their players out easily.

So, like, I've kind of backtracked in my mind on it. So sorry, everyone. Mani United are going to be in this conversation too, the relegated team. This is it. So we did the top of the table, the European race. I think we did a little bit of a disservice, I think, to the likes of Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth and potentially Crystal Palace as well. But we're going to discuss them in part two when we come on to sort of where the established order are. But before we get to that, I think it's probably time to do a little bit on the promoted sides. Now, obviously, in the last couple of weeks, I've talked quite extensively about Leeds and Sunderland and how I quite like their squad building, what they're putting together. It doesn't mean that it's guarantees of survival or anything of the sort. I think that right now, as I'm looking at it, that Leeds to me look like they have the best chance of survival of the three promoted sides in terms of what they've done. Obviously, Dominic Calvert-Lew inside today, it'd be really good if they could get 10 games out of DCL, I think probably at this point in this career. But I assume that's a contract that they've signed there based on incentives rather than a massive weekly wage because it would be insane, basically, to do anything but that at this point. If leads get the attacking reinforcements they need, I feel like they're the ones most likely to finish 15th, right? Like they're the ones that can be like, okay, cool, we're actually going to kick ourselves through. Sundel and I think of the most boom or bust of the entire operation here. Now, obviously the team that comes up through the playoffs is usually at a disadvantage anyway, but I think the Sunden are in a really interesting place with how young their squad is with some of the team that comes up through the playoffs is usually a disadvantage anyway, but I think

there's something that are in a really interesting place with how young their squad is with some of the

players that they've brought in and kind of where they're supposed to be at. I worry for Burnley

though. And obviously we've seen Scott Parker come up with both Fulham and Bournemouth and

struggle to put together a team that felt capable of fighting for survival

in different kind of ways.

Obviously, he didn't have quite as long at Bournemouth, but his Fulham team that were

relegated felt like they couldn't score any goals.

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