Every Premier League Team's Biggest Flaw So Far for the 2026-27 Season

We're five games into the 2026-27 Premier League season, and while teams are still figuring out their identity as they chase their respective targets for the campaign, there are plenty of positives to pick out.

Manchester City are adapting seamlessly to life under new boss Enzo Maresca. Brentford have continued to build on last season's success under the guidance of Keith Andrews. Leeds United have taken things up a notch after securing survival. And Hull City are defying expectations with a low-block and route-one style that makes them frustratingly difficult to beat.

But there are lots of negatives, too, from leaky defenses to stuttering attacks and everything in between.

Ahead, Nick Akerman, Calum Rogers, and Leo Collis have run the rule over every Premier League team and found the biggest flaw of each so far in the young season.

Anything they've missed? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Arsenal spent much of the summer in widely reported chases for Vinícius Júnior and then Julián Alvarez in a bid to upgrade the team's attack. But after losing Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, the only addition to the team's forward line was Christos Tzolis.

The 24-year-old has had a somewhat promising start, but it's still difficult to consider him much of an upgrade over Trossard and Martinelli. So far, Arsenal have had to grind out a couple of tough away games against Aston Villa and Sunderland and were blown away by Brighton and Hove Albion prior to the break.

To make matters worse, Tzolis and Kai Havertz have both picked up injuries over the break that seem likely to at least leave them sidelined for a few weeks. Viktor Gyökeres has only played just over 100 minutes across the Premier League and Champions League this season, and he will now need to swiftly regain Mikel Arteta's trust.

Given recent events concerning fellow challengers Manchester City, Arsenal's attack may not need to be that good to secure another Premier League title. But this group should receive a significant upgrade within the next year, and the Gunners' recruitment work suggests they agree.

In May, he won the Europa League with Aston Villa — an incredible achievement built on a squad with a world-class spine. A few months later, that backbone was decimated, forcing the manager into a quick rebuild after losing key players Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa, Luca Digne, and Emi Martinez.

Despite last weekend's win over last-placed Tottenham, early signs suggest that Emery will be forced to use a number of players whom he didn't fancy last season in greater roles.

Victor Lindelof currently has more minutes on the pitch than any other player, and Ross Barkley has made four starts. It's a serious drop in base quality, with players who are meant to be cup fodder now playing important matches.

Emery is very good at working things out — perhaps too good, making it easier for the board to leave him understaffed. The ceiling has dropped at a time when Villa's schedule has increased with Champions League football, a backward step when the club needed to build on the success of last season.

Bournemouth have dropped nine points from winning positions already this season. Those dropped points would have them level with second-placed Arsenal, but instead they're down in 17th.

The Cherries have also already conceded four goals from the 80th minute onward, and those struggles late in games could be a concern they continue to deal with as their squad gets stretched by Europa League football. Star midfielder Alex Scott has picked up an injury on international duty too, depleting his team further ahead of a run of nine games in 28 days.

Bournemouth dropped the second-most points from winning positions last season too, so this isn't a new problem, and it may be that their frenetic style makes it difficult to slow games down when they have the advantage. It was an issue former manager Andoni Iraola never quite got to grips with on the south coast, and his replacement Marco Rose will have little doubt that he needs to find answers after some heartbreaking late goals against so far.

His team has shown enough promise that there's little need to panic about their slow start, but improving their ability to hold onto leads would make a massive difference.

Brentford: Failing to Get Igor Thiago Involved

Brentford's 2025-26 campaign, which took them to an impressive ninth place, was largely built on Igor Thiago, with the Brazilian notching 22 of the Bees' 55 goals (40%).

His lone goal this season, coming against Chelsea just before the international break, accounts for just 10% of Brentford's successful strikes.

Meanwhile, Fotmob has Thiago on just 23 touches inside the opposition box, or just 4.6 per game, and he's had just four shots on target from 13 attempts.

While it's definitely encouraged that manager Keith Andrews relies a little less on the big No. 9 for their scoring output—with the Brazilian increasingly man-marked and other players getting more space as a result—Thiago should be getting more of a sniff to help the Bees turn draws (three out of five) into victories.

Brentford's approach has so far proved effective, sitting fourth in the table in the early going and still yet to taste defeat, but getting Thiago involved a little more could make them even more convincing. Opening his account in the last game against the Blues might prove to be the kickstart he needed.

It's quite difficult to pick out many flaws with Brighton.

Fabian Hürzeler's side sit third in the Premier League, are the division's top scorers with 16, and thrashed champions Arsenal 3-0 last time out. Oh, and don't forget the Seagulls became the first team to overturn a 2-0 halftime deficit away at Manchester United in 41 years when they won 3-2 in the League Cup earlier this month.

They are, by all means, playing very good football, led by the division's best player right now, Pascal Groß. However, Hürzeler will be well aware that his side tends to start games slowly, conceding too many goals in the opening exchanges.

Roméo Lavia and Pedro Neto had Chelsea 2-0 up within 15 minutes during the first game of the season, with João Pedro adding a third just after the half-hour mark. Brighton had 75% possession and lost 4-3. Jaden Bogle scored in 15 minutes during the next match, a 1-1 draw with Leeds. Shea Lacy and Mason Mount put Man United 2-0 up in 10 minutes at Old Trafford.

While Brighton have shown they are more than capable of fighting back, it's not sustainable to start each match with a deficit, particularly with European football starting when the international break concludes.

Xabi Alonso's Chelsea have conceded more goals than any other side in the Premier League after five matches. Twelve is worse than all three of the promoted clubs, including Ipswich, who shipped five in one match against Man United.

The strength of Chelsea's front three is keeping them in games, but we saw a real dip in potency when João Pedro missed the defeat to Brentford through injury. Both Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer seemed off the pace and could only watch on as the Bees strolled to a momentous 3-0 win that laid bare the issues Alonso needs to address.

His transitional 3-4-3 is typically hard to execute well in the Premier League. Alonso continues to experiment with his wingbacks in search of the Alex Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong of his invincible Bundesliga season with Bayer Leverkusen, but he just doesn't have that lightning-in-a-bottle quality at his disposal.

Part of the issue comes down to the center-backs. While Maxence Lacroix looks a good signing, stationing him between Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana doesn't seem properly balanced. There are no defining traits in the latter two that suggest they could be beaten in a race or in the air by many forwards in the league.

That lack of personality is an issue when Alonso's formation forces everyone to be at the top of their game and exposes anyone who isn't. Like Ruben Amorim's Man United last year, the coach can't be passive about improving their leaky rear end. It'll undermine Chelsea's entire campaign if he is.

Coventry City finally got their first Premier League win since 2001 last time out, with Jay Dasilva breaking free on the left side and finishing with aplomb against Nottingham Forest.

In addition to marking their first three points of the campaign, Dasilva scored the Sky Blues' first goal of the season.

Among a host of incoming players in the summer, preparing for the rigors of top-flight football, a reliable goalscorer was sadly overlooked. Sidiki Cherif might turn out well eventually, but relying on a 19-year-old to carry the scoring burden in his first year of English football might not have been the best strategy. Taiwo Awoniyi, meanwhile, does have Premier League experience, but he hasn't hit double figures in goals in the division since 2022-23.

Haji Wright, who scored 45 goals for Coventry in three seasons in the Championship, might not be back until November after dealing with a thigh problem, and even then, he'll need some time to get up to speed.

The West Midlanders will take confidence from the victory over Forest, but the international break could scupper any momentum. Coventry will need to find goals from somewhere if they have any hope of extending their Premier League stay.

Crystal Palace's domestic home form is pretty worrying.

The Eagles have played two at Selhurst Park this season, conceding seven and accumulating zero points. It's early days, but Pierre Sage has been unable to halt a pattern that saw Oliver Glasner out the door. His team appears tentative to perform in front of their own fans.

It's actually been five home Premier League games without a win if we stretch back to last season. Perhaps it's the quality of the division, because we've seen Palace batter Middlesbrough and Lech Poznan in cup competitions this campaign.

Maybe it's the lack of support from the Holdmesdale Fanatics, who stopped their brilliant, banner-laden frenzy in August out of anger over how the club is treating its fans.

Something is missing when Palace play at Selhurst Park. With one win in five to begin the season, they need to sort it out soon, or else slip into a relegation battle that they may not be equipped to escape.

Everton's unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign comes despite a pretty disastrous transfer window that left David Moyes' squad severely lacking with just 15 senior players.

God forbid Thierno Barry gets injured; the Toffees simply don't have a backup striker after letting Beto leave without securing a replacement on deadline day.

His form has summed up the Merseyside club pretty well; the Frenchman's performance level has increased massively through the first five games, where he's working hard, fighting for every ball and finishing more of the chances that fall his way.

There's a gutsiness to Everton at the moment. They know what people are saying about them; James Tarkowski even noted the outside "noise" during a recent interview. They're sticking together and putting in an excellent shift so far. Just nobody gets injured until at least January.

Things just haven't seemed quite right for Fulham this season. The Press Association described a "social media revolt" in early September that involved players appearing to cryptically express displeasure with the club.

It is worth acknowledging that two of the players, Kevin and Emile Smith-Rowe, have barely featured under new manager Alvaro Arbeloa, but it is concerning how readily they appeared to make their dissatisfaction public.

Perhaps this is all a storm in a teacup that can be resolved by unhappy players being moved on and some improved results—since the controversy, Fulham have drawn with both Liverpool and Manchester United and beaten West Ham United in the Carabao Cup.

But there are concerns about the dressing-room tensions during Arbeloa's time at Real Madrid. BBC Sport reported that Federico Valverde required hospital treatment following a disagreement with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni, although Valverde denied that either player struck the other and said he accidentally hit a table.

After having only collected two points from five games, pressure is building on the Spaniard, and a recovery will only become more difficult if he doesn't have the backing of his players.

Hull City fans are probably sick of hearing about "expected goal" numbers. According to Opta Analyst , the Tigers were the second-worst team in the Championship last season in expected points. If things played out based on how those metrics value chances created and surrendered, Hull would've been relegated to League 1 rather than promoted to the Premier League.

Their overperformance hasn't been quite as stark this season, but Understat 's expected points model has them in 15th, just above Tottenham Hotspur and well below their actual standing of eighth.

These models aren't perfect for assessing a team's quality. There are various factors that can affect an xG total, and a sample size of five games is also too small to draw any significant conclusions.

However, we do know that Hull came into this season looking likely to face a battle to avoid relegation, and the underlying numbers still place them in that range.

Tigers fans have every right to sneer at these projections at this point, and I will gladly accept that I was one of many prognosticators to underestimate them entering the season. But as much as I hate to harsh anyone's buzz, there's still every possibility that things start to tail off even after a spectacular start.

In Ipswich Town's last stint in the Premier League, they didn't pick up a win until November. This time around, they've got two in just five matches, suggesting things might go a little better in 2026-27.

One key to survival will be stopping goals from going in. The Tractor Boys are one of four teams yet to keep a clean sheet, and the only promoted side not to do so.

Shoring up the back line is absolutely crucial, especially as teams start to find their footing and chart effective routes to goal.

Addressing that area of the pitch in January might be sensible, but there are plenty of games to go until the window opens. Finding solutions internally, such as swapping Sasa Lukic for a more mobile destroyer in Florentino or switching to a back five, could plug the leak until a more permanent solution is found.

Leeds United: Having No Calvert-Lewin Backup

Leeds don't have a lot to complain about. They're third in the league, and while that position is unlikely to hold come the end of the season, FotMob's expected-goal numbers still place them firmly in the top half of the table.

So, rather than try to pick holes in what's been a dream start for the Lilywhites, the biggest issue for Leeds is a hypothetical one: the health of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored 14 league goals last season and is on pace for a similar total this season.

Lukas Nmecha would be the most likely player to step in if Calvert-Lewin were unavailable, but the 27-year-old has failed to hold down a starting spot for much of his career, making it difficult to have much faith in his ability to do so in the Premier League.

The club is well aware of the potential issue too. In quotes reported by The Athletic , managing director Robbie Evans explained the difficulty of finding a backup for Calvert-Lewin: "Supporting roles are quite hard to fill because you have to have this Venn diagram: overlapping circles of the right character, the right squad fit, the right price, and be content to be a backup."

"... The number of players who are good enough to play in the league, willing to fight for their spot or be a backup, and fit our long-term profile financially is a very, very small list."

If Leeds can put together another strong season, that list of potential targets could grow. But that possibility will rest squarely on the 29-year-old Calvert-Lewin's availability.

Liverpool are still figuring things out under Andoni Iraola. The Spaniard hasn't quite implemented the hard-pressing, attacking football we saw while he was at Bournemouth, although there have been occasional glimmers of that approach.

Fitness could be an issue, as could adaptation within the squad. But most of all, a sizeable gap in the middle of the park seems to be hurting fluidity and cohesion.

Ryan Gravenberch is out of favor, having started just twice in the Premier League so far. Alexis Mac Allister has improved after taking a step back last season, but he still looks a little bit overwhelmed. Meanwhile, Dominik Szoboszlai has been putting in the hard yards, but when he's in possession, he keeps picking the wrong pass.

As for Florian Wirtz, he still doesn't look up to the task physically, and the line-breaking passes and delicate touches he's capable of remain shockingly absent in his Liverpool career.

Elsewhere, though, the defense looks reborn with Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo, while up front, Alexander Isak has rediscovered his scoring form and Cody Gakpo is a completely different player compared to last season.

The left-hand side still needs some work, with Milos Kerkez erratic and Bradley Barcola adapting, but that midfield chasm is the glaring weakness, and it's harming improvements elsewhere in the XI.

Finding a flaw for the only team with a 100 percent record and one that's sitting at the top of the table is a difficult task.

Concerns over the transition from Pep Guardiola to Enzo Maresca have so far proved overblown, with the Italian manager overseeing a minor rebuild while still picking up impressive wins. Granted, the biggest test so far has been a Manchester derby against neighbors who are in disarray, so maybe we shouldn't be naming them champions-elect just yet.

While Maresca's teams aren't known for swarming all over the pitch, it's still surprising that his side has covered the third-least distance in the Premier League so far this season, running more than seven kilometers per match less than title-holders Arsenal, according to Fotmob .

There is something to be said for effortless control over aimless running, and the approach is obviously proving successful so far. But as teams improve their fitness as the season progresses, City could soon be put under increasing duress with little energy in the tank to respond.

This entire article could be dedicated to Manchester United's flaws. It could have been the full-backs or the inability to break down defenses. Perhaps even Michael Carrick himself could have taken the headline. In typical United fashion, something far more wide-reaching appears to be the main issue.

The Red Devils are just not running. As Sky Sports' stats detailed after the 1-1 draw with Fulham, the squad's out-of-possession numbers are a dismal blend of not working hard enough and ineffective running when they do up the ante. Last in distance at high intensity, last in sprints, 17th in time spent walking.

There may be few confirmed links between these stats and winning matches, but the eye test reveals a lot. United find it hard to shift between gears. The walking at Craven Cottage let Fulham stroll as well, opening up easy passes from the back. Alvaro Arbeloa's side finally looked comfortable in his possession-based style. No other team has let that happen.

United upped their effort after falling behind. Luke Shaw finally ran beyond Marcus Rashford, providing a crossing angle that had otherwise been neglected. Players started to run beyond their markers.

Whether the upped energy was effective or not, it created openings and a greater intensity to claw back a 1-1 draw. Carrick needs more before he's led to the exit.

Between the departures of manager Eddie Howe and long-tenured players Bruno Guimarães, Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier, Newcastle United lost almost 850 games of experience on Tyneside over the summer.

The response to that was to hire a manager in Matthias Jaissle who has never managed in a top European league and to supply him largely with signings aged 24 and under, and with only Nico Gonzalez possessing any Premier League experience.

It was a bold strategy, and results so far have been mixed. The Magpies do sit ninth, but Understat 's expected points model has them as the second-worst team so far based on the quality of chances they've created and surrendered.

The concerns about Newcastle's lack of experience were brought into sharp focus in the 4-1 defeat to Leeds United. Nico was forced off early with an injury, leaving Jaissle to cobble together a midfield of Lewis Miley (20 years old) and Sean Stur (18). Both players struggled to cope with the intensity of the game, and it left their teammates horribly exposed defensively.

It's still early days, and the fact that Newcastle have still picked up results amid all the upheaval this season is some cause for optimism. But there is also enough reason to worry that their recruitment strategy may have left them exposed in a league where experience and physicality are becoming ever more crucial.

Oliver Glasner's Nottingham Forest are 13th in the Premier League, with two wins, two losses and a draw from five games. Only Coventry and Spurs have scored fewer than their four goals. Yet, nobody outside the top eight has conceded fewer goals. They've drawn with Liverpool, beaten Villa, and lost to Coventry.

All of this is to say, Glasner's first few weeks in charge have been wildly inconsistent. He's a demanding coach who brings a new 3-4-2-1 formation to the club, sure, but the differences in Forest's performances have been as wide as the results.

Perhaps a greater sample size is needed before judgment goes too deep on this team. Glasner sides tend to get rolling after a while. Forest have real quality packed into the starting XI, with Morgan Gibbs-White, Daniel Muñoz and others who speak to the Glasner way of playing.

Right now, it's hard to tell whether the team is going to fight for a great result or throw a match away, a pattern that needs to become just a quirk of the new tenure getting up to speed, rather than a character flaw in the squad.

It might not be so obvious, given Sunderland got three past Manchester City last time out in a 5-3 defeat, but the Black Cats aren't making the most of their big chances.

According to Fotmob , the 15 notable opportunities the Wearsiders have spurned account for the most in the Premier League, two more than Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace in joint second.

What makes that figure even more disappointing, compared with the Seagulls, is that the south-coasters have scored 16, while the Black Cats have just six goals (half of them against City).

It's not just down to one player, either. Five players have missed two big chances each, while another five have also spurned one major goal opportunity.

Sunderland haven't gotten off to the same fast start as last season, when they were up to seventh after five games and had picked up eight points—they are 14th and have four points after five games in 2026-27. Making the most of those big chances is imperative to ensure that they don't regress.

The selection here was not difficult: Tottenham's record of five Premier League games played and two goals scored would be shocking even if they hadn't spent over $400 million supposedly upgrading the team over the summer.

Spurs will be hoping things improve as players get to grips with Roberto De Zerbi's detailed instructions in possession. The worry, though, is that there simply isn't enough attacking productivity in the team for there to be a high ceiling even if that does happen.

Strikers Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush have just three double-digit top-flight goalscoring seasons between them. Solanke last reached that milestone for Bournemouth in the 2023-24 season, and Marmoush has never done so outside of the Bundesliga. Wingers Savio, Mathys Tel and Mohammed Kudus also only had 15 goals between them over the previous two Premier League seasons.

It all makes the decision to leave Richarlison out of the Premier League squad all the more confusing. The Brazilian is not a perfect player, but he is the best pure penalty box threat Spurs have and was their top scorer last season. So far, his omission looks like one of the most questionable decisions in a summer full of them.