Chelsea did a lot of wheeling and dealing in the summer transfer window, though most of their moves centered around adding rather than subtracting their squad depth and overall talent. But you have to sell in order to buy at some point, and with Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca still pushing a rather reluctant front office to make investments in the defense this January transfer window, perhaps offloading a player he doesn't want will go a long way in convincing the club to bring in someone else.

Chelsea fans are watching the rise of one of the next great Premier League icons, having already witnessed Cole Palmer become a Ballon d'Or caliber playmaker for them after previously being buried on the bench at Manchester City. Young right winger Estevao Willian has been the best player at the position in the Premier League this season, and he has the dynamism and upside to become one of the best out and out wingers in terms of his one on one ability and ball striking for years to come.

Liverpool were one of the most active teams in the summer transfer window this year, landing gem attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, two new fullbacks, and two new strikers in Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike. But the presence of the big star they lost does loom large. Even though Trent Alexander-Arnold hasn't done much of anything since signing with Real Madrid as a free agent - and isn't even a starter when Dani Carvajal is healthy - he was such a key player for Liverpool that the right back position has been a big weakness without him.

Chelsea signed a whole bunch of quality young footballers again this past summer transfer window, bagging two new very different stylistic center forwards in Joao Pedro and Liam Delap while massively upgrading their wings and their midfield depth. But conspicuously, Chelsea elected not to upgrade their defense, which was their biggest weakness coming out of the 2024/25 season and got even weaker with the loss of star center back Levi Colwill due to an ACL tear.

Manchester United could only muster a 2-2 draw with a less than impressive Tottenham Hotspur, as Matthijs de Ligt buried a wide open header at the far post to help the Red Devils avoid a shock collapse at the hands of Bryan Mbeumo's former manager. Mbeumo, of course, scored the first, in another fine display, as Manchester United are quietly building up an undefeated streak and have a real threat of qualifying for the Champions League all of a sudden.

Chelsea signed two quality young strikers in the summer 2025 transfer window to replace the outgoing Nicolas Jackson, who will likely need to be sold elsewhere after his one year loan with Bayern Munich is up. Joao Pedro has proven to be a solid supporting striker, while Liam Delap is a highly promising out and out No. 9 with both finishing chops and all around play, as well as the box presence Chelsea crave.

Manchester United drew with Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League, which, on the surface, isn't a bad result on the road against a Champions League side. But Spurs haven't been convincing of late, and Man United didn't exactly looking convincing either, needing a last gasp header from Matthijs de Ligt to get a point out of the encounter.

Arsenal have the best collection of center back talent in world football when looking at their top end quality, depth, versatility, and all-around play. Anchored by Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, the best duo in the league, Arsenal have added a high end, ascending center back in each of the past two windows. Last year, they brought in Riccardo Calafiori, who is now one of the best left backs in the Premier League, and this past summer transfer window, they brought in another versatile young standout in Piero Hincapie.

Manchester City and Liverpool will renew their rivalry at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday on Matchday 11 of the 2025/26 Premier League season in a battle between second and third. Let's try to make a more focused combined XI for this specific match. Instead of trying to pick the best overall players on quality and reputation, let's do it solely based on 1) who is actually expected to start on Sunday and 2) how their form has been this season.

Chelsea right winger Estevao Willian has been the biggest revelation of the 2025/26 Premier League season, and there's a strong case to be made that he has been the best winger in the league or at least in the discussion with the likes of Jack Grealish and Antoine Semenyo, who are both legitimate Player of the Season candidates. Willian has the best expected goal contribtions per 90 in the English top flight, and he's doing that while being a major one-on-one and progressive threat, a jack of all trades in an attacking sense.

For years, Bruno Fernandes has been the true bright spot for Manchester United, and before the club brought in Bryan Mbuemo, Matheus Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko this past summer transfer window, he really was the shining light carrying an anemic attack. Fernandes was playmaking for the likes of Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, Antony, and Joshua Zirkzee through years of attacking incompetence, ranking as the most productive playmaker in the Premier League despite a lack of attacking talent in front of him.

Liverpool will face Manchester City on Sunday afternoon at the Etihad Stadium in what promises to be a thrilling battle between the second and third best teams in the Premier League as both look to make ground on leaders Arsenal. The Reds picked up a massive mid-week win over Real Madrid in the Champions League for a second straight season, and now there is confidence that Arne Slot is finally figuring out his winning formula.

Liverpool will face Manchester City on Sunday in the Premier League, and while this rivalry matchup doesn't carry quite the same cachet as it did a few years ago when the two were more direct title rivals, that shouldn't really be the case on Sunday. Whereas Man City were way behind Liverpool in the table last season, they are actually one point ahead of the Reds in second compared to third, though both are more than five points behind league leaders Arsenal.

Even at the age of 34, Liverpool superstar center back Virgil van Dijk still sets the standard of play at the position for not just the Premier League but all of world football as a whole. After playing a crucial role in the Reds winning the Premier League again last season, Van Dijk is off to another fantastic start to the 2025/26 season and has quietly been a legitimate Premier League Player of the Season candidate despite some of the horrid defending and injury woes around him.

Chelsea have one of the best defensive midfield partnerships in world football between Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, but the question is the backups behind the elite duo. Dario Essugo has been unable to make an impact in his first season with Chelsea due to an injury, while Romeo Lavia just went down with another significant injury in the team's Champions League matchup with Qarabag.

Liverpool blew up the entire Premier League transfer market this past summer by not only signing German phenom Florian Wirtz, but also landing not one but two big fish at the striker position in Hugo Ekitike and then Alexander Isak to close the transfer window. Isak has yet to really take off due to continued fitness issues after holding out of training in order to leave Newcastle for Anfield, but Ekitike has been one of the team's top performers to start the season.

Manchester United had one of the most productive summer transfer windows of any team in European football this year, particularly from an attacking perspective, as they completely overhauled their front line with Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, and Matheus Cunha. But in the previous transfer windows, Man United made a whole bunch of missteps on the front line, recently giving up on former Atalanta forward Rasmus Hojlund, who is immediately shining again for Napoli now that he's back in Serie A.

Arsenal star defensive midfielder Declan Rice is having an outrageous season anchoring the unit, and he seems to have exploded in the 2025/26 campaign with the addition of a significantly better midfield partner for him than Thomas Partey in former Real Sociedad star Martin Zubimendi. While Zubi has been amazing in his own right, Rice has started to separate himself from the pack lately, and he is a major reason why Arsenal are back in the driver's seat to win the Premier League title.

Real Madrid had one of the worst defenses of any elite club in European football last season, and that unit was key to Carlo Ancelotti's dismissal, Real's failure to win any trophies, and four straight El Clasico defeats at the hands of Barcelona. This past summer transfer window, Real overhauled their defense, specifically signing Dean Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras as new players, with Huijsen immediately bolstering their defense alongside an even more important center back addition  - a healthy Eder Militao.

Chelsea have made strides in the last couple of transfer windows under Todd Boehly, as the club is making better moves and building an identity around some of Europe's biggest rising stars. Estevao Willian was a smashing success this past year on the transfer market, but Levi Colwill's injury has highlighted just how much further Chelsea need to go in terms of bolstering their defense in order to be nailed-on favorites to win the Premier League.

Liverpool will be in the market for another center back in the summer 2026 transfer market, whether or not Ibrahima Konate stays and whether or not Marc Guehi joins the club. Now, all signs currently point to Liverpool being the ones to sign Guehi, with Real Madrid even resigning themselves to the Reds picking him up for free, and it's more likely than not that Konate will leave, perhaps to Madrid.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is as stingy as they come, and when the Merengues don't sign players at key positions of need because they allegedly cost too much, it's not really because they are out of money. The biggest sports brand in the world, Real Madrid almost have a license to print money from the Spanish government, so high is the amount of revenue they generate, which has only increased exponentially with the creation of the new Santiago Bernabeu.

There is always this push and pull between Liverpool and the Egyptian national team regarding the status of Mohamed Salah, as the world-class right winger is vital to both the Reds and his country, with the latter relying on him even more than the former given their lack of surrounding talent. Egyptian national team manager Hossam Hassan has threatened to be a thorn in the Red side by clamoring for Salah to get pulled to national team duty earlier than he's supposed to in order to get more reps with them.

Barcelona have been hit as hard as any club in world football over the past month with injuries. Attacking superstars Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, and Raphinha have all missed time at points with injuries, and Raphinha is actually still out injured for La Blaugrana. Now, the latest gem to suffer a serious injury is star midfielder Pedri, who is the team's second most important player after only Yamal, who was second in Ballon d'Or voting last season - and Pedri himself is a legitimate perennial Ballon d'Or contender.

At 34 years of age, Liverpool superstar Virgil van Dijk is still the best center back in the Premier League, and with all due respect to potential future Liverpool star Marc Guehi (as well as a couple of Tottenham Hotspur stars), there's really no disputing that. Van Dijk is still as good as ever in the 2025/26 season with only minimal signs of slowing down, if any at all.