Arsenal finished seven points ahead of Manchester City to win the Premier League title in May. Arsenal ended their long wait to win the Premier League again by securing the title last season. It means they begin this campaign as defending champions - something they have not done since the 2004-05 season.

The Gunners are favourites to lift the trophy once more - but what does history tell us about how defending champions perform, and just how likely is it that Mikel Arteta's men can claim back-to-back Premier League titles?

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola made defending the Premier League title look easy in recent years. After first leading City to the title in 2017-18, Guardiola led a successful defence four times before leaving the club this summer. But prior to the Catalan's arrival in the Premier League, winning a title two or more seasons in a row was proving a tough task, with the trophy changing hands in each of the eight seasons before Guardiola's first title win.

Before Guardiola, there were only two managers who had ever overseen successful title defences in the Premier League era - Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

One of the reasons why it can be so difficult to defend a title is the psychological factor. For a whole campaign, a title-winning team's players have been working hard towards the goal of winning the league and the moment it is achieved will understandably feel like a huge success and relief. But then, just a few months later, those same players have to build up to the idea of having to do it all again, only this time with a bigger target on their back as defending champions. That can be overwhelming - as Leicester City found out after their fairytale Premier League win back in 2015-16, when they flirted with relegation in their title defence season.

In the summer after their title triumph, one Foxes player summed up the psychological impact it had on the players, telling the Guardian: "Winning the title was like climbing Mount Everest. Then you get back down, receive a pat on the back and you're told to climb up it all over again."

Andros Townsend, an ex-Premier League winger, believes the Gunners will find it hard to replicate their 2025-26 achievement because of the competitive nature of the Premier League. "The last two times Liverpool have won the title the next season they have not been able to replicate it. They have had relatively poor seasons," Townsend told BBC Radio 5 Live, with the Reds finishing third and fifth after lifting the Premier League trophy. "When you get over the line, that huge relief. Do you go into the summer with the same sort of aggression and mentality?"

Mikel Arteta is in his seventh year as Arsenal boss. There have been plenty of changes for Arsenal's title rivals this season. Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are going into the campaign with new managers, while Roberto de Zerbi and Michael Carrick will oversee their first full seasons at Tottenham and Manchester United respectively after they were appointed during last season.

That means they will all have a degree of uncertainty in the dugout, while Arsenal have the benefit of continuity as Mikel Arteta remains in charge. Arsenal have not made too many major changes in the playing squad either, with their significant signings being the arrival of Greece forward Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge for £34m, and midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United for £75m.

Arteta believes the signing of Guimaraes in particular will significantly boost Arsenal's chances of defending their title. "I think he describes himself as a warrior," Arteta said. "I think he's a warrior with a tremendous quality as well and intuition and leadership and charisma that is going to help us, that is going to really ignite something different in the team. We want to go to the next level and are very, very much convinced that we're going to need players with such a personality, desire and character to push everybody inside the organisation to go even higher."

However, Arsenal have been dealt a blow with an injury to defender William Saliba, who is set to miss an "extended period" after suffering a back injury at the World Cup. His partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes last season gave the Gunners' consistent defensive excellence and, even in light of their attempts to sign Ezri Konsa, how long the France international is out for could have a significant impact.

While managerial changes provide unfamiliarity for some of Arsenal's rivals, it is hard to argue that some of those have every chance of boosting their title chances. Chelsea, for example, have one of the most sought-after young managers in the game in Xabi Alonso, and also look to have bought well in the transfer market. Former Liverpool midfielder Alonso, who famously led Bayer Leverkusen to a historic, unbeaten domestic double in the 2023-24 season, appears to have strengthened well, with a mixture of exciting young talent and experienced older heads.

England forward Morgan Rogers, 24, has arrived from Aston Villa for a club record £117m, while France defender Maxence Lacroix, 26, has joined from Crystal Palace for £52m. Chelsea's new £47m full-back Marco Palestra, 21, has been one of the strongest performers in pre-season, while Premier League winners and veteran figures Jordan Henderson, 36, and Danny Welbeck, 35, have also been brought in to bring a youthful dressing room together and set standards.

Manchester City, now managed by Enzo Maresca following the departure of Guardiola at the end of last season, signed Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson from Manchester City for £116m and but appear set to lose Spain midfielder Rodri, who was player of the tournament at this summer's World Cup. However, Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez could be set to replace him.

Manchester United strengthened their midfield while weakening a rival by signing Aston Villa's Youri Tielemans for £35m and also brought in fellow midfielder Andrey Santos from Chelsea for £48m, with the Brazilian having impressed in pre-season. It is just three months since Villa lifted the Europa League, but much has changed since then with Rogers, Tielemans and Lucas Digne - who all started in the final - having all departed.

Key incomings are Johan Manzambi from Freiburg (£59.5m) and Joao Gomes from Wolves for £38m, while Alejandro Garnacho has also arrived on loan from Chelsea. There have been changes behind the scenes too at Villa, with three coaches having left including set-piece coach Austin MacPhee, who moved to Chelsea.

Liverpool, champions two seasons ago, are now managed by Andoni Iraola and his side should be strengthened by the arrival of centre-back Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes for £60m, while versatile defender Ronald Araujo has joined on loan from Barcelona. The Reds have also brought in 22-year-old forward Victor Munoz, but results in pre-season have been mixed.

Tottenham will expect to be challenging towards the top end of the table after a difficult couple of seasons, and De Zerbi has been working hard to improve his squad, spending well over £200m to bring in Sandro Tonali from Newcastle (£100m), Mateus Fernandes from West Ham (£85m) and Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton (£52m).

Hitting the ground running is always important in a season. While kinder fixtures do not guarantee a strong start, they can certainly help. Based on global power rankings - which assign an ability score to over 13,500 domestic teams across the world - Opta has ranked the difficulty of every Premier League team's first five games of the season.

Of the most probable title contenders, it is Manchester United who Opta ranks as having the most agreeable opening fixtures. Arsenal and Manchester City were the main players in the title race last season and they have been ranked as having the same level of difficulty for their first set of matches.

The Gunners kick off the season by hosting Coventry, then travel to Aston Villa, followed by Chelsea at home and then Sunderland and Brighton away. Manchester City, meanwhile, start with a home game against Bournemouth, before travelling to Crystal Palace, hosting Coventry, playing at rivals Manchester United and then facing Sunderland at home.

Premier League clubs looking to EFL for next Semenyo and Eze. Who to pick, who to avoid - your team's FPL assets analysed. Can Chelsea go from 10th to title again? Follow your club with BBC Sport.