Home kits carry the weight of tradition. Away kits carry something else entirely. Freed from the obligation to honor decades of club identity in a single color scheme, designers tend to take more chances with the secondary strip, and the early leaks for the 2026-27 Premier League season suggest that several clubs have taken that latitude seriously.
What’s emerging from the Premier League pre-season design cycle is a split between two instincts: clubs reaching backward into their own histories for something fans already love, and clubs swinging in the opposite direction toward designs that make no apologies for being strange. Both approaches have their defenders, and both have already generated opinions.
Arsenal’s cult classic gets a reversal
Arsenal’s leaked away kit has been described as a reversal of the club’s famous Bruised Banana shirt from the early 1990s, one of the most recognizable away strips in English football history. The original used a yellow base with a navy zig-zag pattern. The new version reportedly flips that dynamic, placing the zig-zag detail in red and yellow against a navy background. The 1992-93 team that wore the original had a difficult league campaign, but the shirt itself has since achieved cult status among supporters. The redesign lands as both a tribute and a reinterpretation.
Aston Villa returns to sky blue
Aston Villa’s anticipated away kit brings back a predominantly sky blue colorway not seen at the club since the 2022-23 Premier League season. For a fanbase that has a complicated relationship with some of the more experimental away designs of recent years, the return to a familiar palette represents a straightforward crowd-pleaser.
Bournemouth keeps things under wraps
Bournemouth has stayed quiet about their new away design following the announcement of a new kit partnership with Hummel. The switch in supplier alone has generated interest among supporters, and the absence of leaked details has only heightened the speculation about what direction the club intends to take for the Premier League.
Chelsea revisits 2012-13 in gold and black
Chelsea’s new away kit is expected to feature Nike’s Midwest Gold color set against a predominantly black base, drawing a visual line back to their 2012-13 strip. That season had its own memorable moments, and the design callback is likely to resonate with a segment of supporters who followed the club during that period. An unsettled managerial situation off the pitch adds an odd backdrop to what would otherwise be a straightforward Premier League kit reveal.
Leeds United and the return of the trefoil
Leeds United’s away kit will carry the Adidas trefoil logo for the first time since the club changed kit suppliers in 2020. The predominantly yellow shirt is expected to feature the white Yorkshire rose on the crest. For a club with a passionate relationship with its own iconography, the combination of the trefoil and the rose carries genuine symbolic weight beyond the garment itself.
Liverpool edges toward white
Liverpool’s away kit is projected to stay close to the previous season’s design while shifting the base color from cream toward a cleaner white. Reports also suggest a retro badge may return, echoing designs the club used in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For a club that rarely strays far from red, the away kit has long served as the space where subtle historical callbacks can land without controversy.
Manchester City goes black and gold
Manchester City’s away kit is anticipated to feature a black base with gold detailing, a pairing the club used during their 2013-14 season. The approach for Premier League is notably restrained compared to some of the more divisive designs the club has released in recent years, and the gold-on-black combination is one that tends to generate broad approval across fanbases.
Manchester United revisits royal blue
Manchester United’s away kit appears to be returning to royal blue, a color associated with some of the club’s most celebrated kits from the SHARP-sponsored era. The design has been described as a modern interpretation of that classic look rather than a direct reproduction, which gives it room to satisfy nostalgic supporters without feeling purely derivative.
Newcastle draws from St. James’ Park itself
Newcastle United’s away kit is expected to take architectural inspiration from the brickwork of St. James’ Park, rendered in a navy design. Reports suggest a badge from the late 1970s may accompany the look, connecting the visual identity of the kit to one of the more storied periods in the club’s history.
Tottenham goes loud
Tottenham’s predicted away kit is the outlier in this group, and deliberately so. An Obsidian base with neon color accents and diagonal striping puts it at the furthest end of the experimental spectrum among the leaked designs. Whether it reads as bold or chaotic likely depends on the viewer at the Premier League, which is the kind of response that tends to make a kit memorable regardless of the verdict.
