{"id":15000,"date":"2026-10-05T09:39:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/?p=15000"},"modified":"2026-10-05T09:40:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:40:50","slug":"dark-horses-of-the-season-the-football-teams-flying-under-the-radar-who-could-pull-off-the-biggest-upsets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/clubes\/dark-horses-of-the-season-the-football-teams-flying-under-the-radar-who-could-pull-off-the-biggest-upsets","title":{"rendered":"Dark Horses of the Season: The Football Teams Flying Under The Radar Who Could Pull Off The Biggest Upsets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miracle stories on the football field have become more common in recent seasons, with clubs that have been historically well-run being able to enjoy remarkable feats.<\/p>\n

That has only been evident in recent years, with Crystal Palace winning major honors in the forms of the FA Cup and Europa Conference League. Upsets are a reason why so many people love sport, and it will be a key factor many horse bettors will be examining when making their Breeders\u2019 Cup betting<\/a> selections in 2026.<\/p>\n

But, which teams could be set to upset the odds in 2026-27 and rewrite the history books?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brighton & Hove Albion<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The uncertainty in the Premier League this season, following the recent news surrounding Man City\u2019s 115 charges<\/a>, could ensure that a shock team may make a charge for glory. Leeds and Brentford have both made reliable starts to the campaign, but Brighton look best positioned in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

Fabian H\u00fcrzeler guided the Seagulls back into Europe last season, and the continued support of Tony Bloom has seen their summer business go under the radar, but defensive quality being added in the forms of Pascal Struijk and Luka Vuskovic.<\/p>\n

Brighton have already produced statement wins in England this season, becoming the first team in 50 years to come back from 2-0 down at Old Trafford to beat Manchester United<\/a>, before thumping reigning champions Arsenal 3-0 just three days later.<\/p>\n

Maintaining that level of form will be their biggest challenge as the season progresses, but the Seagulls have already been more reliable defensively this term than they were last season, averaging 1.00 goals against compared to a significantly higher average of 1.21 in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paris FC<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

It has been a mixed start to the domestic season for PSG, having failed to win in three of their opening five Ligue 1 fixtures and having lost the Trophee des Champions. Therefore, cross-city rivals should be respected following a reliable start to the new season.<\/p>\n

Paris FC have long lived in the shadow of their more successful rivals, but the appointment for Liam Rosenior and reliable investment during pre-season has seen them rapidly improve in their second season back in Ligue 1. The team are yet to lose in five league outings this season, showing excellent defensive quality, having allowed just 0.6 goals per 90.<\/p>\n

Lassine Sinayoko has been a reliable performer for Paris FC in the opening month of the campaign, registering five goal involvements in as many appearances. Building on their reliable start to the season will be crucial following the international break, especially with a winnable run of fixtures coming up against Lorient, Rennes, and Lens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Freiburg<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pulling off an upset in the Bundesliga is near impossible given the embarrassment of richest at the disposal of Vincent Kompany at Bayern Munich. But, Freiburg look like an early dark horse contender to achieve shock Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n

Julian Schuster has led Freiburg to consistent finishes in the Bundesliga in recent seasons, finishing seventh in 2025-26 to mark the four time in five years that the club had finished in the top ten. However, breaking into the top four will be a target this season, and plenty of positives will be taken from their opening to the new campaign after winning three of their opening four.<\/p>\n

Only Borussia Dortmund have accumulated more wins so far in 2026-27. An excellent attacking output has been key to the promise that they have shown this term, as Freiburg have netted a staggering 3.00 goals per game in the Bundesliga. Yuito Suzuki and Igor Matanovic have enjoyed reliable starts to the season, combining for a total of eight goal involvements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

AS Roma<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

While regarded as one of the biggest teams in Italy, as charge for the Serie A title would be nothing more of a dream for AS Roma based on their period in the wilderness. Roma haven\u2019t won the top-flight title in Italy since 2000-01, but there is a strong case to be made that they have finally assembled a squad that can at least challenge Inter Milan this term.<\/p>\n

Donyell Malen has proven to be an inspired signing, scoring 20 goals in 22 league appearances since joining on an initial loan in January<\/a>. Further quality has been added in core positions with the additions of Konstantinos Koulierakis, Nahuel Molina, Rodrigo Mora, and Marten de Roon. Last season ended in eye-catching fashion for Roma, avoiding defeat in the last seven rounds.<\/p>\n

Gian Piero Gasperini has already been able to capture that magic once again at the start of the new season, as Roma went into the September\/October international break at the top of the Serie A standings after winning four of their opening five fixtures, and boasting he league\u2019s second-best attacking and defensive records.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cover photo by Supporterh\u00e9ninois – Own work, CC0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Miracle stories on the football field have become more common in recent seasons. But, which teams could be set to upset the odds in 2026-27 and rewrite the history books?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":15001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[350,1156,193,324,1034,859,3093,571,348,238,228,259,3091,358,3092,360,3090,349,345,344,357,2611,3088,3089,744,339,325,255,229,351,3087,932],"class_list":["post-15000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clubes","tag-arsenal","tag-as-roma","tag-atletico","tag-barcelona","tag-bayern-munchen","tag-borussia-dortmund","tag-breeders-cup-betting","tag-champions-league","tag-chelsea","tag-corinthians","tag-cruzeiro","tag-flamengo","tag-freiburg","tag-internazionale","tag-julian-schuster","tag-juventus","tag-lassine-sinayoko","tag-liverpool","tag-manchester-city","tag-manchester-united","tag-milan","tag-newcastle","tag-old-trafford","tag-paris-fc","tag-premier-league","tag-psg","tag-real-madrid","tag-santos","tag-sao-paulo","tag-tottenham","tag-twinspires","tag-ucl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15000"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15004,"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15000\/revisions\/15004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}