Premier League Predictions GW3

Starting from this weekend, I want to get out a prediction forecast for the corresponding games of that weekend. That will incorporate midweek games, should they be scheduled for then. I think this will help maintain a consistent level of knowledge of how the rest of the Premier is faring outside of Arsenal. With that being said, within the predictions will be a predicted scoreline and any injury woes. Disclaimer for the 'Notable Absentees' section, I can only give the information that is available at the time, so not all absences will be 100%, some of them are simply labelled as doubts.

Chelsea vs Fulham - Saturday 30th August (12:30pm)

Chelsea enter this game with mixed form, 1 win and 1 draw. However, they'll take a huge amount of confidence from their 5-1 victory over West Ham in Game-week 2. Fulham will be looking to register their first win of the season, having drawn their first two.

This will be a tough fixture for Chelsea, despite being at home. Fulham are proving hard to beat, just lacking the flair up top. I do think home advantage will count in this one, but Chelsea will have to try and go around Fulham as the Cottagers consistently win any midfield battles. Chelsea also lost this fixture last season which will be playing in the back of their minds. Cole Palmer is a doubt for this tie, but not 100% guaranteed. Having said that, Palmer dropped out of the West Ham fixture just before kick off and that didn't stop them crashing five past their London rivals.

Predicted Score: Chelsea 1-0 Fulham

Noticeable absentees:

Chelsea: Benoit Badiashile, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia.

Fulham: N/A

Manchester United vs Burnley - Saturday 30th August (3:00pm)

Manchester United have been subject to much scrutiny in their last three fixtures. Despite relatively good performances, considering last season, they haven't managed to get a win. A loss at home to Arsenal and a draw away to Fulham has sparked debates all over social media, which also includes crashing out to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup. A game which saw the League 2 club grab a 2-2 draw and go on to beat United on penalties. However, you can't ask for a better fixture to put things right than playing at home against a newly promoted side. Burnley are the ones that could be on the receiving end of a couple of weeks of frustration. Burnley themselves were swept aside in their last away fixture, but managed a convincing win over fellow promoted side, Sunderland.

If Manchester United don't get a win from this fixture then it'll be because they've beaten themselves. They've shown real attacking intent, especially from Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbuemo. Even in defence they look good with Leny Yoro and Matthijs De Ligt putting in some admirable performances. Burnley will have to be as resolute as possible and look to the more experienced members of the team, don't allow United to get their wing-backs in the game. But, I don't feel like Burnley will have enough to stop the Red Devils.

Predicted Score: Manchester United 3-0 Burnley

Noticeable Absentees:

Manchester United: Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui

Burnley: Armando Broja, Axel Tuanzebe, Bashir Humphreys, Connor Roberts, Jordan Beyer, Zeki Amdouni

Sunderland vs Brentford - Saturday 30th August (3:00pm)

Sunderland announced themselves to the league in spectacular fashion by dismantling West Ham on the opening weekend. Since then it's been a rocky couple of games after losing against Burnley in the league and drawing with Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup. They'll be looking to get back to winning ways against Brentford. Brentford are trying to adjust to life after Thomas Frank and a few other key members of their old squad. After losing their opening game, they have since won two on the trot having beat Aston Villa and Bournemouth (in the Carabao Cup).

Clearly Sunderland have a lot to offer given the type of names they've got throughout the team, but Brentford always feel like a tight-knit squad that work hard for each other. I think there'll be goals in this one, for both teams, but I think Sunderland will edge this.

Predicted Score: Sunderland 3-2 Brentford

Noticeable Absentees:

Sunderland: Ajibola Alese, Daniel Ballard, Dennis Cirkin, Leo Hjelde, Luke O'Nien, Nordi Mukiele, Romaine Mundle.

Brentford: Vitaly Janelt, Gustavo Gomes, Ethan Pinnock.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth - Saturday 30th August (3:00pm)

Tottenham head into this game in excellent form. They battered Burnley and then discarded Manchester City at the Etihad, hardly a trickier fixture out there to win. Bournemouth could've had an excellent start themselves if Liverpool didn't grab two decisive goals in the dying moments of the first game of the season. Although they were perhaps underwhelming against Wolves, despite winning 1-0, considering that Wolves did get reduced to 10 men just after half time.

Given the form that Spurs are in I don't think Bournemouth will be able to keep them at bay. While Bournemouth will certainly give them a test, it'll be a test that Thomas Frank will overcome and quite convincingly in my opinion.

Predicted Score: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Bournemouth

Notable Absentees:

Spurs: Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, James Maddison, Yves Bissouma, Radu Dragusin, Koto Takai, Manor Salomon, Bryan Gil.

Bournemouth: Julian Araujo, Enes Unal, Lewis Cook.

Wolves vs Everton - Saturday 30th August (3:00pm)

Wolves have struggled big time since the return of the Premier League, the only glimmer of hope has been beating West Ham in the Carabao Cup. They've lost their opening two games without a single goal scored, but winning the cup game and scoring three in the process should be somewhat of a boost. They welcome an Everton side who will look to keep up the momentum. The Toffee's may have lost their opening game, but they were outstanding in the next fixture against Brighton.

I've personally selected Wolves for relegation this season and I don't see them getting the win they're craving against Everton. Everton have a strong attack and will be too much for an underperforming Wolves side.

Predicted Score: Wolves 0-2 Everton

Notable Absentees:

Wolves: Enso Gonzalez, Fabio Silva, Ki-Jana Hoever.

Everton: Harrison Armstrong, Jarrad Branthwaite, Nathan Patterson, Tim Iroegbunam, Vitaliy Mykolenko.

Leeds United vs Newcastle United - Saturday 30th August (5:30pm)

Leeds actually started the season very strongly, showing Everton and the Premier League that they're not to be messed with. That was until they were steam-rolled at the Emirates a week later. The 5-0 loss is devastating, but they'll be looking to use home advantage again and create a fortress. Newcastle arrive into the fixture in worse form. They've taken 1 point out of a possible 6 which could've been 2 points had it not been for a 110th minute loss against Liverpool on Monday night.

I actually think with how riled up Newcastle were, in the Liverpool game, they've spent too much energy. Leeds can capitalise on that element and give them a real tough evening, especially as Newcastle lost some key men on the night.

Predicted Score: Leeds 2-1 Newcastle

Notable Absentees:

Leeds: Ao Tanaka, Ethan Ampadu.

Newcastle: Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Fabian Schar, Joelinton, Sandro Tonali.

Brighton vs Manchester City - Sunday 31st August (2:00pm)

Brighton will be hoping to turn their fortunes around as they've not tasted victory yet. Everton comfortably dispatched them and Fulham snatched victory from their grasp with a 96 minute leveller. City, on the other hand, come into this game off the back of a 2-0 home defeat to Spurs. But, they'll be turning to their opening weekend victory over Wolves for inspiration. City are an obvious contender for the Premier League title so they'll be making sure not to make it anything less than a win.

While Brighton are still an exciting team, I don't feel as though they've adequately replaced Joao Pedro yet and it will continue to hold them back until they do. I feel for City the Spurs game was just a small blip and they'll return to form in this tie.

Predicted Score: Brighton 1-4 City

Notable Absentees:

Brighton: Adam Webster, Georginio Rutter, Julio Enciso, Solly March, Tariq Lamptey, Tom Watson.

Manchester City: Josko Gvardiol, Rayan Ait Nouri, Savinho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcus Bettinelli

Nottingham Forest vs West Ham - Sunday 31st August (2:00pm)

Forest have pretty much picked up from where they left off last season with quite a good start. Picking up 4 points out of 6 and only dropping those two other points against a decent Crystal Palace side. Chris Wood is still firing in the goals. For West Ham things seem to going from bad to worse. Two defeats in the Premier League and they've even crashed out of the Carabao Cup. Within those three fixtures they've conceded 11 goals, clearly defensive frailties are an issue.

I don't think West Ham stand much of a chance against Forest. One team are brimming with confidence in attack and one team are a disaster at the back. West Ham need a miracle to grab anything from this game.

Predicted Score: Forest 3-0 West Ham

Notable Absentees:

Forest: Nicolas Dominguez.

West Ham: Crysencio Summerville, George Earthy, Luis Guilherme.

Liverpool vs Arsenal - Sunday 31st August (4:30pm)

Despite coming into this fixture off the back of two victories, Liverpool have skated by. A close encounter with Bournemouth eventually ended up with a comfortable scoreline, but they needed an 110th minute winner from a 16 year old in order to beat 10 man Newcastle. Twice they went two goals up and twice they gave up two goal leads, but the mark of champions is winning in the face of adversity. Arsenal, however, certainly struggled in their opening fixture against United, but were able to demolish Leeds. Though, like Liverpool, they grabbed a win in the tough fixture and that is the most important element. Having said that, Arsenal have to make the trip without Bukayo Saka and potentially Martin Odegaard, so that's certainly a worrying aspect.

Liverpool at Anfield is one of the hardest away games in the league, if not the hardest and that will certainly be a factor. As much as I'm the most confident of a trip to Anfield that I've ever been, I do still feel that Liverpool will get the job done. There's normally goals in this one, so that's what I'm thinking again.

Predicted Score: Liverpool 3-2 Arsenal

Notable Absentees:

Liverpool: Alexis MacAllister, Jeremie Frimpong, Stefan Bajcetic.

Arsenal: Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Christian Norgaard, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz.

Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace - Sunday 31st August (7:00pm)

Aston Villa's start to the season is also a reflection of how their transfer window is currently going, just a bit meh. Drawing their first fixture and losing the second puts them in a terrible position early on, but points can be recovered at this stage and they'll be hopeful of doing that against Palace. The South London club have been very strong in the opening fixtures, but just not been able to turn those strong performances into wins. Of course winning the Community Shield was a huge boost, as well as picking up a win in their first Conference League qualification game. The Premier League is where they haven't been able to turn draws into wins, but they'll come.

I think for Palace they will have to wait a little longer for a first league win as Aston Villa are very strong at home. It'll be a tactical battle in which both teams are well equipped to get a win, but I don't feel as though either team will.

Predicted Score: Aston Villa 1-1 Crystal Palace

Notable Absentees:

Aston Villa: Andres Garcia, Boubacar Kamara, Ross Barkley

Crystal Palace: Caleb Kporha, Chadi Riad, Cheick Doucoure, Daichi Kamada, Eddie Nketiah.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the weekend of football ahead!