Premier League Predictions, Week 2

© Micah Veldkamp, 2025

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Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans! It's always hard to believe yet another season is underway each time a new one kicks off, and this one felt particularly hard to believe, as it seems like just a fortnight ago that I was drinking in the scenes of a celebratory Anfield as champions Liverpool paraded their Premier League trophy around a sea of red. But enough time in the daydream-- we are, indeed, back!

In fact, we've been back for a week now! For Week 1, as excited as I was to have the Premier League back, I decided to forgo match predictions in favor of my annual full-season projections. But now it's time to lock in, and see if I can do better than last season's 52% (78.5/150) clip, a 13% drop from the season prior.

Now, the matches are mere hours from kicking off in London, so let's not waste any more time puffing our chest out. Here are your 5 for Week 2!

West Ham United vs. Chelsea

Friday Night Lights goes to the nation's capital for a London Derby this week, and both London sides will be looking to get their season started in earnest after a disappointing Week 1. Club World Cup champions Chelsea came into this season with genuine title contender hype, but did not look the part at all in a listless scoreless draw at home to Crystal Palace, one in which they were arguably outplayed. West Ham on the other hand, led by one-time Chelsea manager Graham Potter, came into the season as a popular relegation candidate, and well, did look the part in Week 1, falling 0-3 to newly promoted Sunderland. I expect a fired up Hammers side might start well in front of a raucous home crowd tonight, but the severe quality gap will become evident in the latter half of this game.

The Pick: Chelsea, 3-1

Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham have gone through many a manager in the time that Pep Guardiola has been at Manchester City and turned it into England's resident powerhouse, but one constant has remained true throughout the whole era: only reigning champions Liverpool have been a bigger thorn in Guardiola's side than the North Londoners. For whatever reason, Tottenham just constantly proves to be a bogey team for City, including even last season when Spurs notched two wins head-to-head despite finishing in 17th place in the league. Now new manager Thomas Frank gets his first whack at continuing Guardiola's agony, and will be doing so leading a Tottenham side without either Harry Kane or Heung-min Son in a decade. These two sides were arguably among the most impressive debuts in the opening week, winning over Burnley and Wolves, respectively, by a combined score of 7-0. I am a huge believer in Frank, and would not be surprised to see Tottenham all the way back up to Top 6 contention this season, but expect City will be too much for them right now, pulling away in the 2nd half after a competitive first hour or so.

The Pick: Man City, 2-1

Arsenal vs. Leeds United

Much separates three-time defending runners-up and title hopefuls Arsenal from new promotees and simply-surviving-hopefuls Leeds United, but they shared a Week 1 experience of unconvincing, controversial but crucial 1-0 wins. The only goal in Arsenal's opener at Old Trafford, a match in which they were statistically outplayed by Manchester United, was an early set piece in which Riccardo Calafiori was controversially awarded a clean goal despite his teammate William Saliba bodying the United keeper off the goal line while the ball was in the air. The next day, Leeds appeared headed for a mildly disappointing scoreless draw in their return match in the Premier League before benefitting from a late harsh penalty call against Everton's James Tarkowski; said penalty, cooly converted by Lukas Nmecha, instead gave the Peacocks all 3 points and something to celebrate at Elland Road. Arsenal very much gave off the impression of a team with its disparate parts not all on the same page yet, whereas Leeds genuinely would have been unlucky not to win their match based on the balance of play, but I expect the Gunners will be much too much for the new promotees to handle at this point, especially in the season opener at the Emirates.

The Pick: Arsenal, 2-0

Fulham vs. Manchester United

In comparison to their "overachieving" peers, last year's 10th-place finishers Fulham (1 of just 2 teams that could claim more than 3 points on the season over champions Liverpool) left this summer relatively unplundered in the transfer market, but also having made very few moves to bring anyone else on board. The same cannot be said of their Sunday opponents Manchester United, who completely overhauled both attack and defense this offseason in hopes of a major bounceback from a catastrophic '24-'25 campaign. The new-look United was not able to replicate Fulham's feat of salvaging a precious point in the closing seconds of a tight match, but in a moral victory, their quality and fluidity on the ball looked night and day improved from last year. That's enough for me to buy stock in a United side that can at least win tricky road contests like these.

The Pick: Man United, 2-1

Newcastle United vs. Liverpool

Champions Liverpool very well may have a part to play in 3 of the Premier League season's most electric atmospheres before even reaching the month of September. Last week's crowd at Anfield for the league kickoff against Bournemouth was nothing short of mesmerizing in an ongoing emotional ode to the late Diogo Jota and in raucous celebrations of a thrilling late winner. One week from Sunday, we very well may see a similar fever pitch reached at Anfield when title rivals Arsenal come calling for the first bona fide "title clash" of the season. But sandwiched in between is this Monday trip up north to St. James Park, where Newcastle faithful will be in fine voice in their home opener. A delirious atmosphere would have been expected from this clash anyhow, given the proximity of the two clubs, the nighttime kickoff, the significance of the title winners coming to town... but complicating matters further is the escalation of the Alexander Isak saga in recent weeks, the out-and-out star striker breaking his media silence to declare his relationship to Newcastle permanently damaged, and his clearly preferred destination Liverpool bearing the brunt of his current club's fury for what they perceive as dealing in bad faith. Speaking as a Liverpool fan, this was a fixture that worried me as soon as the fixture list was released, knowing how difficult a place to play St. James can be (see last season's epic), and knowing it may take quite some time for all the shiny new parts to this new-look Reds side to properly gel. And that concern came BEFORE all the dramatic twists and turns with Isak and injury concerns for all 3 of Liverpool's right-back options. At this point, a single point and making it out of the Tyne with a clean bill of health would count as a win in my eyes.

The Pick: Newcastle, 3-1