Premier League Predictions, Week 23
© Micah Veldkamp, 2025
Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans! I've had a lot of wonky publish dates in the last month-plus, thanks to good old-fashioned fixture pileup, but it feels like we're back to some normalcy: publishing this piece on a Friday night, having enjoyed some midweek European football and looking ahead to a Premier League weekend.
Last time out, I doubled up on a loaded week, and got...well, a pretty mixed bag. Some bold predictions, such as a Nottingham win over Liverpool, or an Everton not-loss, went awry, as did my assumption that Arsenal would hold on to their 2-goal lead over Aston Villa. But! The other 4 matches I predicted correctly, and I even nailed the 3-0 Newcastle win over Wolverhampton. That's good enough to salvage a 4.5/7 week, which is a significant step up from my 0-for-5 the week prior. I'll take my wins where I can.
But! The matches are less than 12 hours away from kicking back off, so let's not waste any more time taking wins where I can. Here are your 5 for Week 23!
Bournemouth vs. Nottingham Forest
The top 3 teams in the league all play simultaneously tomorrow morning, which means by Noon (ET), we could have some major developments in the title race. This match is not the one that anyone would expect to take top billing, but low-key is likely to be the best of the bunch. The only side in the top 8 that gained any ground on Liverpool in their slow start to 2025 was Nottingham Forest, whose now 9-match unbeaten streak has seen them draw to within 6 points and a tie for 2nd place. This trip to the South Coast, though, could be one of their toughest tests in a minute; Andoni Iraola has Bournemouth in scintillating form, on an 11-match unbeaten run of their own, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea among the scalps taken in that time. I hesitate to pick against either side in the form they're in, so I'll take the coward's way out, and go honors even.
The Pick: Draw, 2-2
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Arsenal
After a captivating comeback win over rivals Tottenham galvanized Arsenal's title hopes fresh off Liverpool's draw the day before, the Gunners lost any ground they had made up with their epic collapse last Saturday. That their 2-goal lead was so quickly erased was disappointing enough, but that the draw immediately followed a late Liverpool escape made it brutal. Arsenal has all the parts and pedigree to still be the side that's best poised to push for the title, but the mental toughness they have so often displayed in the last two seasons has disappeared at times in this campaign, and they'll need it back soon. Wolverhampton is never an easy place to play no matter what form their team may be in, and though Wolves have been well off it this season, that form is turning around, a strong Christmas season lifting them out of the relegation zone for now. I'm tempted to pick a shock drop of points for the Gunners tomorrow, but I see them gritting this one out, in an attempt to change the tides of their inconsistent form.
The Pick: Arsenal, 1-0
Liverpool vs. Ipswich Town
As the clock hit 90 minutes in West London last Saturday, Liverpool had not only yet failed to put 1 of their 37 shots in the net, they had yet to register a win against a top-flight team in the year 2025, and it appeared it would remain that way against Brentford. Enter Darwin Núñez. The divisive Uruguayan striker played super sub hero, coming off the bench to provide goals in 90'+1 and 90'+3, and winning the match for the league-leading Reds who were desperate to get back to winning ways. How big will that stoppage time rally prove to be in the context of Liverpool's title hopes this season? Well, it remains to be seen at large, but one thing's for certain: if the Reds can't win at home against relegation-bound Ipswich, they have much bigger problems at hand.
The Pick: Liverpool, 3-1
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Leicester City
It's been an extremely frustrating season for Tottenham; turnover and injuries, ongoing strategic shifts under Ange Postecoglou, the growing wealth gap in the league...whatever Spurs fans want to point to as the problem, the fact of the matter is, their season has quickly gone from "wildly inconsistent but lots of good parts" to "oops all bad parts." It's now been over a month since their last win in the league, and they're closer to the relegation zone than they are to the top half of the table. And yet, somehow, their next opponents Leicester are having an even worse time of it. When Leicester responded to their shock relegation by dominating the Championship last year, most everyone (myself included) assumed they would pop back up to the Premier League and easily resume playing like the mid-table club they typically are. Instead, they have barely kept their heads above the relegation zone, and now after 7 consecutive losses and a managerial change, are fully in the relegation zone. These are two hapless teams whose preseason promise has been dashed, but need a win in the worst way...and no result would surprise me. But I have to imagine the less-bad team at home will win this one at least.
The Pick: Tottenham, 3-2
Manchester City vs. Chelsea
These two clubs' seasons have taken wildly different paths, and yet, they meet again with the same point margin between them as they did when they met on the first matchday of the season: none. Chelsea come into this match having finally gotten a win after a winless slump that stretched back to mid-December, throwing off their perhaps premature title hopes. Manchester City, however, have long been out of the title picture but now suddenly come into Sunday's match in the best stretch of their season, unbeaten in the league in their last six, and fresh off a 6-0 demolition of minnows Ipswich Town. What could have, and in past years has been, a title tilt has instead at this point turned into a Top 4 Battle Royale, but one whose result could tell us a lot about what the rest of the season might look like for these two sides. I think the vacillating form by both sides this season renders this another one in which I can say "no result would really surprise me," but City are legitimately in the better form at the moment, and have them at home. I think their turnaround might be for real.
The Pick: Man City, 3-1
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