Premier League Predictions, Week 3

Welcome back to your Premier League predictions! We had some exciting midweek League Cup action-- and by "exciting," I mean "blowout city" --to tide us over, but we're back to the regular season matches this weekend.

Getting back to the action means I have a chance to right the course on my predictions, as I took a bit of a step back last week after a blazing start in Week 1. I foolishly bought into the hype and predicted Manchester United would win their opener and Chelsea were good enough to beat Liverpool. I was wrong, very wrong. On the plus side, not only did I get the other 3 results correct, had it not been for late Aleksandr Mitrović and Gabriel Jesus goals, I would have had both the Leeds-Fulham AND City-Wolves scorelines dead on. Between the two of those near-misses, I'll give myself a half-point for 3.5/5 on the week.

Now, the matches are less than 12 hours away from starting, so let's not waste any more time fudging the numbers in my favor. Here are your 5 for Week 3!

Crystal Palace vs. Everton

Sure, we're only two matches into the season, but it's still pretty surreal to see Everton and Crystal Palace commandeering two of the Champions League qualification spots at the moment. Yet it's true, these are two of just five clubs to open the season with two victories, and it's no fluke, either. Palace followed up their opening-day win with a statement-making victory over Manchester United, while the Toffees opened up the season with an upset of Tottenham Hostpur, then followed that up last week with a 5-2 demolition of Southampton. Unfortunately, at least one of these teams' winning starts to the season has to end. Though Palace is more than capable of punching above their weight, I think they're the ones to falter here; Everton has a proven manager, and so far, that offseason signing spree has manifested itself quite well.

The Pick: Everton, 2-1

West Bromwich Albion vs. Chelsea

Chelsea's much-anticipated season has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, thanks in no small part to injury-induced absences of a good number of their prized offseason signings and ongoing woes, both of which played a role in their fairly comprehensive 0-2 defeat to champions Liverpool last week. Fortunately for the Blues, they get a couple of those key pieces back from injury, and they look to regain form against a team that, quite frankly, is the worst in the league right now. There's plenty of time for West Brom to get better, but it won't be against Chelsea.

The Pick: Chelsea, 3-1

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Newcastle

This matchup pits against each other two teams who provided a lesson in not overreacting to an opening day fixture. Tottenham's opening loss to Everton had Spurs fans already clamoring for a new owner, new manager, new players, what have you, while Newcastle's 2-0 road win over West Ham had people crowing about how preseason predictions of their relegation were misplaced. So what happened last week? Naturally, Newcastle capitulated 0-3 at home to Brighton, while Tottenham walloped Southampton 5-2. Will the real teams please stand up? At this juncture, I'm willing to bet Week 2 is the more likely indicator of these clubs' respective trajectories.

The Pick: Tottenham, 1-0

Manchester City vs. Leicester City

Part 1 of an epic Sunday-Monday doubleheader has the current league leaders with the recent bastion of domestic success. While City seemed to be kilometers behind eventual champions Liverpool in the blink of an eye last season, they still finished a comfortable second place and notched yet another League Cup trophy to go with their 2 Premier League wins and FA Cup win in the last 3 years. Leicester City, meanwhile, may still be fueled by their drastic late-season slide, because they've opened the 2020-21 campaignin flying style, notching two victories by a total scoreline of 7-2. If nothing else, expect goals; against Wolves last week, City's well-documented defensive struggles looked far from sorted, and the Foxes' attack has not been stalled in the least. I'm tempted to predict a Leicester upset, but I think the Mancs will be better prepared in the early-season matches this time around.

The Pick: Manchester City, 3-2

Liverpool vs. Arsenal

For the second consecutive weekend, Liverpool and Manchester City's fixtures close out the slate, but this time it's the Reds that get the Monday Night Football timeslot. Their foes? Fellow Top 4 and unbeaten side Arsenal, who recently upset the champions in the Community Shield by virtue of a penalty shootout. The Gunners will draw confidence from that victory, as well as their late-season 2-1 victory in July over already-crowned champions Liverpool, but really, they can draw confidence from their own noticeably better form. Liverpool, meanwhile, gave the numerous talking heads predicting their backslide this season considerable fodder with a nervy 4-3 win over Leeds in Week 1, but soundly silenced (at least temporarily) those critics last week with a commanding victory over upstarts Chelsea. To make this matchup even more interesting, the two sides will face off at Anfield again on Thursday of next week in the Fourth Round of the League Cup. I don't think one club will win both fixtures, but I could see either one winning either one. If I were a betting man, though, I think the Reds grab the all-important 3 points at home.

The Pick: Liverpool, 2-1