Premier League Predictions, Week 3

Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans! With the draws for the Europa League and new-look Champions League taking place this week, it really feels like club football season is fully back.

You know what else is back? My hot streak of predictions. Yes, in my first week of the '24-'25 season, I picked up where I left off, which was turning in my best season by far. I did miss the first matchup of the week, failing to predict Brighton's 2-1 win over Manchester United, though in fairness I did predict the Gulls taking points off United, and only missed a perfect 1-1 prediction due to João Pedro's 95th-minute winner. I was so close I considered giving myself a half-point, but decided it's far too early in the season to determine Brighton's win an upset. Besides, it turns out I wouldn't need the extra help: Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool's comfortable wins helped me go 4 for my next 4 and give me a solid 80% clip to start the season.

Now, the matches are less than 12 hours from kicking off, so let's not waste any more time getting too cocky too soon. Here are your 5 for Week 3!

Arsenal vs. Brighton & Hove Albion

We're now 3 for 3 so far in the season with the league putting a very tasty matchup as the early kickoff (7:30 ET), and for the second consecutive week, it involves Brighton. One week after the Gulls knocked off Manchester United in front of a delirious Falmer Stadium, they hit the road to London to face another one of the big dogs in another lunchtime match. But, while history may lump them in a similar tier, at least in their current iterations there's a world of difference between Arsenal and Manchester United. The Gunners' 2-0 victory on the road at a very solid Aston Villa team proved they have the stuff to be a title contender for the third straight season. I do think Brighton is legit, but I also think asking them to go into the Emirates Stadium and get points off Arsenal is asking a little much at this point.

The Pick: Arsenal, 2-1

West Ham United vs. Manchester City

West Ham, who sandwiched two very solid Premier League campaigns the last three seasons around a first-ever European trophy in 2023, bounced back from their frustrating opening loss with an impressive road win at Crystal Palace last week. They will enter the upcoming international break having not yet left London as they return to hosting this weekend, but with a significant step up in the level of competition. Four-time reigning champions Manchester City have hardly broken in a sweat in their wins over Chelsea and Ipswich Town, cruising to 2-goal and 4-goal wins, respectively. I think Julien Lopetegui was a great hire, and the Hammers very well could be poised for another solid season, but City is just too good.... they're not at THAT level yet.

The Pick: Man City, 3-1

Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace

Coming off two very disappointing seasons, and with another new manager (their sixth in the last two calendar years) and another insane spending spree yielding a squad of 34 first-team players (not a typo), one of the biggest storylines to watch coming into this season was what on earth Chelsea would look like. So far, the early returns are...not bad! The Blues dropped their opener, of course, to Man City, but hung around longer than probably most expected, until Mateo Kovačić's late clincher, and followed that up with a 6-2 dismantling of Wolves on their home ground last week. Things have not gone as smoothly for their London counterparts Crystal Palace;.the Eagles finished last season in better form than most other clubs, on a 7-match winning streak that included a win at Anfield and blowouts of Aston Villa and Manchester United, but have had a tepid start to this campaign, losing comprehensively to Brentford and West Ham. Am I convinced Chelsea is back? Not at all. Do I think they can keep up their winning ways against a Palace team in bad form? Yes I do.

The Pick: Chelsea, 4-2

Newcastle United vs. Tottenham Hotspur

In another weekend, this showdown between the current 5th and 6th-ranked teams in the league would be the primetime matchup. As it is, it's just one of three matchups this weekend between two teams with Top 4 hopes, but still, this has the potential to be can't-miss action. Tottenham, one of the 'Big Six,' have struggled to recapture the heights they reached under former manager Mauricio Pochettino, but a tremendous start last season under new manager Ange Postecoglou before a horrible bout of the injury bug derailed their hopes. Newcastle, now technically the richest club in the world as of 2022, took a minor step back last season, but were ahead of schedule in qualifying for Champions League football the season before, and look capable of reaching those heights again. I'm not quite sure what to make of either side yet: Newcastle haven't looked altogether convincing in a draw with Bournemouth nor a narrow win over Southampton, and Tottenham followed up a draw vs. Brentford with a dominant win...but it was against Everton. So you know, grain of salt and all that. If I have to split hairs, I do think Newcastle is a little closer to a finished product right now, and St. James' Park has been a house of horrors for Tottenham in recent seasons.

The Pick: Newcastle, 3-2

Manchester United vs. Liverpool

You're going to be hard-pressed to find a time when the Northwest Derby isn't the marquee match of the weekend. Even when Liverpool were in the doldrums for much of the late aughts/early 2010s, and amidst Manchester United being mired in mediocrity for the better part of the last decade, this was the rivalry in the Premier League. There's too much history and passion amongst the two clubs for that to not be the case, and even on just the third weekend of the season, this fixture could have big implications for each side's season trajectory. United have had a less than ideal start to their campaign, following up their narrow escape vs. Fulham in the opener with the last-minute loss at Brighton last week, but still have the pieces to be a contender this year. And as for Liverpool, it's so far so grand under new manager Arne Slot as the Reds have followed up their unbeaten preseason with two 2-0 wins to kick off the regular season, but even a 'down' Man United represent a sterner test than Ipswich Town and Brentford will have offered thus far. Unlike when these two faced off at Old Trafford in the third weekend of the season just two weeks ago, I'm pretty confident Liverpool are, currently, the better team than United are. That said, this is the kind of the fixture where you say "throw the records out the window," and I was even more confident Liverpool were the superior side last season, all as I watched them draw twice in the league and lose to the Red Devils in the FA Cup. Barring a massive shift in form from one or both sides, I struggle to see Liverpool losing, but I can't in good conscience pick a win either.

The Pick: Draw, 1-1