Premier League Predictions, Week 3

© Micah Veldkamp, 2025

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Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans! Another week come and gone, another weekend imminent, and before we go off to the dreaded first international break, we close out August with Week 3 of Premier League action!

Last week, in my inaugural selection slate of the '25-'26 season, I came out of the gates...well, not so great. I exploded out of the gates, technically, with a correct prediction of Chelsea dispelling West Ham with ease, but then quickly stumbled, completely failing to predict Tottenham's upset of Manchester City, or Fulham holding Manchester United to a draw. The obvious prediction of Arsenal trouncing Leeds was right, but in the showcase match of the week, my bold prediction of a Newcastle upset was very off, as they in fact lost to Liverpool, thanks to a little bit of magic from the best 16-year old you've never heard of. As exciting as it all was for the Liverpool fan in me, the 2/5 mark was not the start the prognosticator in me wanted.

But, the matches are less than 12 hours from kicking back off, so let's not waste any more time dreading the foreboding signs. Here are your 5 for Week 3!

Chelsea vs. Fulham

If Chelsea looked the furthest thing from the Club World Cup winners and purported title favorites in their listless opening draw vs. Crystal Palace, they more than looked the part in their 5-1 romp at West Ham. Next up, a 3rd straight London opponent, in a West London Derby vs. Fulham. The Cottagers have a tough start to their schedule, opening with a tricky road trip to Brighton and hosting Manchester United, and managed to pull out 1-1 draws in each. I think Chelsea will represent too tough an increase in quality at this point, though, especially at home in Stamford Bridge. 

The Pick: Chelsea, 3-1

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Bournemouth

It’s only 3 matches, but I think it’s safe to say Tottenham’s start to the season has been better than just about anyone could have imagined. Despite losing their manager and star player in the offseason, their rising star to injury, and coming off a 17th-place finish, they’ve proven their near-upset of PSG in the Super Cup was no fluke, as they’ve won two matches without conceding a goal and just stunned Manchester City in the Etihad. Bournemouth showed in their opening day thriller at Liverpool that they will fear no team, and there’s no question this will be a stern test for Thomas Frank’s Spurs. But I think a buoyant and optimistic Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be the difference in this one.

The Pick: Tottenham, 2-1

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Manchester City

Brighton has carved out a reputation as annual overachievers and sure enough, entered this season as trendy picks to be a European competition spoiler. It’s been a choppy start for the Gulls, though, first conceding a last-second equalizer to Fulham in their season opener, and following that up with a stinker at Everton last weekend. This would be the ideal time for them to grab their first win of the season, but they have the misfortune of catching a Manchester City side desperate for a win after the shock loss to Tottenham last weekend. It’s not that I don’t think Brighton couldn’t cause City real problems. Just that, last season’s midseason shocker aside, I still have trouble picturing City dropping points unexpectedly in consecutive weeks.

The Pick: Man City, 2-0

Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace, who you may recall was this blogger’s pick for a dark horse European candidate, wouldn’t complain about taking points from last year’s 4th place and 5th place teams, you’d think. Yet, between a seemingly valid winner at Chelsea being chalked off by VAR, and conceding a late equalizer to Nottingham last week, the Eagles have to feel a little let down to only have 2 points thus far. Their job won't get any easier, now traveling to last year's 6th place finisher, and doing so having seen off their star player Eberechi Eze to Arsenal (and with captain Marc Guehi still rumored to be headed to Liverpool). Villa have had a disappointing start themselves: they nicked a point off Newcastle in the opener but lost a man and scored no goals in the process, and followed that up with another goalless outing at relegation candidates Brentford last weekend. It may be no surprise to you that I think Palace might be the better side this season, but I also think they might take a little time to adjust for the players they lost, and Villa need a win before the break worse than they do.

The Pick: Aston Villa, 3-1

Liverpool vs. Arsenal

When the fixture schedule for this season was released, I did a triple take seeing this matchup in Week 3. I actually did some brief research, and you have to go back nearly a decade to find the last time the reigning Premier League champion and runner-up met this early in the season, when Tottenham hosted Chelsea in August 2017. Even that matchup felt like wildly different circumstances: the match was played at Wembley Stadium rather than Tottenham's not-yet-completed new stadium, and neither side (Spurs in particular) were exactly the favorites to go 1 and 2 in the league once again. If this season's Premier League race is to be contested, as most claim it will, solely between Liverpool and Arsenal, that we’re getting Leg 1 of the “title clash” before the month of September is pretty shocking. Not least among the reasons is that neither side looks like their ‘24-‘25 self much at all, and very likely will look far different in May. Both frontrunners come into this showdown on 6 points, but unconvincingly so: Arsenal looked triumphant against lowly Leeds last week in their home opener, but discombobulated and overmatched in their smash-and-grab win at Old Trafford in Week 1. And neither Bournemouth nor Newcastle have been able to stop Liverpool's new-look attack from pouring in the goals or their desire to win, but a leaky, early-to-bed defence has seen the champions twice blow a 2-0 lead only to need a miraculous late winner. I'm not just being a superstitious or pessimistic fan when I say this: I truly have a hard time seeing Liverpool winning this match. I think their ceiling is higher this season, and I have an equally hard time seeing them lose in front of a raucous Anfield...but I think it will be a couple months before this new-look side starts to gel, and Arsenal seem to be the more complete side at this early point in the season.

The Pick: Draw, 1-1