Premier League Predictions, Week 31

© Micah Veldkamp, 2025

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Welcome back, Premier League fans! I know, I know. It's been far too long since you've heard from me. It's been a whopping four days. But a lot has changed in that time!

Okay, no, not really. A whole Premier League "week" came and went without much movement in any of the key races. and as for my predictions? Well, I don't wanna get too cocky, but it was a second straight 4.5/5 week for me. I missed on Aston Villa's win over Brighton (unsurprising, given how unpredictable each of those teams are). But I nailed the four other wins, and got the Arsenal 2-1 scoreline nailed-on. That improves me even further to 68/125 on the year.

But, the matches for this week are less than 12 hours away from kicking back off, so let's not waste any more time getting too cocky. Here are your 5 for Week 31!

Everton vs. Arsenal

Everton gave it a right go at Anfield a few days ago, but their rivals had too much quality in the end, and the Toffees' form starting to revert to the mean a little bit after a stunning start o the Moyes 2.0 era. I'm still a little tempted to pick an upset here given that this is exact kind of match title contenders Arsenal have tended to take their eye off the ball in: coming in off a run of good wins, early kickoff, on the road, overmatched but gritty opponent. But I still believe the Gunners will end the season on a real strong run as they only get healthier, and expect them to grind this one out.

The Pick: Arsenal, 1-0

Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest has rediscovered their winning form at the perfect time, hitting a mini-streak, ironically, amidst a brutal stretch of matches that on paper threatened their Top 4 status. Forest are well-positioned now to complete their ultimate goal from this great season, but are not quite out of the woods yet, certainly not with a tricky trip to fellow Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa tomorrow morning. These are two plucky teams playing really good football at the moment, but I like Villa's ceiling, current level, and home support a little more.

The Pick: Aston Villa, 3-2

Brentford vs. Chelsea

Brentford had a brief spell of flirting with the wide open Top 5 race, but just one win from their last five has them 10 points out of that race and with less to play for than their visiting West London rivals. Chelsea has been frustratingly unreliable since mid-December, but anything other than a Blues win on Sunday-- with maintaining 4th place on the line --would be a big shock.

The Pick: Chelsea, 2-0

Fulham vs. Liverpool

If nothing else, the trademark of this potential title-winning season for Liverpool has been their steadfast refusal to lose, a quality that was on full display in the Reds' often frustrating and stagnant Merseyside Derby win on Wednesday. Yet on Sunday the league leaders face one of the few teams they haven't yet been able to beat in Fulham, who held them to a scinitillating 2-2 at Anfield draw back before Christmas (the complete and vaunted list from this season, if you're curious, also includes Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Plymouth Argyle). Fulham's form has been enough of a rollercoaster that they likely have played themselves out of Champions League 2026 hopes, but such is their nature that at the same time you can never really count them out of any match. Wedensday's match was an important win for the Reds, but also further evidence that they still haven't fully rediscovered their November-February form, and I think this Fulham side with Marcos Silva at the helm actually matches up really well to be a problem for them.

The Pick: Draw, 1-1

Manchester United vs. Manchester City

It's hard to remember that there was a time in this season, even well into this season, that a Manchester City 5-peat looked like it could still be on the table. But there was such a time, and it was arguably this exact fixture that started take those Blue-tinted dreams off the table, to which they haven't returned. In the midst of a horrid stretch of form in the late Fall/early Winter, the rock bottom was City's capitulation at home to their crosstown rivlas, a Man United team in the bottom half of the table that at that time was barely into a new manager's tenure. Different context surrounds Sunday mornings Manchester Derby, of course, but there's reason to ask why United wouldn't just go on and do it again, in front of home fans, this time. It's hard to overstate how badly the Devils are playing in this moment, though, and City still have a Top 5 race to play for, at least. Plus, they might just be buoyed by the emotional departure announcement this week of the talismanic Kevin de Bruyne.

The Pick: Man City, 3-1