Premier League Predictions, Week 4

Welcome back to the weekly predictions, Premier League fans! In case you needed any more reason to get excited about this season, to follow up all the chaos from last Premier League weekend, we got the draw for the Champions League and Europa League group stages this week! Is it Saturday yet?

An unfortunate byproduct of the exciting upsets in the last league weekend was that I am still looking for a prediction outing that's something more than mediocre, and I'm also still on the hunt for my first accurate scoreline prediction. I got the fairly straightforward predictions of Tottenham and Arsenal winning, but was fully unprepared for Leeds' demolition of Chelsea and Newcastle's thrilling draw with Manchester City. "Fortunately," my Liverpool pessimism paid off, as Manchester United's win at Old Trafford was a surprise to most, but not to me, and secured a second-straight 3/5 week for me, keeping me right at 60% on the season. But because I can't really have any true win, not only did my favorite team lose to my least favorite, Mo Salah's late consolation goal ruined my perfect scoreline prediction of a 2-0 Man United win. Oh well, the matches are less than 12 years away from kicking back off, so no time for sulking.

Here are your 5 for Week 4!

Southampton vs. Manchester United

Is Manchester United back? Their pulsating 2-1 win over rivals Liverpool certainly had big "turning point" energy. We can't rule out the possibility, however, that Liverpool is just in a particularly bad moment, and the rivalry match presented an opportunity to feed off the energy of the home crowd to score a necessary win. Southampton isn't good enough of a team to embolden me to pick a Saints win, but believe me when I say I want to.

The Pick: Draw, 1-1

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Leeds United

Here's a sentence you probably didn't expect to see me write this season: 3rd-placed Leeds and 5th-placed Brighton is the primetime matchup of this weekend, and will get top billing on U.S. networks. Sure, it's only Week 4, but still, Brighton's season-opening win at Old Trafford and Leeds' demolition of Chelsea last week show that they are not to be taken lightly. Leeds in particular have been the feel-good story, due to how narrowly they escaped relegation last season and how American-influenced their team is. But I fear their unbeaten season might be the one to come to an end this weekend; not only does Brighton have the home-field advantage, it still feels like they have more of a fully-realized identity at this point.

The Pick: Brighton, 3-2

Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace

If Pep Guardiola was unhappy with his City side needing to rally from two goals down just to settle for a point against Newcastle-- and you know he was --he couldn't have been pleased to look up and realize their next opponent is Crystal Palace, who joined Tottenham as the only team to beat Manchester City and not lose to them in the league last season. Patrick Vieira's Palace looks to be back to their pesky best, rebounding from their season-opening loss with an incredibly impressive draw against Liverpool at Anfield, and then a dominant win over Aston Villa last week. I'm tempted to predict Palace once again playing the bogey team role against City, but even if this proves to not be the strongest iteration of Manchester City, I just can't see Guardiola's men dropping points in consecutive weeks.

The Pick: Man City, 2-1

Arsenal vs. Fulham

Here's another sentence you didn't expect to read: league leaders Arsenal will look to extend their stay atop the table and maintain their perfect season this weekend. Yes, it's fair to be skeptical....this is still Arsenal, and to be fair, they haven't exactly opened with a murderers' row of opponents this season. But their form so far is no joke; they've been nothing short of dominant in these first few matches, and finally seem to have a consistent, cohesive identity in Arteta's 3rd full season at the helm. I've been a believer in the Gunners' turnaround for a while, and am happy that so far it seems to finally be true. Unfortunately, I also believe Fulham is for real; I was skeptical preseason about the reigning Championship winners' ability to maintain their level in the Premier League, but so far they've outplayed Liverpool and Wolves in back-to-back draws, and just last week, got a last-minute winner over a Brentford team fresh off obliterating Manchester United. I think the Cottagers will be Arsenal's sternest test by far, and I'm not convinced Arsenal realizes that.

The Pick: Draw, 2-2

Nottingham Forest vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Last week, I thought 4th-placed Tottenham would have a stodgy, ugly match against Wolves but eke out a 2-0 win. Almost all of that came true, but they actually ended up having to settle for just 1 goal in their narrow win. This week, I'm running it back: 4th-placed Tottenham will face a gritty road match at Nottingham, but ultimately eke out a 2-0 win. Believe!!!

The Pick: Tottenham, 2-0