Premier League 2025/26 Gameweek 17: Preview and Predictions
Premier League Gameweek 17 returns with another set of interesting and exciting fixtures. The big games this weekend will be the Magpies hosting the Blues, Spurs facing-off with Liverpool, Everton going up against the Gunners and the Villans welcoming the Red Devils amongst other fixtures.
Let’s take a look at the preview and predictions from Gameweek 17 –
Newcastle United vs Chelsea
After the midweek win in the EFL Cup, Newcastle would be hoping to return to winning ways in the league as well.
After the defeat to derby rivals Sunderland last weekend, Newcastle United are sitting in the bottom half of the table, mostly due to their abysmal away form. The Magpies only have two wins from their last five. However, they too are into the Carabao Cup semi-finals after the 2-1 victory against Fulham midweek. After three poor results, Chelsea is back on track with two consecutive wins now. Their most recent win took them into the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
The Blues continue to have injury problems with Liam Delap, Estêvão, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo and Levi Colwill all out for this game. Newcastle too has a fair few out with William Osula, Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth, Nick Pope and Dan Burn also unavailable for this fixture.
While the Geordies have a poor away record, they are a dominant force at home and getting three points away from St James’ Park could be a difficult task for the Blues. However, Chelsea do possess the attack to hurt the Newcastle defence but owing to the home advantage, I believe this could result in a narrow win for the hosts.
Score Prediction: Newcastle United 2-1 Chelsea
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Brentford
Wolves will host the Bees at the Molineux after a fighting performance away against the Gunners last weekend.
If not for a heartbreaking late own goal, Wolves could have salvaged a draw at the Emirates last weekend and broken their losing streak. However, they produced a stoic performance which would have given them some motivation as they go into this fixture. Not much to talk about their recent performances as they have not won or drawn a game in their last five. It would be a miracle if Wolves manage to turn this around and stay up but for now it’s looking dreary. As for Brentford, they are coming into this game, having lost their last three away fixtures. The Bees have lost seven out of their last eight away fixtures – a dismal away record that they need to improve upon.
Wolves will miss the services of Rodrigo Gomes, Marshall Munetsi, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, and Daniel Bentley due to injuries with Yerson Mosquera suspended. Brentford has long-term absentee in Fábio Carvalho who is out for the season with Joshua Dasilva and Reiss Nelson out for this fixture.
Even with their poor away record, Brentford have looked the better side this season and with Igor Thiago in top form, I believe they can take the three points from this game and pile more misery on the Old Gold.
Score Prediction: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-3 Brentford
Manchester City vs West Ham United
Manchester City have returned to their usual consistent self with another win midweek, also reaching the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
With Haaland grabbing a brace, the Cityzens comfortably beat Crystal Palace away at the weekend, breathing down Arsenal’s neck with a two-point gap in second place. City also won midweek and joined Newcastle and Chelsea in the EFL Cup semis. Unbeaten in their last five and having conceded only one goal in their last four, City have also solved their issues at the back. The Hammers on the other hand, suffered a narrow defeat to Villa after two consecutive draws.
City will miss Omar Marmoush and Rayan Aït-Nouri as they have departed for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) with John Stones, Mateo Kova?i?, Rodri and Jérémy Doku set to miss due to injuries. West Ham will also miss Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Malik Diouf due to both being on international duty at AFCON.
With the kind of form City is in, the most West Ham can get away is a draw and even that seems unlikely. The Man City attacking threat will definitely be on the forefront with Erling Haaland in top form. West Ham might get a goal or two but City to outscore them and get the three important points.
Score Prediction: Manchester City 4-1 West Ham United
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Sunderland
The Seagulls would like to return to winning ways at the Amex Stadium where they will face the dangerous Black Cats this weekend.
Without a win in their last three with two losses and a draw, Brighton will face Sunderland at the weekend. With Kaoru Mitoma returning to the first team, Brighton will look much stronger in attack. As for Sunderland, they won narrowly against bitter rivals Newcastle at home but the performance was far from convincing.
Brighton still has massive personnel unavailability with Tom Watson, Stefanos Tzimas, and Solly March out with injuries, Lewis Dunk and Diego Gomez suspended and Carlos Baleba on international duty at AFCON. Sunderland too will miss a host of players with Bertrand Traoré, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku, Reinildo Mandava away on international duty while Habib Diarra, Ajibola Alese and Leo Hjelde yet to recover from injuries and Luke O’Nien is out due to suspension.
With so many first team players missing due to injuries, Sunderland is relatively more weakened as compared to Brighton and hence I believe the South Coast team have a great chance of securing the three points at home as Sunderland’s away record has also been mediocre.
Score Prediction: Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 Sunderland
Bournemouth vs Burnley
Bournemouth would look to build on their draw last weekend with a win at home against a relatively weak opposition in the Clarets.
The Cherries salvaged a draw in a thrilling 4-4 encounter at Old Trafford in their previous fixture. Even though they didn’t get the three points, they competed well against a strong Man United attack. With back-to-back draws in their last two, Bournemouth would be looking to record a win at home. Burnley is still looking for a point as they want to break their seven-game losing streak. Their most recent defeat came against Fulham where they performed well but lost 2-3.
Bournemouth will be without Tyler Adams, Ryan Christie, Ben Doak, Matai Akinmboni and Veljko Milosavljevic due to injury issues while Burnley will have Bashir Humphreys, Connor Roberts, Zeki Amdouni and Jordan Beyer out with injuries with Lyle Foster and Axel Tuanzebe on international duty and Hannibal Mejbri suspended.
Bournemouth haven’t been in the best of form but they are still a superior team to Burnley and with the home advantage, I can see the hosts grabbing all three points from this one.
Score Prediction: Bournemouth 3-1 Burnley
Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool
Spurs will face a resurgent Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in one of the big games this weekend.
The hosts will go into this game after a defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend while Liverpool will travel to London on the back of a win against Brighton. The Reds will go into this game with confidence of not having lost a game in their last five with three wins and two draws. Spurs have two losses, two wins and a draw in their last five.
Both teams have injury pileups at their end with Spurs set to miss the services of Dominic Solanke, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma, Destiny Udogie, Kota Takai, and Radu Dr?gu?in with Pape Matar Sarr off to AFCON. Liverpool will have Dominic Szoboszlai, Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni, Jeremie Frimpong, Stefan Bajcetic, Wataru Endo and Cody Gakpo all unavailable with Mohamed Salah off for international duty.
Spurs haven’t been consistent home or away but they are a dangerous side who can cause massive issues to the Liverpool defence. However, due to their recent head-to-head record and Liverpool back showing consistent form, I do believe the Reds can take the three points from this encounter.
Score Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool
Leeds United vs Crystal Palace
After a three-game unbeaten run, Leeds will look to build some momentum at home against Crystal Palace this weekend.
Playing against Chelsea and Liverpool, Leeds produced a win and a draw, even coming back from a 2-0 deficit to draw against Liverpool. However, they drew against Brentford in their last game too. Back at home now, Leeds will look to go for the maximum. Palace were on the back of a three-game winning streak in all competitions before they were thrashed by Man City at home. The Eagles too would like to win this one as well.
Leeds will have Sean Longstaff, Daniel James and Lucas Nmecha unavailable due to injuries while Palace will miss the services of Daichi Kamada, Chadi Riad, Caleb Kporha, Cheick Doucouré and Daniel Munõz due to injuries with Ismaïla Sarr off on international duty.
This is a tough one to call as Leeds have shown decent form and great mentality but Palace is a tough nut to crack and they also have a top away form. However, with few of their vital players missing, Palace could find it difficult to create chances and score. Hence, I think this could end in a draw.
Score Prediction: Leeds United 1-1 Crystal Palace
Everton vs Arsenal
With back-to-back difficult games against London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal and having lost to the Blues, the Toffees will look to improve against the Gunners.
Everton have two defeats and three wins from their last five games with their most recent result an away defeat at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal have been slightly below par in their last two league games with a defeat at Villa Park and an unconvincing win against a poor Wolves side.
From an injury perspective, Everton has Jarrad Branthwaite, Seamus Coleman, Merlin Röhl and Jack Grealish out with Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye off for international duty. Arsenal will miss the services of Gabriel Magalhães, Cristhian Mosquera, Max Dowman and Kai Havertz for this fixture.
Everton away isn’t an easy fixture for any opposition but due to the Toffees missing key players in Grealish and Ndiaye, their attacking threat could be minimized and hence Arsenal has the advantage going into this game. Even though the Merseyside Blues will look to defend stoutly, Arsenal has enough attacking threat to win this comfortably.
Score Prediction: Everton 0-2 Arsenal
Aston Villa vs Manchester United
On the back of a dream winning run, the Villans will face another tough opponent in Manchester United at home this weekend.
Aston Villa has lost just one game in their last ten – the best run of form in the Premier League right now. However, they did win a close game against West Ham suggesting defensive issues. Man United on the other hand have two draws, two wins and a loss in their last five with their recent result being a thrilling 4-4 draw against Bournemouth.
Aston Villa has injury problems with Ross Barkley, Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings, and Emiliano Martínez out injured while Jadon Sancho is out due to suspension. Manchester United has a host of players missing due to AFCON with Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui all away on international duty. In addition, they have Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt out injured.
Villa do have defensive weaknesses and winning close games isn’t always sustainable. However, United’s attacking threat would be relatively weakened due to the likes of Diallo and Mbeumo missing. For me, this could be a feisty end-to-end encounter that could end in a draw.
Score Prediction: Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester United
Fulham vs Nottingham Forest
After being knocked out of the EFL Cup midweek, Fulham would look to get back to winning ways at home to Nottingham Forest.
The Cottagers have been inconsistent this season and haven’t been able to find a run of positive results and that can be seen in their recent fixtures. Fulham has three defeats and two wins from their last five. Similarly, Forest have not been able to replicate last season’s form either with two defeats and three wins in their last five. Though the Tricky Trees had a great result last weekend when they defeated Spurs at home.
From an injury viewpoint, Fulham has forward Rodrigo Muniz out for long with Ryan Sessegnon also out injured until late December. Forest has been decimated by injuries this season with many key players out injured. Ryan Yates, Chris Wood, Ola Aina, Taiwo Awoniyi, Matz Sels and Nicolás Domínguez out injured while Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangaré will miss this game due to international duty.
Difficult game to call as there’s nothing much to choose from both teams in terms of form and squad quality. However, with so many crucial players out, it will be difficult for Forest to win away and hence I believe Fulham has the edge in this fixture and could go on to gain a massive three points.
Score Prediction: Fulham 2-1 Nottingham Forest
