Premier League 2025/26: Gameweek 26 Preview and Predictions
The Premier League returns two days after the last Gameweek with midweek action. The big fixtures to watch this round include Spurs facing the Magpies, the Villans welcoming the Seagulls, the Black Cats squaring off with the Reds, and the Bees taking on the Gunners.
With the business end of the season not too far away, every Gameweek has the potential to change the complexion of the title race, the fight for Champions League spots, and the intense relegation battle. It’s set to be an exciting ride going forward.
Here, we present our previews and predictions for all matches of Gameweek 26 of the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United
Spurs suffered a defeat away at Old Trafford at the weekend and suffered the misfortune of losing their captain Cristian Romero to a red-card offence. Without a win in their last five games, there is intense pressure on head coach Thomas Frank to turn things around as soon as possible.
As for Newcastle, they suffered a second straight home defeat against Brentford at the weekend after losing to Aston Villa in their previous home fixture. St James’ Park is usually an absolute fortress for Newcastle, so these defeats have come as a surprise. The Magpies have lost three straight games now and desperately need to return to winning ways.
Spurs’ issues with injuries continue to haunt them, with about six key players injured to go with long-term injuries. Djed Spence, Richarlison, Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus, Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso, and Destiny Udogie are all out for this game, while Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Ben Davies, and Rodrigo Bentancur are out with long-term injuries. Newcastle, meanwhile, have a few injury issues of their own, with Anthony Gordon, Joelinton, Emil Krafth, Lewis Miley, Fabian Schär, and Tino Livramento out for this fixture.
Both teams are currently struggling for form, though Spurs have the home advantage here. That said, with so many of their key players missing, Newcastle do have an opportunity to take three massive points away from home. Despite their injuries, Spurs still possess attacking threat and could trouble the Tyneside outfit, but we believe the return of their captain, Bruno Guimarães, will give the visitors a massive boost as well as the upper hand in this fixture.
Score Prediction: Spurs 1–2 Newcastle
Chelsea vs Leeds United
With the new head coach bringing about a turn in their performances, Chelsea will be looking to strengthen their chances of a Champions League spot with a fifth straight win in the league.
Leeds, on the other hand, will be looking to build momentum after their win against Nottingham Forest at home. The Blues will also be wary of the Leeds threat, as they were outplayed and defeated in the reverse fixture at Elland Road this season.
As for personnel availability, Chelsea have a long list of players out with injuries. Levi Colwill, Reece James, Filip Jörgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Dário Essugo, Roméo Lavia, and Jamie Gittens are all doubtful for this fixture. Leeds, meanwhile, will be without their key midfield operator in Anton Stach, who is out with a hip injury.
Playing at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea definitely have the upper hand as well as winning momentum. The Whites’ away form has been concerning, as they suffered a huge defeat at the Emirates recently and have mostly been poor travellers. The hosts should be able to win this, even though it could turn out to be a tightly contested affair.
Score Prediction: Chelsea 3–1 Leeds
Everton vs Bournemouth
The Toffees have quietly climbed up the table and are currently in eighth place after an unbeaten run of five games. However, here they’ll face a dangerous Bournemouth side, whose attacking style of play could become a concern for the hosts.
Everton earned a massive three points away at Fulham after coming back from a goal down to win. Bournemouth also came from an early goal down to earn a draw against Aston Villa. The Cherries have gained decent form in recent weeks after a dismal few months, though, to be fair to them, their injury problems haven’t really helped.
Everton will only have Jack Grealish out for this game, while Bournemouth will miss Julio Soler, Matai Akinmboni, Justin Kluivert, Marcus Tavernier, Tyler Adams, and Ben Doak due to injury problems.
This is a difficult one to call, as both teams have been in similar form. That said, the south coast team have a few key players out in attack and, hence, might find it difficult to break down the tight Everton defence. We believe this could be a tense affair that ends in a draw.
Score Prediction: Everton 1–1 Bournemouth
West Ham United vs Manchester United
Both West Ham and Man United have turned their form around massively in recent weeks. The Hammers have won three games from their last five, while United have now climbed to fourth place in the league table with four consecutive wins, three of which have arrived against Manchester City, Arsenal, and Spurs. West Ham have also secured surprise wins against Sunderland and Spurs.
Both teams have a few players missing coming into this game, with Lukasz Fabianski and Jean-Clair Todibo out for West Ham, while Manchester United will be without Matthijs de Ligt, Mason Mount, and Patrick Dorgu.
The Irons need to move out of the relegation zone and start winning more games if they want to have any chance of survival. The Red Devils, meanwhile, have been helped by the new manager bounce under Michael Carrick, and their front line is looking really dangerous. Even though West Ham did earn a draw against them at Old Trafford, this is an in-form and more confident Man United team, who are scoring freely and defending reliably. Hence, we feel that the visitors will grab three more points this midweek.
Score Prediction: West Ham 0–2 Man United
Nottingham Forest vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Inconsistency has plagued Forest massively this season, with positive results coming few and far between. They were on a four-game unbeaten run until last weekend, when they lost away at Leeds.
As for Wolves, they’re still languishing at the bottom of the table with little hope of escaping relegation. They also lost their most trusted forward, Jørgen Strand Larsen, to Crystal Palace in the January transfer window. Wolves have not won a game in their last five, the last three of which have ended in defeat.
From a player availability perspective, Forest will be without John Victor, Matz Sels, Nicolo Savona, and Chris Wood for this game, while Wolves only have Toti Gomes out with a hamstring injury.
Unlike last season, when their home ground was a fortress, Forest have lost many games on home turf this term. That said, playing against a struggling Wolves side is a golden opportunity to bag three massive points and widen the gap between themselves and the bottom three.
We believe the Tricky Trees have enough quality to go on and get all three points here, especially with Morgan Gibbs-White, Igor Jesus, and Dan Ndoye in their line-up, though they will also have to be wary of the Wolves threat up front.
Score Prediction: Forest 2–0 Wolves
Aston Villa vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Having been in the title-race until December, Villa is starting to crumble as the business end of the season is approaching and injuries to key players hasn’t helped their cause either. They have lost two home games in a row in the league and not showing the kind of form they had up until the end of last year. As for Brighton, they have struggles of their own with two defeats and three draws in their last five.
Both teams are without several key players for this fixture. Aston Villa will miss John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans, Andres Garcia and Alysson Edward for this game while Brighton will be without Jan Paul van Hecke, Adam Webster, Mats Wieffer, Yasin Ayari, Solly March and Stefanos Tzimas.
It’s a very tricky fixture for Villa as they do have defensive vulnerability and Brighton have the forwards to cause them major issues. The same could be said for the South Coast team as well as they have conceded at least a goal in every one of their last five fixtures and the Villa forward line could really hurt them as well. Looking at the current situation, we believe this could be a high scoring encounter like the reverse fixture which Villa won though this one would most likely end in a draw.
Score Prediction: Villa 2–2 Brighton
Crystal Palace vs Burnley
Having strengthened their team in the January window, much is expected from Crystal Palace as we go into the business end of the season. Their recent form has nothing much to write home about as they have only won one game from their last five along with the humiliation of getting knocked out of the FA Cup by a non-league opposition. As for Burnley, after securing admirable away draws against Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs in recent weeks, they have now lost two straight games and are still lying in the bottom two of the league table.
Crystal Palace will miss Cheick Doucouré, Justin Devenny, Edward Nketiah and Jean-Philippe Mateta for this game while Burnley will have Connor Roberts, Zeki Amdouni, Jordan Beyer, Josh Cullen and Mike Tresor on the sidelines for this one.
Returning to winning ways in a tough away game will have given a massive shot of confidence for a struggling Palace side. However, facing a low-block side is never easy and Burnley will set up to defend away from home. We believe this could be another tight affair decided by a solitary goal with the hosts grabbing the three points.
Score Prediction: Palace 1–0 Burnley
Manchester City vs Fulham
After going a goal down against Liverpool, City made an incredible comeback in a chaotic and dramatic game at Anfield, resulting in a massive statement in the title-race. Though City haven’t been their usual consistent self this season, they are still in the title-race and a win against Fulham in midweek could get them even closer. As for Fulham, they have lost their last two league games and are struggling to find form. The reverse fixture at Craven Cottage was a thrilling encounter though and a reminder to Pep Guardiola that they cannot be taken lightly.
City has suffered due to injuries as well this season and will see Abdukodir Khusanov. John Stones, Jøsko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Jérémy Doku and Savinho missing this fixture. Fulham will have Saša Luki? and Tom Cairney on the sidelines for this big fixture at the Etihad.
Fulham does have a chance as City has been prone to defensive errors leading to opposition goals but playing at home after that big away win in Merseyside, it’s difficult to look past them as the winners. This could be another entertaining fixture that may land in City’s favour.
Score Prediction: Man City 3–1 Fulham
Sunderland vs Liverpool
The Black Cats are still unbeaten at the Stadium of Light and even though they have been poor travellers, Sunderland has managed to get draws and wins at home. With the suspension of Dominic Szoboszlai for this game, Liverpool will have further problems as they will miss their most influential player. With only one win in the league in January, the Reds will be desperate to bag the three points away from Wearside.
Injuries have decimated the Reds with several key players potentially out for the season. Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander Isak, Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni and Stefan Bajcetic will be the absentees for this fixture. For Sunderland, Granit Xhaka and Bertrand Traoré are doubtful for this game.
With Liverpool not having a proper right-back option for this game, this could be a big chance for Sunderland to target that side with a midfielder most likely deployed in that position instead of a defender. We do not see the Reds winning this game due to their defensive issues while Sunderland’s problems have been in the scoring department. With the experienced Xhaka missing in midfield, they could have a few other issues and hence this could be a tightly contested affair with both teams sharing the spoils.
Score Prediction: Sunderland 1–1 Liverpool
Brentford vs Arsenal
With most of their key players gone in the summer, no one expected Brentford to be in this position but credit to Keith Andrews for an impressive stint so far. With two big away wins against Villa and Newcastle, Brentford have shown that they can win away as well but the Gunners are a different proposition. Their defensive structure is difficult to break down and the only defeat that they have suffered recently was a home defeat to Manchester United.
From an injury viewpoint, Arsenal has a fair few missing with Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka, Max Dowman and Mikel Merino unavailable for this game while Brentford has two long-term absentees in Fabio Carvalho and Joshua Dasilva.
Brentford has lost very few games at home this season, something Mikel Arteta would definitely be mindful of. With forward Viktor Gyökeres back amongst the goals, Arsenal has an edge but they have found it difficult to break down defensively solid oppositions. Brentford are also impressive on dead ball situations and corners like Arsenal, another thing Arsenal need to be careful about. This one is a tough one to call but we believe Arsenal will come away with the three points in a tense affair at the GTech Community Stadium.
Score Prediction: Brentford 0–1 Arsenal
