Premier League action resumes this weekend after the FA Cup and League Cup action this past week. Gameweek 22 will kick off with the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, followed by Sunderland facing the Eagles, Chelsea welcoming the Bees, and Arsenal travelling to face the Tricky Trees.
Here, we present our preview and predictions for all matches of Gameweek 22 of the 2025/26 Premier League season.
This is undoubtedly the biggest game this weekend, one that has even more narrative significance given Man City’s league title ambitions.
After three consecutive draws in the league, the Cityzens will be desperate to get back to winning ways, though they did win their FA Cup third-round tie and the EFL Cup semi-final first leg comfortably. Man United’s season, meanwhile, has gone from bad to worse. The Red Devils were knocked out of the FA Cup by Brighton last weekend. In the league, they’ve dropped points against relegation-bound teams like Burnley and Wolves. They have only one win from their last five league fixtures, which arrived against Newcastle at home.
From a player availability standpoint, City will be without Omar Marmoush, who is at AFCON, with Savinho, John Stones, Joško Gvardiol, Rúben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, and Oscar Bobb out injured. United don’t have as many injury concerns, with only Matthijs de Ligt out injured, while Noussair Mazraoui is still at AFCON and Shea Lacey is suspended.
As inconsistent as Man United have been, they always turn up in the big games. With their attacking threat returning with the availability of Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo, they will be strong up front. For such derby fixtures, form goes out of the window, with teams massively charged up. Nonetheless, even though this is going to be an incredibly feisty affair, City may just edge it due to their superior midfield.
Score Prediction: Man United 1–2 Man City
Both teams are without a win in their last five fixtures across all competitions. In a massive upset, defending FA Cup champions Crystal Palace were defeated by sixth-tier side Macclesfield in the third round last weekend. Palace also have three losses in their last five league games. In comparison, although the Wearside team haven’t performed as badly as Palace, barring a loss against Brentford, they have four draws in their last five. In their FA Cup third-round tie, they defeated Everton on penalties.
Palace’s poor performances can be attributed in no small part to a long list of absentees. Eddie Nketiah, Daniel Muñoz, Daichi Kamada, Cheick Doucouré, Caleb Kporha, Rio Cardines, Chadi Riad, Nathaniel Clyne, and Jefferson Lerma are injured, with Ismaïla Sarr away at AFCON. In contrast, Sunderland will be strengthened with most of their players returning from AFCON barring Habib Diarra and Chemsdine Talbi, while Aji Alese is yet to recover from injury.
Sunderland have been a very difficult team to beat at home, and even top teams like Arsenal and Man City have struggled to earn more than a point against them. With so many injury issues to go with their poor form, it’s hard to see Palace getting anything from this game. Given Sunderland’s home advantage, grabbing even a point may prove too much.
Score Prediction: Sunderland 1–0 Palace
Chelsea ran away comfortable winners in the FA Cup last weekend but lost to Arsenal 2–3 at home in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg at home. That said, Arsenal were ahead 3–1, but Alejandro Garnacho scored an important late goal to keep Chelsea in the tie. In the league though, the Blues are without a win in their last five games, while Brentford are on an upward trajectory with four wins and a draw. The Bees also progressed to the FA Cup fourth round by defeating Sheffield Wednesday last weekend.
Chelsea do have a few injury concerns, with Reece James, Levi Colwill, and Roméo Lavia on the sidelines. Brentford, meanwhile, will miss the services of Fábio Carvalho and Joshua Dasilva, who are out with long-term injuries, with Frank Onyeka away at AFCON.
Though Chelsea do have the home advantage, Brentford have the better run of form and momentum. They even defeated Everton away from home recently. However, with Cole Palmer returning to the team, Liam Rosenior’s men do have the superior attacking threat, though they will have to be wary of Brentford during dead-ball situations. Given Chelsea’s defensive frailties and Brentford’s admirable away form, an entertaining draw is very likely in this West London affair.
Score Prediction: Chelsea 2–2 Brentford
Liverpool won their FA Cup third-round game against Barnsley last weekend, but they were far from comfortable and the 4–1 score line hardly tells the full story of the game. However, they did earn a decent draw at the Emirates before that, with a far better second-half display against Arsenal.
As for Burnley, they also won their FA Cup third-round fixture, putting five goals past Championship side Millwall. In their last league game, they too earned a hard-fought draw against Man United.
The Reds have been really unlucky with injuries this season, with Conor Bradley the latest player to be sidelined with injury; he’s out for the season. Giovanni Leoni and Alexander Isak are Liverpool’s other long-term absentees, with Stefan Bajcetic, Rio Ngumoha, and Wataru Endo also doubtful for this fixture, and Mohamed Salah still away on international duty.
Burnley, too, have a major selection headache given their long list of injured players. Connor Roberts, Zeki Amdouni, and Josh Cullen are the Clarets’ long-term absentees, with Joe Worrall, Jordan Beyer, Mike Trésor, and Zian Flemming also doubtful for this game.
Liverpool do have the edge playing at home, and with Hugo Ekitike back in the line-up, the Merseyside Reds will look to secure all three points here. However, Burnley can’t be underestimated, even though they look likely to go down. They like to play a low block, which has consistently troubled this Liverpool team, but Arne Slot and Co should still be able to outscore Burnley at home.
Score Prediction: Liverpool 2–1 Burnley
Sitting in the bottom half of the table, Spurs only have one win in their last five games. To make matters worse, they were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa last weekend. West Ham are not in a great place themselves and are sitting dangerously in the drop zone with four losses and a draw in their last five.
Injuries have derailed Spurs’ season yet again, with Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Mohammed Kudus, and Richarlison all out on the sidelines, and Pape Matar Sarr away at AFCON. As for West Ham, they will miss Lukasz Fabianski and Konstantinos Mavropanos for this game.
Even with both teams struggling for form, Spurs are still a superior team to West Ham on paper, and with the home advantage, they should return to winning ways this weekend.
Score Prediction: Spurs 2–0 West Ham
In their previous league game, Leeds United’s six-game unbeaten streak came to an end in a thrilling encounter at St James’ Park, though they did return to winning ways in their FA Cup third-round fixture, defeating Derby County. Fulham, meanwhile, have caught good momentum as well, having beaten Chelsea in their last league game and having progressed to the next round of the FA Cup.
Both teams are fortunate in terms of massive injury issues, though there are a few absentees. For Leeds, Jayden Bogle and Dan James will sit this fixture out, while the Cottagers will miss Kenny Tete, Rodrigo Muniz, and Joshua King due to injuries, with Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi, and Calvin Bassey still away at AFCON.
Leeds have looked a different team in recent weeks and managed to get positive results against Liverpool, Chelsea, and Man United. Against Newcastle as well, they played superbly despite the defeat. As for Fulham, they have also done well in the last month or so and grabbed some positive results. This one may end up being an entertaining draw.
Score Prediction: Leeds 2–2 Fulham
Languishing in the bottom half of the table, Nottingham Forest’s season isn’t going as per their expectations, while the Gunners have been incredible.
After winning their FA Cup fixture at the weekend comfortably, Arsenal beat Chelsea 3–2 away at Stamford Bridge in their EFL Cup semi-final first leg. However, Mikel Arteta’s men did drop points against Liverpool in their last league fixture, though they remain unbeaten in their last five encounters. As for the Tricky Trees, they finally broke their four-game losing streak in the league by winning against West Ham, but they were knocked out by second-tier Wrexham on penalties in the FA Cup.
Forest’s injury list comprises Ryan Yates, Chris Wood, and John Victor, with Oleksandr Zinchenko unavailable to play against his parent club. Arsenal, meanwhile, will miss Piero Hincapié, Christhian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafiori, and Max Dowman for this game.
Forest will most definitely go for a defensive setup in this game, but considering Arsenal’s proficiency in dead-ball situations, they should be able to score goals anyway. As for Forest, even though they are playing at home, it’s hard to see them troubling this Arsenal defence. This could be a tough battle, but the Gunners will find a way to secure all three points.
Score Prediction: Forest 0–2 Arsenal
Wolves seem to have turned their dismal form around with a few positive results in recent weeks. Draws against Man United and Everton, their first league win against West Ham, and the recent 6–1 demolishing of Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup have given the Old Gold some hope.
As for the Tyneside outfit, though they suffered a home defeat to Man City in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg in midweek, Newcastle have won their last three league games and also progressed to the next round of the FA Cup with a win against Bournemouth on penalties.
As for personnel availability, Wolves will miss the services of Marshall Munetsi, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, and Toti Gomes due to injuries, while Newcastle have a fair few players out: Dan Burn, Emil Krafth, Fabian Schär, Jacob Murphy, Jamal Lascelles, Tino Livramento, and William Osula.
Though Wolves have found form and momentum lately, they still have a mountain to climb if they want to avoid relegation. What could work in their favour is that Newcastle have struggled on their travels and will have comparatively more tired legs due to the midweek game. They are also missing key players in defence, and hence Wolves have a great opportunity to get something from this game. A point, at the very least, is up for grabs for Rob Edwards and Co here.
Score Prediction: Wolves 1–1 Newcastle
Villa’s only defeat since early November came away at Arsenal at the end of December — such has been their form. They’ve defeated City, Arsenal, Man United, and Chelsea during this time, having also progressed to the next round of the FA Cup by beating Spurs last weekend.
As for their opponents, the Merseyside Blues have been going through a poor run of form. They only have a solitary win in their last five with two draws and two losses. In addition, they lost to Sunderland on penalties in their FA Cup third-round fixture last weekend.
Everton’s injury woes have also affected their form. Carlos Alcaraz, Jarrad Branthwaite, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Séamus Coleman, and Tim Iroegbunam are on the sidelines, while Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye are still away at AFCON, with Michael Keane and Jack Grealish out suspended.
Looking at form, injury issues, and quality of the two line-ups, Aston Villa hold a clear edge in this fixture. Even though they have shown some defensive vulnerabilities, the Villans have enough quality up front to hurt the Everton defence and grab all three points here.
Score Prediction: Villa 3–1 Everton
Brighton only have a win against Burnley in their last five, with one defeat and three draws. However, they knocked out Man United in the FA Cup third round last weekend. As for Bournemouth, they’re struggling as well, with two losses, two draws, and a win in their last five. Their most recent league fixture was a win against Spurs, though in their FA Cup third-round they were knocked out by Newcastle on penalties.
From an injury viewpoint, both Brighton and Bournemouth have their fair share of players missing. Brighton are missing Adam Webster, Mats Wieffer, Solly March, Stefanos Tzimas, and Yankuba Minteh, while Bournemouth’s injury list is even longer, with Ben Doak, Enes Ünal, Justin Kluivert, Matai Akinmboni, Ryan Christie, Tyler Adams, and Will Dennis all out injured.
It’s a difficult game to call, but with Bournemouth losing Antoine Semenyo to Man City and missing key players, Brighton are the likelier side to win this game. With the Cherries’ defence being leaky as well, the Seagulls’ forward line could definitely hurt them.
Score Prediction: Brighton 2–1 Bournemouth
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