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.
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
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
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
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 for that they need to start winning more games. 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
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
Having been in the title race until December, Villa are starting to crumble as the business end of the season approaches, and injuries to key players haven’t helped their cause either. They’ve lost two home games in a row in the league, not showing the kind of form they had up until the end of last year.
As for Brighton, they have struggles of their own, having registered two defeats and three draws in their last five fixtures.
Both teams are without several key players for this fixture. Aston Villa will miss John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans, Andrés García, and Alysson for this game, while Brighton will be without Jan Paul van Hecke, Adam Webster, Mats Wieffer, Yasin Ayari, Solly March, and Stefanos Tzimas.
This is a very tricky fixture for Villa, as they do have a few defensive vulnerabilities, while Brighton have the forwards to cause them major issues. The same could be said for the south coast team as well, though, as they’ve conceded at least a goal in every one of their last five fixtures, with the Villa front line also capable of hurt them.
Looking at the current situation, we believe this could be a high-scoring encounter, just like the reverse fixture that Villa won, though this time the Seagulls may be able to take home a point.
Score Prediction: Villa 2–2 Brighton
Having strengthened their team in January, much is expected from Crystal Palace as we go into the business end of the season. Their recent form has not been much to write home about, with the Eagles having won only one game in their last five outings, alongside 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 remain in the bottom two in the league table.
Crystal Palace will miss Cheick Doucouré, Justin Devenny, Eddie 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 last time out must have given a massive shot of confidence to this struggling Palace side. However, facing a low-block side is never easy, and Burnley will definitely set up to defend away from home. We believe this could be another tight affair decided by a solitary goal, which we back the hosts to score to grab all three points.
Score Prediction: Palace 1–0 Burnley
After going a goal down against Liverpool, Man City made an incredible comeback in a chaotic and dramatic game at Anfield, making a massive statement for league leaders Arsenal. Though City haven’t been their usual consistent self this season, they’re still in the title race, and a win against Fulham here 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 for Pep Guardiola that the Cottagers cannot be taken lightly.
The Cityzens have suffered due to injuries this season and will be without Abdukodir Khusanov, John Stones, Joško Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Jérémy Doku, and Savinho for this fixture. Fulham, on the other hand, will have Saša Lukic and Tom Cairney on the sidelines for the Etihad trip.
Fulham do have a chance to get something here, as City have been prone to defensive errors that have led to goals. That said, given they’re playing at home, especially after that big away win at Merseyside, it’s difficult to look past them as the favourites to win this game, though expect this to be an entertaining affair.
Score Prediction: Man City 3–1 Fulham
The Black Cats are still unbeaten at the Stadium of Light, even though they have been poor travellers. On the other hand, with the suspension of Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool have further problems. With only one win in the league in January, the Reds will be desperate to take all three points away from Wearside.
Injuries have decimated Liverpool, with several of their key players potentially out for the season. Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander Isak, Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni, and Stefan Bajcetic will be absent 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 to be deployed in that position. 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, making a tightly contested affair where the two sides are likely to share the spoils.
Score Prediction: Sunderland 1–1 Liverpool
With most of their key players gone in the summer, no one expected Brentford to be in this position, but credit has to go to head coach 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.
The Gunners are a different proposition, though. Their defensive structure is difficult to break down, and the only defeat they have suffered recently was at home to a resurgent Manchester United.
From an injury viewpoint, Arsenal have a fair few players missing, with Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka, Max Dowman, and Mikel Merino unavailable for this game, while Brentford have two long-term absentees in Fábio Carvalho and Joshua Dasilva.
The Bees have lost very few games at home this season, which is something Mikel Arteta will definitely be mindful of. With forward Viktor Gyökeres back among the goals, Arsenal do have more of an attacking edge here, though they have found it difficult to break down defensively solid teams.
Brentford are also impressive from dead-ball situations, like Arsenal, which is another thing Arteta will have to be careful about. This one is tough to call, but we believe Arsenal will eventually come away with all three points at the end of what promises to be a tense affair at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Score Prediction: Brentford 0–1 Arsenal
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