Premier League 2025/26 Gameweek 5: Preview and Predictions

With this season’s UEFA Champions League campaign up and running, a busy schedule of games has begun for teams playing in the European competitions.

There are a host of mouth-watering contests in the Premier League this weekend, with Liverpool playing in an early kick-off game against Everton in the Merseyside derby, Manchester United playing Chelsea, and the weekend ending with the big game at the Emirates as Arsenal host Manchester City. 

There’s great football to look forward to for the PL enthusiasts, so without further ado, here we present our previews and predictions for all games of Gameweek 5 of the 2025/26 Premier League season. 

Liverpool vs Everton

Liverpool have made a habit of scoring late winners this season so far, often after throwing away a decent lead. While their defensive frailties might be concerning, their power of recovery has been astonishing. The Reds scored a late penalty against Burnley last week to maintain their 100% record in the league. In their opening UCL encounter, they again scored a late winner to beat Atlético Madrid at home. 

As for Everton, they have started the season well and played out a goalless draw at home to Aston Villa; even though the Toffees dominated, they couldn’t break down the Villa defence. For this derby affair, Everton’s tactics might mirror those of Burnley — sitting back, looking to hit Liverpool on the counter. And they do have the players up front to trouble Liverpool’s shaky defence.

As for injuries, Everton will miss Vitalii Mykolenko and Jarrad Branthwaite, while Liverpool will be without Curtis Jones. 

This one is going to be a feisty affair — as Merseyside derbies usually tend to be. Difficult to call, but we back Liverpool to win this one marginally. 

Score prediction: Liverpool 2–1 Everton

Burnley vs Nottingham Forest

Burnley defended resolutely against Liverpool last time out, only to concede a heartbreaking late penalty. But there’s no denying that Scott Parker’s men were impressive in defence against the defending Premier League champions. 

The Clarets have a great record at home and had not lost at Turf Moor for 15 months until last week’s defeat to Liverpool. We can expect them to continue to play defensively and make it difficult for the opposition to break them down. 

As for Nottingham Forest, they’re in the middle of a nightmarish run. They were beaten comfortably by Arsenal in the league last weekend before getting knocked out of the Carabao Cup by second-tier side Swansea City on Wednesday. The problem for the Tricky Trees isn’t their inability to score; it’s their defence, which was rock solid last season.

In terms of absences, Forest have right-back Ola Aina out injured, while Burnley have Lesley Ugochukwu suspended and Connor Roberts, Jordan Beyer, and Zeki Amdouni out with injuries. 

This is going to be a tightly contested affair, but even with their poor form, Forest possess too much quality up front to outscore Burnley. 

Score prediction: Burnley 0–1 Nottingham Forest 

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Tottenham Hotspur

This is another fantastic contest, as both Brighton and Spurs are playing attractive football.

The Seagulls may have lost their previous game against Bournemouth, but at home they’re a difficult team to beat. Spurs, on the other hand, have been solid in defence as well as great in attack. They have lost just one game so far and are looking like a serious threat. 

As for injuries, Brighton have Matts Wieffer, Adam Webster, and Solly March out for this game, while Spurs have Dominic Solanke, James Maddison, and Dejan Kulusevski as the main absences. 

This is poised to be a very entertaining end-to-end affair that could go down to the wire. We anticipate an entertaining draw here.

Score prediction: Brighton 2–2 Spurs

West Ham United vs Crystal Palace

While they lost at home to Spurs in Gameweek 3, Palace’s most recent fixture was a win in the third round of the Carabao Cup against Millwall on penalties. In their last league game, the Eagles played out a goalless draw at home to Sunderland.

As for injury concerns, West Ham have only Tomáš Soucek out. Palace, meanwhile, have major concerns, with Adam Wharton, Eddie Nketiah, and Ismaïla Sarr all unavailable for this game.

Even though the Hammers are looking under-confident and have been handed a fair few hammerings already, they might fancy their chances against a depleted Palace side. This could be another tightly contested affair that ends in a draw.

Score prediction: West Ham 1–1 Crystal Palace 

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Leeds United

This is a contest between two struggling teams, though Wolves have had a far worse start to the season than newly promoted Leeds. The West Midlands team have only one win and three losses from their opening four league games, while Leeds have a win, two losses, and a draw to their name. The Yorkshire team were also dumped out of the Carabao Cup on penalties by Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the week.

Losing their most important creative players hasn’t helped Wolves, and they look vulnerable at the back as well. Their record at Molineux Stadium has suffered since last season, which is particularly concerning since their defensive record last season was the worst among the teams that didn’t get relegated.

With their prolific striker Jørgen Strand Larsen out with injury, Wolves will find it difficult to convert chances. Leeds, meanwhile, have shown defensive solidity in a couple of games and won’t be easy to break down. This game could end in a goalless draw.

Score prediction: Wolves 0–0 Leeds United 

Manchester United vs Chelsea

This is a huge game for Manchester United and their head coach Ruben Amorim, whose job is hanging in the balance. The Portuguese coach’s stubbornness to adapt and keep playing the same formation and tactics continues to cost the Red Devils points. Last week, Manchester City decimated them in the local derby without having to get out of second gear.

As for Chelsea, their league form has been great and they remain unbeaten, though they did lose their opening UCL game to Bayern Munich earlier this week. While there is no doubt about their offensive capabilities, Chelsea’s defensive issues are also quite visible. With the loss of their star defender Levi Colwill, the Blues seem to be struggling to find a solid combination at the back.

Coming into this game, both teams have major injury issues. Manchester United are missing Matheus Cunha, Diogo Dalot, Mason Mount, and Lisandro Martínez, while Chelsea will be without Colwill, Liam Delap, Roméo Lavia, and Benoît Badiashile.

United’s recent home record has been poor, and a strong Chelsea side may prove too hot to handle. We back the Club World Cup champions to win what should be a close game at Old Trafford.

Score prediction: Man United 1–2 Chelsea  

Fulham vs Brentford

Fulham finally secured three points in the league last week with a late goal against Leeds United, which must have been a huge relief for Marco Silva and his men. Brentford, meanwhile, are punching above their weight despite losing their head coach Thomas Frank and prolific forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa. Earlier this week, the Bees even knocked out Aston Villa on penalties in the third round of the EFL Cup.

There are no major injury concerns for either team. The Cottagers haven’t looked very threatening this season, but they do possess attacking threat with quality in their forward line, while Brentford have shown that they can’t be written off easily.

This is again going to be an entertaining game, but we believe home advantage should just about see Fulham through in this all-London affair.

Score prediction: Fulham 2–1 Brentford  

Sunderland vs Aston Villa

Sunderland have made a decent start to life in the PL with only one loss so far. Their last game was a tricky goalless draw away at Crystal Palace.

Aston Villa, on the other hand, have been struggling massively, are still without a win, and are already out of the EFL Cup, having been knocked out by Brentford this week. Unai Emery & Co look disjointed and clueless, with crucial players struggling for form.

Despite the positivity surrounding the Stadium of Light, the injury list for the Black Cats keeps growing, with as many as six of their players out — Daniel Ballard, Dennis Cirkin, and Romaine Mundle being the major misses. Villa, meanwhile, have their own concerns, with Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara, and Lucas Digne out for this game.

With Villa struggling for form and confidence, and Sunderland being solid at home, this could be another disappointing result for the Villans.

Score prediction: Sunderland 2–1 Aston Villa 

Bournemouth vs Newcastle United

The Cherries started the season with a defeat, but since then they’ve recovered their form with three wins in the league, though they are out of the EFL Cup.

Similarly, Newcastle United also have only one loss in their four PL games so far. The Magpies lost arguably their most important player, Alexander Isak, after a long, drawn-out transfer drama on the deadline day, but they have secured two decent forward options in Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade, and the latter made an instant impact by scoring the winning goal against Wolves last week.

However, injuries have struck Newcastle’s new signings, with Jacob Ramsey and Wissa out of contention for this game. Newcastle played well against Barcelona in their UCL opener despite losing at home; they did miss a striker, as Woltemade did not start. Anthony Gordon’s suspension has further weakened their first team, while Bournemouth don’t have any major injury concerns.

This is another difficult game to call, as Bournemouth aren’t an easy team to beat at home. As for Newcastle, they haven’t really been very impressive so far in front of goal, which makes Bournemouth our favourites for this game.

Score prediction: Bournemouth 2–1 Newcastle

Arsenal vs Manchester City

The big game of the weekend is a mouth-watering contest between Arsenal and Manchester City. While the Gunners have looked virtually impenetrable at the back, City have displayed some defensive weakness.

Last season, the Gunners annihilated City at the Emirates, beating them 5-1. At home, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have become a difficult team to beat and have only one loss this season, with not a single goal conceded from open play. While they are missing a couple of first-choice players in Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, William Saliba, and Kai Havertz, their improved squad depth has helped them handle the challenges.

As for City, they do possess great quality in attack, but defensively they seem to be suffering so far this season. That said, they did beat Man United convincingly in the Manchester derby last week before comfortably beating Napoli in their UCL opener. City’s defence is looking better, and the team have kept consecutive clean sheets in their last two games.

For this game, Arsenal may sit back initially and look to hit the Cityzens on the counter instead of going all-out on attack, while Man City may look to play attacking football and get the ball forward to in-form forwards Jérémy Doku and Erling Haaland.

Given Arsenal’s defensive superiority and City’s hiccups at the back, this one could end in a draw.

Score prediction: Arsenal 1–1 Man City