Week 2 of the new Premier League season is fast approaching and once again Manchester United are involved in the first match of the round.
Erik ten Hag's side, fresh from a 1-0 win over Fulham last Friday, travel to a Brighton side who began their new campaign with a dominant victory at Everton.
There are five matches at the traditional Saturday kick-off time; Crystal Palace host West Ham at Selhurst Park, Leicester City head to Craven Cottage to face Fulham, champions Manchester City host Ipswich Town at the Etihad, Southampton welcome Nottingham Forest to St Mary's, and Tottenham host Everton in North London.
The pick of this weekend's fixtures takes place at Villa Park in Saturday's late game where Aston Villa host Arsenal.
There will then be three matches on Sunday as Bournemouth welcome Newcastle United to the Vitality Stadium, Chelsea travel to Molineux to play Wolves, and Liverpool welcome Brentford to Anfield.
Read on for this week's predictions.
Saturday: Brighton v Manchester United (3.30pm UAE kick-off)
Fabian Hurzeler started his reign as Brighton manager – replacing the Marseille-bound Roberto de Zerbi – with a comfortable 3-0 win at Everton courtesy of goals from man-of-the-match Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck and Simon Adingra.
Manchester United needed a last-gasp winner from £36 million summer signing Joshua Zirkzee to grab all three points at home to Fulham as the Red Devils look to improve on last season's disappointing eight-place finish.
Prediction: Brighton 2 Man United 1
Crystal Palace v West Ham (6pm)
Palace – who ended last season with an unbeaten seven-game run that saw them finish tenth and equal their best finish in the Premier League – fell to a 2-1 defeat at Brentford on Sunday.
A Lucas Paqueta penalty could not stop West Ham falling to a 2-1 home defeat against Aston Villa as Julen Lopetegui started his Hammers reign with a loss with the Spanish coach admitting the opposition had more “energy and confidence” than his side.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 1 West Ham 0
Fulham v Leicester City (6pm)
Fulham will be aiming to secure their first point after narrowly losing at Old Trafford and could be boosted by the imminent arrival of defender Joachim Andersen in a £30m from London rivals Palace.
A goal from veteran striker Jamie Vardy earned newly-promoted Leicester a draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur, despite conceding 70 per cent of the possession to their opponents at the King Power Stadium.
Prediction: Fulham 1 Leicester 1
Manchester City v Ipswich Town (6pm)
Reigning champions Manchester City – looking to make it a record-extending fifth title in a row – eased to a 2-0 win at Chelsea courtesy of goals from Mateo Kovacic, against his former club, and Erling Haaland.
Ipswich, back in the top-flight for the first time since 2002, began their campaign with a 2-0 home defeat against Liverpool and will find life even tougher at the Etihad.
Prediction: Man City 3 Ipswich 0
Southampton v Nottingham Forest (6pm)
Southampton can consider themselves unlucky to lose 1-0 against 10-man Newcastle last week after dominating possession (78 per cent) and chances (19 shots to 4) at St James' Park.
Forest were left frustrated at the City Ground as Bournemouth grabbed an 86th-minute leveller to cancel out Chris Wood's first-half effort as it finished honours even on the south coast. Nuno Espirito Santo's side are set for more of the same here.
Prediction: Southampton 1 Forest 1
Tottenham Hotspur v Everton (6pm)
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou expressed frustration at his “wasteful” side, who finished fifth last season, after failing to take all three points against Leicester on Monday night despite taking a first-half lead through Pedro Porro.
It was a miserable start to the season for Everton who were thumped at home by Brighton when they managed to register just one shot on target at Goodison Park. Manager Sean Dyche will have little to cheer about again in North London.
Prediction: Spurs 4 Everton 1
Aston Villa v Arsenal (8.30pm)
A late goal from substitute Jhon Duran earned Villa – set to play in the Champions League for the first time this season – a 2-1 win at West Ham after new signing Amadou Onana had opened the scoring on his debut after just four minutes.
Arsenal – runners-up to Man City the last two seasons – began with a 2-0 home win over Wolves with Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka providing the goals. A good early test for Mikel Arteta's men here which they should pass, albeit narrowly.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2 Arsenal 2
Sunday: Bournemouth v Newcastle (5pm)
Antoine Semenyo's late goal snatched a draw for Bournemouth at Forest as Andoni Iraola's side look to build on their highest-ever Premier League tally of 48 points from last season.
A first-half goal from midfielder Joelinton earned 10-man Newcastle a backs-to-the-wall home win over Southampton after defender Fabian Schar had been sent off following clashing with Saints attacker Ben Brereton Diaz. Magpies manager Eddie Howe will be looking for his first win against his former club at the fifth attempt.
Prediction: Bournemouth 1 Newcastle 3
Wolves v Chelsea (5pm)
Both teams fell to 2-0 defeats last weekend – Wolves at Arsenal and Chelsea against City – and will be looking for a positive response. Wolves have struggled at home this year losing six out of their nine league games so far after being beaten in only four out of their 20 matches at Molineux in the whole of 2023.
Chelsea's manic transfer policy makes it difficult to judge how their season is going to progress under new manager Enzo Maresca who admitted on Wednesday that it is “not a comfortable situation” for those left out of his bloated squad of 40-plus players.
Prediction: Wolves 1 Chelsea 2
Liverpool v Brentford (7.30pm)
Goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah earned Liverpool a 2-0 victory at Ipswich after an impressive second-half display under the guidance of new manager Arne Slot.
Brentford also enjoyed a winning start as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa earned the Bees victory at home to Palace which saw England striker Ivan Toney left out of the starting XI because of “transfer interest”, according to manager Thomas Frank.
Prediction: Liverpool 3 Brentford 1
