Welcome back to another Premier League preview post in support of Samba Pools and Hive FPL.
A reminder that you can claim a portion of the rewards from this post by making your predictions via Samba Pools. Follow the instructions here on how to join.
Round 2 results
A closely fought round but well done to @tengolotodo whose 38 points saw him take the lions share of the pot.
It could have been so very different but for that last gasp Liverpool goal. @talesfrmthecrypt saw his 10 point haul in that game (he had predicted 2-2) reduced to 1 point while while every other participant had Liverpool to win and so enjoyed a favorable point swing themselves from that late Rio Ngumoho strike.
| Hive Account | Points Scored | Hive won/lost | Rewards returned | Total profit/loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| @seki | 27 | -0.203 | 0.252 | 0.049 |
| @tengolotodo | 38 | 0.608 | 0.252 | 0.860 |
| @amirtheawesome1 | 30 | -0.572 | 0.252 | -0.320 |
| @talesfrmthecrypt | 37 | 0.092 | 0.252 | 0.344 |
| @doombot75 | 32 | -0.055 | 0.252 | 0.197 |
The good news, 4 of our 5 competitors have finished the week in profit. We look forward to more joining for round 3!
There's no Friday night game this week so you've got a little bit longer to get your predictions in and select your Hive FPL squads.
Round 3 Previews
The lunch time kick-off sees a West London derby between Chelsea and Fulham. For the Blues, it represents their 3rd derby in as many matches with Brentford to come directly after the international break.
Chelsea are of course riding high following their 5-1 demolition of West Ham but you'd expect Fulham to provide tougher opposition. Marco Silva's team have come from behind to snatch a point in both their games so far.
One of Chelsea's big improvements last season was their form at Stamford Bridge as Enzo Maresca's side finished the season with the 3rd best home record in the league. In fact, they are unbeaten in the Premier League at home in 2025 with the last side to taste victory here in the league, you guessed it, Fulham.
In fact, after a period of near total domination during the Premier League era by the blue side of West London in this fixture, Fulham have come back strong in recent years with that 2-1 win here in December as well as a win and draw against Chelsea in 2023.
Whichever way this match goes, expect it to be tight. 4 of the last 6 matches have been won by a single goal (the others being a nil-nil draw and a 2-0 win for Chelsea) with last seasons games both seeing stoppage time winners.
Somewhere out there is a man with a t-shirt printing business who is already churning out stock of an item with Amorim's face that reads "I spent £200mil this summer and all I got was this dubious own-goal".
United have looked significantly more dangerous in attack during their opening couple of games this season than they did for most of last. However, none of their much vaunted front 3 have found the back of the net yet and with defensive errors and lapses of concentration still a major issue, the pressure is only ramped up on those forwards to score and score regularly.
This week surely offers United their best opportunity yet to get their season up and running. With no European football, they are required to take part in the early rounds of the EFL Cup with an away trip to Grimsby on Wednesday evening ahead of this match. It'll be interesting to see what kind of a team they put out for that match but they could certainly use it as a spring board for this fixture.
Burnley of course got their own morale boosting win last weekend with a vital 3 points against Sunderland. As with so many sides in recent years, a trip to Old Trafford just doesn't seem as daunting anymore. Burnley have won 1 and drawn 3 of their previous 6 league visits to Old Trafford.
United have scored 2 or more goals at home in just 3 of their Premier League matches since the turn of the year. 2 of those occasions came against newly promoted clubs in Ipswich and Southampton. Can they repeat the same in this match?
We're only 2 weeks into the season and yet it feels like both these clubs are already enjoying (or not as the case may be) a rollercoaster season. Sunderland flew out of the blocks with a home win on the opening day against West Ham before crashing back down to earth at Burnley last weekend. Meanwhile Brentford were blown away in the first half at Forest before securing a much needed 3 points at home to Villa last time out.
You'd expect that a trip to Sunderland is going to be a tough assignment for any team this season, or at least that is what the Black Cats will hope to establish.
I get the feeling from watching the early stages of this season that neither of these teams really wants the ball. Sunderland beat West Ham 3-0 at home with just 36% possession while Brentford's victory against Villa was achieved with just 26% possession.
Sunderland have had just 15 and 17 touches in the opposition box during their opening matches so far this season. Is that going to be enough to sustain the kind of goal threat that they need to stay up?
Bournemouth got themselves up and running for the season at home to Wolves and quite frankly should have done so by a more handsome margin given their numerical advantage and the chances they created.
Spurs of course are flying high after another victory at the Ethiad and will be keen to continue their perfect start under the new manager. They kept just 6 clean sheets in the Premier League 24/25 and have already met 33% of that figure with 36 matches still to be played this year.
That being said, the matches between these 2 in North London have been high-scoring affairs in recent years. Last season, a poor Spurs somehow engineered a 2-2 draw, coming back from 2 goals down. Prior to that the results in Premier League matches here have been
3-1 2-3 3-2 5-0
You get the feeling that neither side would particularly mind another open match here. Bournemouth are most dangerous on the transition while for Spurs, this perhaps represents their biggest challenge yet when it comes to breaking down Premier League opposition without the presence of a genuine play maker in their midfield, unless of course they finally manage to sign one this week...
It was almost inevitable that Everton would win their opening game at their new Stadium if by nothing else, sheer will alone. That being said, Brighton certainly had their chances in that match so Wolves faltering attack shouldn't be completely written off for this one.
Ultimately, the question that the midlands club have to answer is, how often can you sell your best player(s) and stay in the top flight? For the answer, I'd suggest looking back through Premier League history which indicates that eventually it'll catch-up with you.
The next few home matches for Wolves look likely to define the early part of their campaign. This fixture is followed by visits from Leeds, Brighton and Burnley before the clocks change. They were excellent at home last Spring, recording 4 wins in 6 games from February to April as well as a 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture with Everton during that time, a run that pulled them clear of relegation.
In fact, Wolves have generally enjoyed a strong record against the Toffees with 5 wins in their last 8 league meetings and just 1 defeat. That defeat however came in December 2024 and represented 1 of the last games in charge for Gary O'Neil while Sean Dyche (in the opposing dug out that day) followed him to the job centre a month later.
Following their opening day victory, Leeds crashed back down to earth with a 5-1 loss at Arsenal last weekend. Again, it'll be home form and results against the other bottom half clubs away that will define their season. What we're about to find out about Leeds is whether they have that 'bouncebackability', the phrase that Iain Dowie so famously coined.
Newcastle will need some themselves following their late defeat against Liverpool on Monday. With the transfer window still open, it seems very unlikely that Isak will be available while of course they now have to contend with the loss of Gordon to suspension.
Leeds home record in the Premier League against Newcastle is pretty poor with just 3 victories in 14 previous matches. However, their home form over the past 12 months has been brilliant with their last defeat coming against Burnley on 14 September 2024. Can they make Elland Road a fortress once again?
Brighton will feel that their overall performance deserved something from the game at Everton last weekend but ultimately it was their inability to put the ball in the back of the net that cost them that chance. Their expected goals this season is exactly 4.0 but they have just Matt O'Riley's penalty against Fulham to show for their efforts.
With Joao Pedro and Evan Ferguson having left and Rutter currently unavailable, are they short on options up front? Brighton play at Oxford on Wednesday evening in the EFL Cup. I would expect significant changes from the side that has and will in the Premier League.
City you feel will be smarting from their latest loss to Spurs at the Ethiad but this hasn't been an easy fixture for them in recent year either.
They lost the corresponding fixture at the Amex 2-1 last November courtesy of a couple of late strikes from the Seagulls. The game at City finished 2-2 with all goals coming in the first half.
Neutrals will be hoping to see more goals between these 2 and they might just get it. There have been a total of 56 goals in the 16 games played between these 2 sides in the Premier League and in the last 7 seasons only 2 encounters in the EPL have finished with under 2.5 goals.
At the time of writing both these teams have the manager they started the season with still in place but I wouldn't be overconfident that that's still the case come kick-off.
It's difficult to fathom how Nuno's position can be at risk considering his achievements last year in returning Forest's best season in the living memory of many fans!
Graham Potter meanwhile is walking a very fine line following the 5-1 humbling at home to Chelsea and an opening 3-0 defeat at Sunderland. West Ham supporters voted with their feet on Friday night with a mass exodus of fans when Chelsea's fourth went in.
Since then, Potter has fielded a pretty strong line-up against Wolves in the EFL and lost again! The pressure is mounting, confidence is low, several top players have already left or appear to be inching their way towards the exit and it's difficult to really get a sense of what the manager hopes this side will become.
Forest were clinical in their opening match here against Brentford and will feel that if they can get an early goal again that this could be a cake walk.
Forest have won their last 3 league encounters against West Ham and 5 of their last 7 in all competitions. Their physical and aerial dominance will be something to watch in this game. West Ham have already conceded 4 goals from set pieces this season with Forest scoring 17 times from set plays in 24/25, the most of any team in the Premier League.
Undoubtedly the match of the weekend sees 2 title contenders take an early swing at one another.
Arsenal demolished a low quality Leeds side at home but were far less convincing at Old Trafford on the opening day. Liverpool too have faltered to deceive at times scoring 7 goals but conceding 4 and generally looking vulnerable in defence.
Perhaps more worryingly for Arne Slot is that his side have twice given up 2 goal leads and required late heroics to get themselves over the line. You might say that it's a nice problem to have or that it's the mark of champions. I'd say that if it's happening every week, it's a weakness and one that will be exploited by better teams that Liverpool have faced to date.
In fact, the last match at Anfield between these 2 also saw Liverpool surrender a 2 goal lead to draw 2-2. Draws have been the order of the day between these 2 in recent years with 4 of the last 5 Premier League games finishing as a stalemate including the last 3 played here at Anfield.
Arsenal look set to be without Saka while Odegaard is also a doubt for the game. Liverpool for their part were without a recognised right-back for their match at Newcastle on Monday.
Arsenal have already clocked up 3 set piece goals for the season and will have taken note of how Liverpool struggled at times with the aerial bombardment that 10-man Newcastle unleashed on them. It wasn't pretty but it was mighty effective!
The other aspect of defending that we've seen Liverpool struggle with is teams hitting them on the break. Arsenal had their chances to counter against United but struggled to play the final ball or make the right run, they may need to be more clinical this time around if they want to take 3 points for an old rival.
With the transfer window concluding on Monday, we get a bonus match on Sunday evening!
In fact, both clubs will probably be hoping that they can get a few last minute deals over the line themselves while keeping hold of some their star players following what has been a difficult summer to date.
Away from the transfer market though and both clubs are still looking for their first win of the season!
Aston Villa have looked really short on creativity so far this season and the pressure is on their forward line who have failed to hit the back of the net in the last 287 minutes of Premier League football (beyond 300 when considering time added on).
For their part, Crystal Palace will not be an easy nut to crack as demonstrated by their victory over Liverpool in the Community Shield and draws against Chelsea and Forest in the league. They too of course have a creative void to fill with Eze no longer at the club.
Palace have enjoyed remarkable success in this fixture since Oliver Glasner took over as boss. In his 5 games versus Unai Emery's Villa side in both league and cup his record is played 5, won 4, drawn 1. Goals for 16, Goals against 5. The corresponding fixture here last year, the only time Glasner hasn't beaten Emery but Palace did lead that game twice before it finished 2-2.