Premier League Predictor: Round 1 Predictions

We are back, everyone.

The 2024/25 Premier League campaign begins this evening, which means season-long battles in score predictions leagues are about to commence on Superbru Football.

If you're new to Superbru, welcome! If you're not, welcome back! I share my thoughts and predictions in these articles ahead of each round. Largely to try and stimulate some debate about the fixtures, sometimes to help provide some useful information and every now and then one of them proves to be spot on so that you can copy and get an Exact yourself.

For a full season preview looking at each club, check out this article.

Here are my thoughts on each game in Round 1 - it's certainly not an easy start for Superbru players...

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Manchester United vs. Fulham

I'm not quite sure how Manchester United will fare this season overall, but this does look like a favourable opening match for them and I think they'll get the job done to bounce back from being beaten in this fixture last season. It feels as if Fulham aren't quite ready for the campaign in that they haven't yet replaced Joao Palhinha, and I think the new season feeling will be more positive than it has for a while at Old Trafford after the Ineos partial takeover which has resulted in some encouraging signings. Prediction: Manchester United 3-1 Fulham

Ipswich vs. Liverpool

This should be a fun watch since there's going to be such a new feeling about both sides. Portman Road will be bouncing for Ipswich Town's long-awaited yet sudden return to the top flight after their back-to-back promotions, while it will take some time to get used to watching Liverpool without Jurgen Klopp on the touchline. Player for player there should only be one winner but I think Ipswich will make things difficult, it's just hard to predict if they'll manage a goal with the early momentum I think they may have. I'm hesitantly backing a Liverpool clean sheet. Prediction: Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool

Arsenal vs. Wolves

A pretty routine start for Arsenal here, I reckon. That sounds harsh on Wolves but I think it will take a few weeks before we see them show what they can do under Gary O'Neil because it sounds like they'll be heading to the Emirates with a pretty thin attack after Pedro Neto's departure and some injuries to other key forwards. This is a good opportunity for Arsenal to make an early statement. Prediction: Arsenal 3-0 Wolves

Everton vs. Brighton

The first of a few very difficult picks in this round. Everton are usually solid enough at home, but it's hard to know how Brighton will get on early in this season under their new manager. The range of options the Seagulls now have in their squad, particularly in attack, is quite something so it's difficult to tell what Brighton's lineup will even look like let alone how they'll perform until we've had a few weeks of watching them to go off. I'm tempted to go with an away win but it feels like that's just based on excitement over lots of new players so perhaps a draw is more realistic. Prediction: Everton 1-1 Brighton

Newcastle vs. Southampton

As I mentioned in my season preview, I think Newcastle will be quite strong this season and this is a very difficult opening game for Southampton as they return to the Premier League. I'd be surprised if Saints are able to cope defensively in this one, as Eddie Howe's team were incredibly strong in an attacking sense when playing at St James' Park last year. I'd be surprised if this isn't a comfortable home win. Prediction: Newcastle 4-1 Southampton

Nottingham Forest vs. Bournemouth

This prediction feels a bit similar to Everton v Brighton to me - I'm not massively convinced by Nottingham Forest but they're decent enough at home and have potential match winners in the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, whereas Bournemouth are probably a slightly better team overall but may not start the season too well on the road and without Dominic Solanke. It sounds like Solanke's replacement is already on the way as Evanilson is about to sign from Porto (Bournemouth spending around £40m on a new forward is perhaps the best example yet of how hard it is for newly promoted sides to compete with those already in the league) but I doubt he'll be ready to feature in this game. This feels like an opportunity for Forest so I'm hesitantly going with a narrow home win. Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Bournemouth

West Ham vs. Aston Villa

Having added so many signings, many of whom look like starting XI players to me, it's tough to tell whether or not West Ham will ride the wave of optimism currently surrounding the club and start this season on fire or if things will take slightly longer to come together as Julen Lopetegui builds a new team. Aston Villa are clearly tough opposition to face first up, but West Ham's home record in this fixture is sound and I can see them getting at least a point. It will be interesting to see how Lopetegui gets on as after apparently leaving Wolves over their lack of ability to bring in new players and improve the squad, he certainly can't complain about that here. Prediction: West Ham 2-2 Aston Villa

Brentford vs. Crystal Palace

It's tough to pick a winner in this game too I think as for all the understandable hype around Crystal Palace and what Oliver Glasner is building, Michael Olise will clearly be a big miss and it might take a few rounds before we see Daichi Kamada and Ismaila Sarr (both excellent players) really settle in and contribute. Brentford should be stronger than they were last season and they have an exciting new attacking player themselves in Fabio Carvalho. This could well be a draw in my opinion and I don't think either side would be too unhappy with that. Prediction: Brentford 1-1 Crystal Palace

Chelsea vs. Manchester City

For Chelsea, this is probably actually a favourable time to be playing Manchester City since Pep Guardiola's team often start slowly and it's unlikely Rodri will play 90 minutes, but it's still brave to be picking anything other than a win for the champions. Chelsea have already been on the receiving end of an Erling Haaland hat-trick and defeat to City in pre-season, and I'm not sure the Blues are going to be too strong defensively under Enzo Maresca which means City should get plenty of chances. Prediction: Chelsea 1-3 Manchester City

Leicester vs. Tottenham

A Monday night game against a newly promoted side isn't an easy start for Tottenham, but you'd think they'll have enough attacking quality to come through this game. Expectations for this season are understandably quite low around Leicester despite winning the Championship last season due to their final situation and fairly weak looking squad. An away win looks likely, and as with most Spurs games with Ange Postecoglou in charge, there'll probably be goals. Prediction: Leicester 1-3 Tottenham

Let me know how your predictions compare in the comments section and good luck in Round 1!

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