Predictions: Jack's Round 1 Premier League Picks

The 2025-26 Premier League season has arrived, and as those of you that read my giant season preview looking at all 20 clubs will know, I think we're set for a particularly interesting campaign given how much the top clubs have spent to load up on attacking talent.

Ahead of each round, I'll be sharing my own predictions as I have in previous seasons to encourage a bit of conversation about the weekend (or midweek) ahead.

These will be kept fairly brief and are of course just my own thoughts, so if you're after more objective and detailed match previews, upgrade to Superbru Premium as that's how you get access to the preview for each individual match that we put together and that is available to read on the predictions page. Said previews are also collated to form a weekly article that is only available to Premium users.

Here are the Round 1 fixtures along with my prediction for each game.

Liverpool vs. Bournemouth

Bournemouth are more than capable of competing with the big clubs on their day, as they showed frequently last season, but it would be an almighty shock if they win this opener at Anfield after the window each of these clubs has had. Liverpool should be too strong as the likes of Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike will be keen to impress in their competitive home debuts, though their performance in the Community Shield would suggest the visitors will get a big chance or two. Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth

Aston Villa vs. Newcastle

I thought Newcastle would really kick on after a very successful season in 2024-25 but this pre-season has become so, so messy for the Magpies whereas things seem quite calm at Villa Park as things stand. Aston Villa are better placed to hit the ground running here in my opinion. Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 Newcastle

Brighton vs. Fulham

I'm trying to guard against bigging Brighton up too much as they were a mixed bag last season in Fabian Hurzeler's first campaign in charge, but their team looks very exciting on paper and now that Hurzeler has had that season to get used to the Premier League they could well be strong. You know what you're getting with Fulham, mainly because they've made no notable signings whatsoever, and I think Brighton will beat them if playing somewhere close to their best. Prediction: Brighton 2-1 Fulham

Sunderland vs. West Ham

Round 1 feels a bit early to say there's a 'huge game' (I'm going to say it for the one at Old Trafford later in this piece though), but I think there's quite a lot of pressure on West Ham and particularly Graham Potter here. Having failed to oversee much improvement since taking over, Potter is going to need a good start to get the fans on his side but this is an awkward opening game given the atmosphere that Sunderland fans will create after promotion and an exciting transfer window. If Sunderland can rise to the occasion and reflect that atmosphere with intensity for 90 minutes, I'm not sure the Hammers will have the necessary spine to grind out three points? Prediction: Sunderland 1-1 West Ham

Tottenham vs. Burnley

A strong start is similarly important for Thomas Frank at Tottenham given that this is a very favourable Round 1 fixture. I doubt it'll be a hammering given Burnley's defensive record last season but I'd be surprised if we don't see a home win. Prediction: Tottenham 2-0 Burnley

Wolves vs. Manchester City

This is my first away win prediction of the season as I think City will be eager to put a marker down right from the off. This could be a long season for Wolves if they don't add some signings and a couple of their recent sales could be part of their downfall in this match with Matheus Nunes and Rayan Ait-Nouri both likely to feature for City. Vitor Pereira did a great job after coming in last season at Molineux but pre-season hasn't been great, whereas City look full of goals. Prediction: Wolves 1-4 Manchester City

Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace

Palace have started this campaign just as they ended the last one with a fantastic win at Wembley - this time over Liverpool on penalties to lift the Community Shield - but could their season be about to get a lot tougher with Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze both potentially departing? After an excellent Club World Cup triumph and then two good performances in a pre-season that has lasted about 3 days, Chelsea look primed to start this season very well, it's just that they might run out of gas more quickly than other teams in the months to come as a result of that disrupted summer. Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Crystal Palace

Nottingham Forest vs. Brentford

Forest have struggled to score a goal in pre-season, but 2025-26 is already shaping up quite nicely for Nuno's side since they've been handed a place in the Europa League at Crystal Palace's expense. This is also a kind-looking Round 1 fixture for Forest, but I'm very interested to see how Brentford get on after such a tough transfer window and the bold appointment of Keith Andrews. This could easily be a draw in my opinion as Brentford should remain fairly sound defensively despite their change of manager and Forest weren't great towards the end of last season when the onus was on them to take hold of a match and dominate as it is here. Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Brentford

Manchester United vs. Arsenal

Huge game. There's been so much chat about the moves that these clubs have been making this summer, and the nature of social media and indeed the media more generally nowadays means there'll be a meltdown across the fanbase of either club if they lose this opener. There are so many potentially fun outcomes to this match narrative wise - Sesko to score the winner for United when it seemed like he was Arteta's initial striker target in this window? Gyokeres scoring the winner as the striker Arsenal actually got against his former manager Ruben Amorim?

I think Arsenal are going to remain very strong defensively this season and they're perhaps the only one of last season's top four that you can say that about, so I'm torn between a 1-1 draw and a 1-2 away win. Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice as a combo are likely to be an absolute nightmare to play against. Prediction: Manchester United 1-2 Arsenal

Leeds vs. Everton

I already felt that Everton were set for a pretty encouraging season and the signing of Jack Grealish will only boost the mood around the club further. This isn't the easiest opening match as there'll be a strong atmosphere under the lights for Leeds' return to the Premier League, but I think the Toffees are defensively sound enough to cope. This should be an away win. Prediction: Leeds 0-1 Everton

Feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments and good luck in Round 1!