Predictions: Jack's Round 8 Premier League Picks

Premier League football is back this weekend and we'll resume with a tough home fixture for Nottingham Forest as Ange Postecoglou continues his search for a first win at the club.

As always after an international break, player travel is a factor to consider when making your picks as those that played in South America on Wednesday have a pretty swift turnaround, while the upcoming Champions League and Europa League rounds are also something to think about.

Last round

I actually did alright in Round 7 with 7/10 but there's plenty of work for me to do on the global leaderboard! Let's hope this next run of fixtures goes better than the start of the season has...

Here are my thoughts on Round 8.

Nottingham Forest vs. Chelsea

I feel a bit sorry for Forest fans because this was supposed to be a really exciting season back in European football, and while there's obviously still time to turn things around, it's pretty remarkable just how different things are now compared to the start of the season. This is one of a few difficult fixtures that they have coming up and it's hard to see anything other than a Chelsea win based on Forest's recent results. Chelsea obviously had a huge win before the international break and while the break will have reduced the momentum gained from that result, the Blues should still be strong enough. Prediction: Nottingham Forest 0-2 Chelsea

Brighton vs. Newcastle

Newcastle have drawn every away game that they've had so far in this PL season, and that might not be a bad prediction for this fixture too. Brighton have some quality players - I've been really impressed with former Newcastle winger Yankuba Minteh who will be a threat to his old team here - but they're also far from invincible defensively and I think Newcastle will score. Can Brighton manage 2 goals? Quite possibly but I'm not fully convinced. Prediction: Brighton 1-1 Newcastle

Burnley vs. Leeds

When you're a newly promoted side, I always think that the home matches you have against the teams you came up with are absolute must-wins. Burnley managed 3 points against Sunderland in Round 2 (their only win so far), so can they get another victory here? Their performances at Turf Moor have been relatively solid so I'm not sure they'll lose, but Leeds may well be strong enough for a point after decent results against Wolves and Bournemouth. Prediction: Burnley 0-0 Leeds

Crystal Palace vs. Bournemouth

6th vs. 4th with just one defeat each so far this season. This should be a cracker at Selhurst Park. I think Crystal Palace are probably slight favourites as the home side, but Andoni Iraola is yet to lose at Selhurst with Bournemouth. This is another fixture I look at and just think this will be a draw. Three consecutive draws feels unlikely but I tend to try and predict each game individually rather than the # of outcomes per round! Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Bournemouth

Manchester City vs. Everton

Before the break, Everton became the first team in months to defeat Crystal Palace so perhaps they can be more competitive than I'm expecting in this game, because I can only really see a City win. After scoring a hat-trick for Norway against Israel, Erling Haaland was given the second match of the international break off so that he can rest ahead of this busy period of club football so that doesn't bode well for the Toffees. 21 goals in 12 games for club and country in 2025-26 is ridiculous. Prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Everton

Sunderland vs. Wolves

I'm going to risk what would now be a slight upset here as I have a nagging feeling that Wolves are due a win and I watched their most recent game against Brighton where they weren't bad. Sunderland have been excellent so far this season and will win this game if at their best, but they might be a few midfielders short due to injuries and if that's the case, Wolves have a big opportunity to finally manage their first win. Prediction: Sunderland 1-2 Wolves

Fulham vs. Arsenal

I can't see an upset here. Fulham are another side that will be light due to injuries and while Arsenal will be without one of their best players in Martin Odegaard, their squad is absolutely stacked this year so they won't miss him in the way that they would have done last season. Prediction: Fulham 0-2 Arsenal

Tottenham vs. Aston Villa

This is quite a tough pick now that Aston Villa have strung some wins together, but their Premier League fixture list is absolutely brutal between now and the next international break. Tottenham probably haven't been quite as good as their opening couple of games promised, but they'll always be relatively tricky to beat under Thomas Frank and I think they're the more likely team to edge this game based on Villa's away form so far in this campaign. Prediction: Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa

Liverpool vs. Manchester United

I'm really interested to see the Liverpool team that Arne Slot selects for this match. The manner of their three consecutive defeats has hardly been catastrophic, but there is of course now huge pressure to win this match against their biggest rivals. As things stand, the signing of Alexander Isak for such big money having already landed Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz does seem to have complicated things a bit for Slot as he so many expensive players to keep happy, and I'm wondering if we see him revert back to what had been working in this game. That would likely mean at least one of Isak and Wirtz therefore start the game on the bench to then be used for impact in the second half.

Ruben Amorim and United managed the win they desperately needed against Sunderland, but I personally feel they're more likely to get hammered in this match as Liverpool look to put things right than they are to stun Anfield with a surprise win. Unless we see a *huge* improvement defensively from the performance United put in at Brentford in their most recent away game, Liverpool are likely to score at least a few goals. Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United

West Ham vs. Brentford

I'm leaning slightly towards West Ham for this final game just on the basis that it feels like a winnable fixture for Nuno to have his 'bounce' in since it's his first home game as West Ham boss. Brentford will be fine this season I think but they're much tougher to play at the Gtech Community Stadium than they are anywhere else so this is a big opportunity for the Hammers. Prediction: West Ham 3-1 Brentford

Best of luck with your own Round 8 predictions!