Premier League Matchday 2: Predictions & Results
Pintsized Background
Well, well, well. Despite a mixed response last season from the AFTV faithful, Martin Odegaard has finalised a permanent transfer from Real Madrid for £30m. With the addition of Aaron Ramsdale from Sheffield United for a similar figure, Mikel Arteta has opted to react rather than bury his head in the sand. Unfortunately for the Gunners, it may be too little too late in regards to transfer flurries. Central Midfield remains a soft underbelly even with Odegaard’s creativity. Oh yeah, PuliGOAT has COVID too – so FPL lads get him subbed.
Missed last weeks action or need to jog your memory? Catch up with Matchday 1 Review!
Want to assess our mystical predicting chops? View Match Day 1 Prediction Results!
Bitesize Predictions
| Fixtures | Pintsized | Ryan | Steviano | Results |
| Saturday, 21 August | ||||
| Liverpool vs Burnley | 2-0 | 2-0 | 4-0 | 2-0 |
| Aston Villa vs Newcastle | 2-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
| Leeds vs Everton | 3-1 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 2-2 |
| Crystal Palace vs Brentford | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Man City vs Norwich | 4-0 | 4-0 | 5-0 | 5-0 |
| Brighton vs Watford | 1-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 2-0 |
| Sunday, 22 August | ||||
| Southampton vs Man Utd | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-1 |
| Wolves vs Tottenham | 0-1 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-1 |
| Arsenal vs Chelsea | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 0-2 |
| Monday, 23 August | ||||
| West Ham vs Leicester | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 4-1 |
Premier League Matchday 2: Saturday
Liverpool (#3, 3PTS) vs Burnley (#12, 0PTS)
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Despite Norwich’s late resurgence, it was a thumping start to the 21/22 campaign for the Scousers. A first home game, the return of Virgil van Dijk, and a tribute for the 97th Hillsborough victim, Andrew Devine – Anfield will be the most terrifying fortress this weekend. Klopp and Dyche reuniting their fiery rivalry would be spicy, yet a dominant Liverpool victory will likely keep a lid on affairs. Without any transfer strengthing to the Clarets squad, outside of Irish centre-back Nathan Collins, Saturday won’t make for pretty viewing.
Prediction: 2-0
Ryan
Contrasting fortunes for both of these teams – Liverpool with the most predictable win against Norwich and Burnley with a somewhat unpredictable loss against Brighton at home. Whilst Burnley are quite the tough nut to crack at times, I don’t see their fortunes improving much at Anfield in front of a full Kop.
Prediction: 2-0
Steviano
Liverpool look to be back to their best form with Van Dijk’s return to organise the defence and free up Fabinho to play in midfield. I expect them to have too much for a solid Burnley team with the Reds out to make a statement to their rivals.
Prediction: 4-0
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Aston Villa (#11, 0PTS) vs Newcastle (#15, 0PTS)
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Ayyyy, look what we got here, a couple of loooosers. Villa at least clawed their way back to a respectable 3-2, after conceding an unanswered 3 to newly promoted, Watford. Ings notching his first goal may prove key as the form striker tends to enjoy long scoring spells. Newcastle’s exciting attack is a clear strategy, aiming to paper over their porous defence. It may end up being decided by Saint-Maxinim and if the creative spine of the team can carry them through both halves.
Prediction: 2-1
Ryan
My early prediction of Villa being a dark horse didn’t get off to the best of starts at Watford. For Newcastle it was a tale of two halves and unfortunately the second half was far too costly. I’m going to throw a curveball here and opt for the draw. Villa may need time to find their feet with their new signings whilst Newcastle can afford to be their more defensive selves.
Prediction: 1-1
Steviano
Despite an unexpected loss away at Watford last week the post-Grealish villains still managed to score twice which shows there is plenty to be positive about whilst Newcastle were blown away by West Ham in the second half. Villa to win this to add more pressure to Bruce and his thankless task with the Toon.
Prediction: 2-0
Crystal Palace (#18, 0PTS) vs Brentford (#6, 3PTS)
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After a justifiable opening day defeat to Chelsea, Vieira will face far greater criticism if he cannot muster some form of offence against Premiership new boys, Brentford. Sure, the B’s shocked Arsenal on opening day – but the Gunners are a mess as of right now. A young Palace team may well come good nearing the end of the season, but it needs to hit the ground relatively soon to put to rest creeping doubts.
Prediction: 1-1
Ryan
Welcome to Premiership management, Patrick Vieira. Admittedly first tests don’t come much tougher than the European champions on a high. And welcome to Premiership life, Brentford. Fair play to them, they made mincemeat of an Arsenal looking to get back into Europe. I see Vieira’s bad start continue against a fresh Bees side continuing their dream in the top flight.
Prediction: 0-1
Steviano
Hmm difficult one for me to call with Brentford making a great start against the Gunners whilst Palace were predictably beaten by Chelsea. I will take a punt on this one and go for a Palace home win, it should tell us a lot about Palace’s season to come and Viera’s likely managerial longevity.
Prediction: 1-0
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Leeds (#20, 0PTS) vs Everton (#5, 3PTS)
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I wouldn’t put much stock into the thumping that Leeds received at the hands of fierce rivals, Man United. Bielsa’s entertaining style is based around shock and awe, but it is quite possibly the worst gameplan against the Red Devils’ deadly fast counter-attacks. Benitez’ Everton lacks an identity, yet there is quality and depth to a squad that battled back from an early Southampton scare.
Prediction: 3-1
Ryan
As a lifelong United fan, I was more than happy to see Leeds get taught a big lesson. The slightly worrying thing for Leeds fan was their lack of spirit and attacking after conceding a barrage in 8 minutes. Everton got the job done against Southampton after conceding first with what was ultimately an enormous amount of pressure on Rafa. This might come back to bite me but I can see Everton with a relatively comfortable win here.
Prediction: 1-2
Steviano
Leeds were thumped at United last week but I expect this to be a lot different against Rafa’s Everton who will no doubt employ his trademark safety first approach and look to take a point back to Merseyside.
Prediction: 2-2
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Man City (#13, 0PTS) vs Norwich (#19, 0PTS)
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Hahaha, oh this is going to be utterly brutal. This is the perfect weekend for Norwich fans to enjoy a staycation. Pep’s bruised ego, defeated by a Kane-less Spurs side, will have him firing up the troops for an arse whooping. Pukki is a solid player to lead the Canaries attack, but he lacks the quality to overcome 3+ goal deficits against the likes of Liverpool, City and Leicester to open the season.
Prediction: 4-0
Ryan
I feel vindicated in saying that City are lacking a quality striker and this was proved against Spurs. Poor Norwich though – having been turned over by Liverpool and now having to play against a pissed off City with a point to prove. This can surely only go one way right?
Prediction: 4-0
Steviano
Two years ago Norwich stunned Man City at Carrow Road in one of the few highlights of a relegation season – I do not see history repeating itself and the Canaries are likely to feel the full backlash of a below par City team wounded at Spurs last week.
Prediction: 5-0
Brighton (#8, 3PTS) vs Watford (#7, 3PTS)
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Both shocking the bookies in their respective first matches of the season, this could prove a dreary ninety minutes. The Seagulls have flirted with a surprisingly attractive style, but the Hornets will shut up shop away from home. A sleepy draw or Brighton sneaking a late one.
Prediction: 1-0
Ryan
This is a surprisingly tough one to predict, I wouldn’t have had any of these teams to win last weekend. Fair play to Brighton getting 3 valuable points at Turf Moor and Watford for springing a surprise against dark horse Villa. Flip a coin on this one but I think the extra experience of the Seagulls and welcoming Amex crowd will edge the home team over the line.
Prediction: 2-1
Steviano
Winning away at Burnley and scoring two goals were both a surprise for me for the Seagulls as was Watford’s win over Villa however I think Mr Potter’s team are the ones who are likely to be more consistent and to take the 3 points.
Prediction: 2-1
Premier League Matchday 2: Sunday
Southampton (#16, 0PTS) vs Man United (#1, 3PTS)
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I fear this could be a long season for Southampton without a reliable goalscorer such as Ings to call upon. Throwing away a lead at Goodison Park without much of a fight was particularly disheartening. United still need a few more matches under their belt before they can reinstate themselves as confirmed title contenders, but the progress under Ole is reassuring. If the big French lump, Pogba, keeps himself fit then Bruno Fernandes will have the season of his life.
Prediction: 1-3
Ryan
This is one of those games I don’t like predicting to be honest. Although United have had a favourable few years here, some cases haven’t been as convincing as others. Southampton lost predictably against Everton but Adam Armstrong scoring on his debut is a positive. Meanwhile United came out the most impressive team of the weekend with a swashbuckling display of excitement and goals to make an immediate statement. I back United for an initially nervy but eventually comfortable victory.
Prediction: 1-3
Steviano
United have strengthened well with Varane and Sancho – if they can get Pogba to play consistently well then they are going to be difficult to beat this season and will have to much for a Southampton side who seem more intent on selling their best players than progressing up the table.
Prediction: 1-3
Wolves (#14, 0PTS) vs Spurs (#10, 3PTS)
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Classic Spurs, when the chips were down and all hope seemed lost, they pull a classic White Hart Lane shock over a seemingly impenetrable Man City. With Lewandowski publicly demanding a move, Kane may soon have to tuck his tail between his legs and apologise to Nuno. Whether Wolves fans will be delighted to see the return of their former manager is yet to be seen.
Prediction: 0-1
Ryan
Welcome back Nuno, at least that’s what should rightly greet the former Wolves boss at Molineux. Despite a 1-0 loss at Leicester, Wolves showed their defensive nous again proving some things never change. Speaking of things that never change (the past 6 years at least), Spurs pulled a big win against City at home with Son a big underrated highlight. Despite the Kane saga, Spurs look settled with Nuno at the helm and will continue their positive form against a resilient defence.
Prediction: 0-2
Steviano
Not really sure what is happening with Wolves who seem to be in meltdown with their transfer policy and a determined if unspectacular Spurs team should make Nuno’s return a happy one.
Prediction: 0-2
Arsenal (#17, 0PTS) vs Chelsea (#2, 3PTS)
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Memes aside, this London derby is always a nutty affair. Losing to Brentford will have stung Arsenal from top to bottom, but they have a wealth of youthful prospects that can surprise anyone in the league. If Lukaku starts, however, Arsenal’s defence will struggle to handle the newly trim Belgium. Pulisic is a loss, yet Tuchel is hardly lacking pace or creativity off his bench.
Prediction: 1-2
Ryan
This is another unpredictable game to be honest. Arsenal always seem to step up against Chelsea as proven with their brave display last season. I was right about the AFTV hysteria but not for the right reasons. Quite frankly they were embarrassed by a hungrier Brentford team up for the fight. Meanwhile across the capital city, Chelsea were very comfortable against Crystal Palace without having to move out of second gear. Although I think Chelsea will ultimately be victorious, this could be closer than many would predict.
Prediction: 1-2
Steviano
Game of the weekend with Arsenal going on a spending spree like a drunk who’s found a £50 note in the gutter although it will be too late for this match as Chelsea visit with the addition of goal machine, Romelu Lukaku, to an already loaded squad of talent.
Prediction: 1-3
Premier League Matchday 2: Monday
West Ham (#4, 3PTS) vs Leicester (#9, 3PTS)
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COYI. A come from behind victory over Newcastle? We’re massive. Leicester are a far stronger unit than Newcastle, however, with a clear identity on the pitch. Later on in the season, the Foxes would have enough depth to outwork a depleted West Ham, yet this early it’s a far tighter affair.
Prediction: 1-1
Ryan
An impressive second half at St James Park gave the Hammers the ideal start to their first season in Europe for a while. Leicester got the job done against a resilient Wolves which is a good sign of a strong character (with Brendan in charge I know!). The bookies might favour Leicester but I personally can’t split them and I’d go for an exciting draw here.
Prediction: 1-1
Steviano
Moyes found a way to get 4 goals out of the Hammers last week although that may say more about Newcastle’s defence than West Ham’s attack. Leicester will be a less easy nut to crack though and I can see this being an entertaining draw.
Prediction: 2-2
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