Our Premier League predictions for Week 2 of the 2023/24 season.
The Premier League 2023/24 season is underway and knees are jerking as fans over-extrapolate every detail of the fledgling campaign.
Erling Haaland is on course to score 76 Premier League goals, Newcastle are going to win the title, Aston Villa, Burnley and Luton are already relegated, right? Of course.
The second slate of matches offers teams a chance to build on a strong start or atone for opening day woes, but who will come out on top?
RadioTimes.com brings you our Premier League predictions for Week 2 of 2023/24.
Premier League predictions 2023/24 – Week 2
Friday 18th August 2023
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Sheffield United (7:45pm)
Both sides were toppled by narrow margins in their openers, were each in the bottom three for shots taken, and Forest only saw 21% of the ball against Arsenal. Saying that, this is a very different encounter for the hosts who should look more settled in 2023/24.
Saturday 19th August 2023
Fulham 1-1 Brentford (3pm)
An unsettled summer for Fulham culminated in… a comfortable opening day victory over Everton. They will face a more stern test against west London rivals Brentford, who put on a strong display against Tottenham.
Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth (3pm)
The Reds’ lack of a defensive midfielder was evident on Sunday, but what they lacked in stability, they made up for with sheer attacking intent. Liverpool will win and lose a lot of games playing like they did against Chelsea. This weekend, it should fall in their favour.
Luton P-P Burnley (3pm)
The real winners of this game’s postponement? Sunbathers in the back gardens of Kenilworth Road.
Wolves 0-1 Brighton (3pm)
For all the turbulence swirling around Molineux, Gary O’Neil’s team looked organised against Manchester United, and on another day could have grabbed a result at Old Trafford. They lack a clinical edge, however. Brighton passed Luton to death in their opener and look sharp with a bunch of match-winning options.
Tottenham 2-1 Manchester United (5:30pm)
Spurs, like Chelsea and Liverpool, look set for violent mood swings in 2023/24, with enough quality to win huge games and not enough to guarantee consistency. However, they didn’t actually appear to miss Harry Kane in their opener. James Maddison picked up the reins and ran the show from deep. Manchester United looked sluggish and disjointed going forward and could suffer in the early stages of the campaign.
Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle (8pm)
Newcastle put on a ferocious attacking display against Aston Villa at the weekend with Alexander Isak already off the mark in style. However, Manchester City pulled off a similar feat – with their Scandinavian superstar also netting a brace. Erling Haaland’s presence simply makes them favourites in almost every match, but Newcastle have weapons to hurt Pep Guardiola’s men.
Sunday 20th August 2023
Aston Villa 2-0 Everton (2pm)
Villa were heavily fancied going into 2023/24, but that opening day couldn’t have gone any worse. Tyrone Mings suffered a potential season-ending injury and they shipped five goals at St James’ Park. That said, Moussa Diaby showed promise and Ollie Watkins is a major asset. They face a ragged Everton team who are likely to settle for a point here.
West Ham 0-2 Chelsea (4:30pm)
Chelsea look volatile, but hey, they’ve patched up their leaky midfield with £170 million worth of heft ahead of this one. Nicolas Jackson looked encouraging on his debut, but will hope to hone his finishing if he is to flourish. West Ham remain in limbo, weighed down by the Declan Rice transfer war chest that seemingly cannot be spent. Chelsea should capitalise.
Monday 21st August 2023
Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal (8pm)
The mood is high around Crystal Palace these days, even without Wilf Zaha among their ranks. A terrific centre-back pairing sat behind a muscular midfield with pace and power zipping around up front offers plenty of promise. Arsenal will dominate possession here but they must be extremely wary about rapid counter attacks. The Gunners have enough to win it, but this won’t be a stroll.
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