Premier League 2024/25 Matchday 7 - Preview & Predictions

This weekend sees the final Premier League action before another international break.

Each matchday I’ll be focusing on a couple of Premier League matches from an in-depth perspective and then giving score predictions for the rest. At the bottom of each article will be a running count of how many winning results and correct score lines I mange to pick out throughout the season.

The pick of the bunch

Everton vs Newcastle United

What a weekend it turned out to be last time around for Everton who finally claimed their first win of the season at the expense of Crystal Palace. Despite falling behind on the scoresheet in the first half of that match as they failed to clear a corner, Dwight McNeil netted a second half brace as the Goodison faithful finally saw their side enjoy a Premier League victory.

It had already been a much more positive week for Everton off the field, as the club were finally bought following a long, drawn-out stalemate and battle in the boardroom. New owner Dan Friedkin has since promised to turn around the Toffees’ fortunes, but before that, it’s up to manager Sean Dyche to inspire his side to another win here.

In some regards, the visit of Newcastle should leave them feeling confident as the hosts have lost just three of their last 20 home Premier League clashes with this opposition. 12 of those unbeaten outings have come in the form of wins and now the target will be simple, to claim victory in successive games in the English top-flight for the first time since April.

As usual, that sounds simple but in practice, it’ll be much more difficult to achieve as Newcastle arrive on Merseyside on the back of a fairly soild start to their latest league campaign. To this point, the Magpies have picked up 11 points across their six league outings, their best return since 2010-11 which will have the visiting supporters dreaming of a return to Champions League football come the end of this term.

A lot of their success has stemmed from Eddie Howe’s fantastic management of his side, especially as he’s still contending with plenty of injuries and players that have fallen out of form of late. One of those players that has struggled with the latter is Anthony Gordon, though the young winger has still been involved in 13 goals in 23 Premier League appearances in 2024 for Newcastle United (7 goals, 6 assists).

He’s yet to score or assist against former club Everton and has just one goal in his last 15 games at Goodison Park, but that could change here as he tries to lead the visitors towards more success in this one.

Prediction: Everton 1-1 Newcastle

Aston Villa vs Manchester United

Few teams in Europe enjoyed a better midweek than Aston Villa, as they put in a huge performance to beat Bayern Munich 1-0 on home soil in the UEFA Champions League. That latest victory came on the back of a 4-0 win over BSC Young Boys in their opening game in Europe’s premier tournament to maintain their 100% record in the competition but now attentions will quickly switch to the visit of Manchester United to Villa Park on Sunday.

To this point, Aston Villa have picked up 13 points across their opening six Premier League matches this season, winning four of their matches whilst both drawing and losing one match apiece.  A 2-2 stalemate with newly promoted Ipswich Town will have been viewed as a disappointing return in their last league outing, but it also made it their best start to a season since 2008-09 under former manager Martin O’Neill.

A return to Villa Park will be viewed as an additional bonus too for this latest clash against the Red Devils, as under manager Unai Emery, Villa have enjoyed their home matches. That can be highlighted by the fact that since he took over in the dug-out and his first Premier League game in charge of Aston Villa, only Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have picked up more home points in the competition, something that will be firmly in his mind as he looks to improve upon his side’s woeful record of winning just one of their last 25 home league games against Manchester United!

For much of that stint, the visitors have been one of the Premier League’s strongest sides but to put it bluntly, that’s simply not the case anymore. Under boss Erik ten Hag, they continue to stutter, with their embarrassing 3-0 loss to Tottenham on home soil last weekend acting as the latest example of their incompetence when it comes to trying to rediscover their winning prowess.

That most recent defeat means that United have now taken just seven points from their opening six league games, their joint-lowest ever return at this stage of a campaign, and if Villa get the better of them again here, Ten Hag could be out of a job come the start of next week.

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United

Manchester United vs Tottenham

After winning both of their opening Premier League games this season, Brighton’s form has slowed down of late, failing to win any of their last four outings in the English top-flight.

Last time out, they were put to the sword by Cole Palmer and his Chelsea teammates in a 4-2 defeat, a result that followed on the back of three consecutive draws against Arsenal, Ipswich and Nottingham Forest prior. As such, manager Fabian Hürzeler will be absolutely desperate to get his side back in the winning column as they look to qualify for European competition once again come the end of the season.

That are plenty of reasons to suggest that they may struggle to do that in this latest outing against Tottenham though, not least so as the Seagulls seemingly dislike playing in the month of October for some reason. That’s because Brighton have won just one of their last 16 Premier League games played in this specific month since 2020 and even though they enjoyed a 4-2 win against Spurs in their last home meeting with the London side, they did lose to nil in each of their prior two clashes at the Amex Stadium against this opposition.

That’ll come as music to the ears of the travelling Spurs faithful then, who last time out saw their side dismantle Manchester United at Old Trafford during an impressive 3-0 victory for their side. That will have done a lot to raise spirits in the away dressing room as Ange Postecoglou’s side now look to win three straight Premier League matches for the first time since December.

If they are to do that, expect Dejan Kulusevski to be heavily involved again as he stole the headlines last time out in Manchester. In that match the Swedish international created nine chances for Tottenham, the joint most by a Spurs player in a Premier League game on record since 2003-04 and if they are to move further up the standings following this weekend’s match, he’ll need to produce a similar display on the South coast.

Prediction: Brighton 1-2 Tottenham

Predictions for the rest of the matchday

Crystal Palace 0-2 Liverpool

Arsenal 3-0 Southampton

Brentford 1-1 Wolves

Manchester City 3-1 Fulham

West Ham 1-0 Ipswich Town

Leicester City 1-1 Bournemouth

Chelsea 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Predictions outcome so far this season