Premier League predictions: All eyes on Anfield as Man City renew Liverpool rivalry

With the return of Premier League action following the international break, the Opta supercomputer has delivered its match predictions ahead of the latest weekend of the 2026-27 season.

Manchester City are the only team with a 100% record after Arsenal were thumped 3-0 by Brighton, who are flying high in third.

Brentford, Leeds United, Liverpool and Everton are the other unbeaten clubs, while at the other end, Tottenham prop up the table.

Roberto De Zerbi's side are still yet to win in the Premier League this term – though they did get their first league goals of the campaign in their 3-2 loss to Aston Villa.

Fulham and Bournemouth are also yet to win, while Coventry City got off the mark before the hiatus after they beat Nottingham Forest. 

Matchday 6 sees fixtures take place on Saturday, Sunday and Monday across a bumper weekend.

Ahead of what should be another intriguing group of Premier League fixtures, let's check out the Opta supercomputer's match predictions.

ARSENAL V LEEDS UNITED

Arsenal get the Premier League action back underway on Saturday, looking to bounce back from their disappointing loss to Brighton against Leeds United.

That was their heaviest defeat since May 2023 (also 3-0 vs Brighton), but since the start of 2024, the Gunners have only lost back-to-back Premier League games once (in April 2026), with this being their 100th league game since then.

The good news for Arsenal is that they have won nine of their last 10 Premier League games against Leeds (D1), including each of the last seven, while the Whites have won just one of their last 17 away league games against the reigning top-flight champions (D6 L10).

Arsenal are our predictive model's most confident pick of MD6, with a 68.9% win probability to Leeds' 13.7%, but Saturday's visitors have started a league campaign unbeaten in five matches (W2 D3) for the first time since their promotion-winning campaign of 2019-20.

Mikel Arteta – who signed a three-year contract extension with Arsenal this week – has won all four of his Premier League games against Daniel Farke, his joint-best 100%-win rate against a manager in the top flight (level with Gary O'Neil), and the German's worst 100% loss rate against any manager during his career in England.

ASTON VILLA V BRENTFORD

Later in the day, Brentford (26.2%) are looking to continue their fine start away to Aston Villa (47.8%), who finally got their first league win against Spurs.

Brentford have kicked off a league campaign unbeaten in five games (W2 D3) for the first time since 2013-14 in League One, last having a longer unbeaten streak at the start of a season in 2006-07 (first seven in the third tier).

They're unbeaten in their last seven top-flight matches (W2 D5) overall and are looking for a third straight Premier League win over Villa, after doing the double over them last term.

But the Villans have lost just one of their last 11 home league games against Brentford (W4 D6), though that was a 1-0 defeat in this exact fixture last season.

Villa have recorded the fewest shots (48), shots on target (12) and touches in the opposition box (81) in 2026-27, stats Unai Emery will be keen to improve upon.

CHELSEA V BOURNEMOUTH

It has been a tumultuous start for Xabi Alonso at Chelsea, who are looking to end their three-match winless streak in all competitions against Bournemouth.

Chelsea's five league games under Alonso have seen 22 total goals (10 for, 12 against), and they are the first team to score 10+ goals and concede 10+ goals across that span of matches in a Premier League campaign.

The Blues, who are given a 51.8% win likelihood, are unbeaten in their last nine top-flight meetings with Bournemouth (W4 D5), with each of the last three ending level (22.9% chance of another draw).

Marco Rose is the second manager to fail to win his first five top-flight matches with the Cherries, alongside his predecessor Andoni Iraola (first nine), but only Arsenal (27) and Man City (23) have won more away points in the Premier League in 2026 than Bournemouth (20 – W5 D5 L1), who were victorious in 25.3% of our pre-match simulations.

IPSWICH TOWN V FULHAM

Fulham are another team still seeking their first win after being denied by a last-gasp Manchester United equaliser last time out, and they travel to Ipswich Town next.

Ipswich are the favourites at 44.8%, but they are winless in their last seven league games against Fulham (D3 L4), though both meetings in the 2024-25 campaign ended level, and there is a 26.9% chance of another draw.

Fulham are winless in all four of their top-flight games against Ipswich (D3 L1), the joint-most they have faced a side without ever winning in the competition (also four versus Watford), but they are assigned a 28.3% chance of ending that run on Saturday.

The Cottagers have not failed to win six successive league games in the same season since their final 10 matches of 2020-21 (D2 L8), and they have lost just one of their last 15 Premier League games against promoted sides (W9 D5).

SUNDERLAND V BRIGHTON

The final 15:00 kick off pits Sunderland against Brighton, with Fabian Hurzeler's visitors looking to pick up where they left off before the international break.

Brighton have won their last two Premier League games by an aggregate score of 8-0. Only in October 2018 have they won three successive matches in the competition without conceding.

The Seagulls have been hugely impressive this season, leading all teams in the Premier League for high turnovers (56), passes allowed per defensive action (7.4), and possession share (64.8%).

But while Sunderland have suffered back-to-back defeats, might the Black Cats' direct style nullify their opponents' high press? Only Man City (19) have had fewer high turnovers against them in the Premier League this season than Sunderland (20).

The Opta supercomputer still favours Brighton, who hold a 41.3% win probability, but Sunderland should not be ruled out at 33.1%.

MANCHESTER UNITED V TOTTENHAM

Saturday's late kick-off sees two under-pressure managers face one another at Old Trafford, as Manchester United host Tottenham.

With five points on the board, United have made their joint-worst start to a Premier League season through five matchdays, also picking up five points in 2014-15.

Michael Carrick's men are only averaging one point per game this campaign, after the Red Devils averaged 2.3 points in their 17 matches under the former midfielder last season.

Spurs, meanwhile, could fail to win their first six games of a league season for just the fourth time in their history, after 1912-13 (first 12), 1955-56 (first six) and 2008-09 (first six). Among all ever-present Premier League sides, they have accumulated the fewest points in 2026 (18).

Spurs have lost 25 away games against United in the Premier League, with only Everton against Arsenal (26) losing more on the road against a single opponent. 

And the predictive model is siding with the Red Devils, who are assigned a 54.1% chance of victory. 

Spurs are only given a 22.3% chance of taking all three points, though De Zerbi did win his only previous away Premier League game against United, with Brighton in September 2023. Only four visiting managers have won on their first two trips to Old Trafford in the competition – Sam Allardyce, Ronald Koeman, Pep Guardiola and Iraola. 

CRYSTAL PALACE V NOTTINGHAM FOREST

There are two early kick-offs taking place on Sunday, one of which is a grudge match between Crystal Palace and their former boss Oliver Glasner, now at Nottingham Forest. 

Though Glasner oversaw the most successful period in Palace's history, winning the FA Cup, the Community Shield and the Conference League, his move to Forest – who replaced Palace in last season's Europa League after they were expelled over a breach of multi-club ownership rules – left something of a sour taste.

At 28.8%, this is deemed the most likely draw of MD6, with Palace (36.3%) assigned a slightly higher chance of victory than Forest (34.9%).

Managers to have formerly taken charge of Palace in the Premier League have only won one of seven previous matches against them in the competition after leaving (D2 L4), with Allardyce beating them with Everton in February 2018.

However, the Eagles have lost both of their Premier League games at Selhurst Park this season; only in 1997-98, 2004-05, and 2017-18 have they ever lost their opening three home matches of a league campaign.

And Forest have only lost one of their last seven away league games (W4 D2), scoring 2+ goals in all seven, their longest ever such run in the top flight. There have been just seven instances of any team scoring multiple goals in 8+ consecutive away Premier League matches, most recently Bournemouth from November 2024 to February 2025.

HULL CITY V EVERTON

Hull City have been one of the surprise packages this season, only suffering their first loss on matchday five against Newcastle United. They will look to get back on track at home to Everton, who are yet to suffer defeat.  

Hull have made no apologies for going direct – in fact, their possession share of 32.3% is the lowest on record (since 2003-04) by any team during a single Premier League campaign, and their 203 successful passes per game are the fewest since Cardiff City in 2018-19 (172).

The Tigers are the only team yet to concede at home in the Premier League this term, though, and they could become only the third promoted side to keep clean sheets in their first three home games of a season, after Swansea in 2011-12 (first four) and Watford in 2015-16 (three). 

Everton are winless in their last seven Premier League away games (D4 L3), yet the supercomputer still assigns them a 45.7% chance of victory to Hull's 28.4%.

LIVERPOOL V MANCHESTER CITY

The international break was an eventful one for Manchester City, who take centre-stage for Sunday's late kick-off as they face rivals Liverpool at Anfield.

Having been found guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules between 2009 and 2018, City must turn their attention back to on-pitch matters, as they look to continue their perfect start under Enzo Maresca.

Maresca could become just the fourth manager to win his first six matches in charge of a club in the competition, after Carlo Ancelotti with Chelsea, Guardiola with City, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Manchester United.

And his team are slight favourites at 40.7%, with Liverpool assigned a 34.6% chance of victory and a 24.7% hope of earning a point.

The away side has won two of the last three Premier League games between Liverpool and City, as many times as in the previous 32. Only in 2002-03 have there been back-to-back away wins in this Premier League fixture, and City triumphed 2-1 on Merseyside in February.

Though they have drawn three of their opening five games, Liverpool are still unbeaten, and Iraola could become only the third permanent Reds boss to avoid defeat in his first six top-flight matches in charge, after Bob Paisley in 1974 and Joe Fagan in 1983.

This will be the first Premier League match between Liverpool and City without Jurgen Klopp or Guardiola in the dugout since March 2015, when Brendan Rodgers' Reds beat Manuel Pellegrini's Citizens 2-1 at Anfield.

COVENTRY CITY V NEWCASTLE UNITED

There is also a Monday night matchup at the Coventry Building Society Arena, as Frank Lampard's Coventry City look to back up their first win of the campaign at home to Newcastle United.

Coventry could become only the second team in English top-flight history to lose their opening four games of a season without scoring before winning their next two, after Derby County did so way back in 1899-00.

But with a 29.8% win probability, the Sky Blues are outsiders – Newcastle are assigned a 44.8% chance of taking all three points. 

Matthias Jaissle's eight points are the most by a manager in his first five Premier League games in charge of Newcastle since Alan Pardew in January 2011 (nine). 

Another win here would give the German the most points in his first six in charge of the club in the competition since Allardyce in September 2007 (11).