WEEK 1
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Predictions will generally be posted by Friday each week,
AND the analyses should be up by Wednesday following each weekend’s games.
The odds that I quote on each game are the first available and are quite
possibly subject to change as the game day approaches.
WEEK 1 Aug 21-24
All times are Mountain Standard Time
Opening Week 26-27
Here we are at the start of the 2026/27 season. As usual we have three newcomers and true to form they are not given much respect. Leeds and Sunderland last year established that promotion is not always a recipe for failure. I like Coventry’s chances of staying up, unfortunately, Hull and Ipswich, not so much. We are going to launch a podcast in the next couple of weeks with some new features. Especially the Timo Werner Award. Lots of people like this perspective and I already have at least one solid candidate even before the season begins. Please remember that the odds that I quote are the early offerings, and there is a good chance that they will change as game time approaches.
WEEK 1 GAME 1 – FRI AUG 21st 1:00Scroll down to watch or listen to Harry’s Prognosis of this game. |
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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ARSENAL |
COVENTRY |
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| Odds -2 | O/U 3 | Odds +2 | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: A baptism of fire for Coventry. Starting off their return to the Premier League by going straight into the lions’ den. At this early point, the Sky Blues are an unknown entity. They won the Championship League while scoring almost 100 goals. Question is can they bring that kind of intensity into North London in the opening game of the season? Arsenal may have won the League last year, but no one would call their efforts dominating. Lots of victories by just the one goal. I think Coventry might just cause an upset. Maybe not win the game but keep it close. Early betting has Arsenal favored by 2 goals which means that they have to win by 3 clear goals to win the bet. I’m going with something of an optimistic take on this one. Coventry +2 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 3-0 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: A very harsh return to the Premier League for newly promoted Coventry. Arsenal had little trouble sweeping aside the Sky Blues. Kai Havertz opened the scoring for the Gunners at the 15-minute mark, Bukayo Saka added number two before half-time and Martin Odegaard made it three shortly after the restart. Coventry were hoping for a closer game to kick off their new season, especially after dominating the Championship League last year. Unfortunately for them, they had no answers to Arsenal’s vastly superior quality. There is going to be a learning curve for the newcomers but even though there are 38 games in the season, the sooner you get up to speed the better. Every point is precious in the Top League and when you see that the only thing that saved Spurs from relegation last year was two points, you realize that survival hangs by the slimmest of threads. Next week Coventry face fellow promotees, Hull, and with their home crowd behind them they’re hoping for a better outcome. As for Arsenal, it’s hard to assess their performance considering the opposition, 19 shots, 6 on target, 65% possession and a whopping 93% pass accuracy give some view of their dominance.Three points, and three goals, is a great way to start their defense of the League title, obviously all their games will not be this easy, but they are off and running. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 2 – Sat Aug 22nd 5:30
Scroll down to watch or listen to Harry’s Prognosis of this game. |
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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HULL |
MANCHESTER UNITED |
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| Odds +1 | O/U 1/2 | Odds -1 | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: Hull are another newly promoted team. But they were very fortunate getting an invitation back into the Premier League. They are going to have a very difficult time staying up…. In fact they are the favorites to go straight back down. Even though their first game is at home, they face a Manchester United team that shouldn’t have too much trouble handing The Tigers their first, and certainly not their last defeat of the season. United’s squad showed a vast improvement in the 25/26 season over the previous year. They spent a lot of money on some key players, got rid of some dead weight and finally settled on a good manager. To finish 3rd in the League was a major accomplishment considering their previous pathetic efforts. The early betting shows them as 1-goal favorites and they shouldn’t have too much trouble sending Hull packing. Manchester United -1 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 2-0 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: Didn’t take long for the Premier League to dish up it’s first shocker of the season. To just about everyone’s surprise, including Hull, they ended up winning their first game against last year’s number three team. A quick look at the stats would show United superior in all categories, except one, the one that counts. Hull should have been overrun as this seemed to be a mis-match on paper. Tough to say what went wrong for Manchester. They had all the possession, were spot on with their passing and twenty shots. They still couldn’t find the back of the net. Most games this season are not going to turn out so advantageous for Hull, to me it looks that this could be the best week of the season for the Tigers, and the worst for the Red Devils. Manchester will get the chance to make amends next week when they host Ipswich. Hull have to go to Coventry were I fully expect them to be brought back down to Earth. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 3 – Sat Aug 22nd 8:00Scroll down to watch or listen to Harry’s Prognosis of this game. |
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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Notingham Forest |
LEEDS |
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| Odds -1/2 | O/U 2-1/2 | Odds + 1/2 | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: Leeds had an excellent return to the Premier League last year, and I expect them to build upon their success. Notts Forest on the other hand are going to have an uphill struggle this year. They haven’t made any major signings, and they were noticeably below par last year. In fact, I think they are pretty good candidates for relegation. Forest’s main striker/goal scorer, Chris Wood, is 34-years old this year and considering his injuries last year, I expect his form to drop off somewhat. Leeds have confirmed that they have signed goalkeeper James Trafford. A complete game-changer for me, and at approx $55mil, the most expensive ‘keeper in English football. At 23, he is worth every penny and the heir-apparent to England’s/Everton’s goalie, Jordan Pickford. Initially this game was favoring Forest by 1/2-goal. Even at a pick, I think The Whites will get their season off to a positive start. Leeds +1/2 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 0-1 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: For large portions of this game, both of these teams seemed to be pretty well matched. Later on in this season I don’t expect this to be the case. I see these teams going in opposite directions. North for Leeds, South for Forest. In the first half, Leeds newcomer, Harry Wilson, did have the ball in the net only to be ruled offside. Towards the end of the game it looked very much like a stalemate and they were going to share the points. Two minutes from regular time, Anton Stach stepped up and blasted a shot from a free kick into the top of the net. There wasn’t enough time for Forest to get back into the game and Leeds emerged victorious. In his first game for Leeds, goalkeeper James Trafford made some excellent close range saves and kept his first, and not his last, clean sheet. Three new faces, James Trafford, Harry Wilson and Tarik Muharemovic are going to transform Leeds into a top rated team in the Premier League this season. Nottingham Forest on the other hand, not so much. |
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WEEK 1 GAME 4 – Sat Aug 22nd 8:00
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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IPSWICH |
SUNDERLAND |
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| Odds Pick | O/U 2 2-1/2 | Odds Pick | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: Sunderland had an even better return to the Premier League last year than their fellow promotees, Leeds. It’s true they started to fade towards the end, but they have to be pleased by their return to the Big Time. I fear Ipswich are going to replicate their last season in the Premier League…. by going straight back down. In this particular game, I think Sunderland are the better team, but without risking the grocery money on the outcome, I’ll give the nod to the Black Cats, even if they are away from home, to kick off their season with a win. Sunderland PICK | |||||||
| RESULTS: 2-1 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: Ipswich made 12 new signings this summer in an effort not to replicate their last trip to the Premier League. Not to be intimidated, Sunderland came South looking for all the points. They held the ball for 2/3rds of the time, but at the end it looked as though they were going to have to settle for a draw. Then at the stroke of time, Jack Clarke had the ball in the net for the Tractor Boys and stole all three points for the home team. An excellent start for Ipswich on their return to the Top Tier. Sunderland will feel cheated but they will bounce back, especially at home, where they are a force to be reckoned with. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 5 – Sat Aug 22nd 8:00
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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EVERTON |
CRYSTAL PALACE |
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| Odds -1/2 | O/U 2-1/2 | Odds +1/2 | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: Both of these teams are varying degrees of useless. It’s a mystery to me how Crystal Palace manage to stay in the Premier League. As soon as a Palace player shows any promise, they go on the block, and are replaced by last year’s winner of The Timo Werner Award, Brennan Johnson. Stevie Wonder may be a better choice of a talent scout instead of whoever fills the post at Palace currently. Just announced…. Johnson has been exchanged for an Everton player at an estimated loss of $30 mill. Maybe this is the year that Palace will be looking for a quiet corner in the basement of the Premier League. Not so much of a mystery with Everton, as their survival comes down to one guy, goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford. For anyone to bet on this game they would have to have no idea of the value of money or be rabid fans of either team. The odds are Everton -1/2 but I’m saying NO BET. | |||||||
| RESULTS: 2-0 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: As I may have mentioned earlier, both these teams ought to give any season ticket holders their money back. As per usual, Jordan Pickford in goal kept Everton in the game, but how did Palace even get close to Everton’s goal? A useful start to the season for Everton and a result that Crystal Palace should get used to. The way I see it, if relegation was extended to 5 or 6 teams these two would be prime candidates. Either side of half-time, Kieran Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry scored Everton’s two goals but apart from new signing Hayden Hackney, there was not much to distinguish this Everton team from last year. Hackney it must be said did show promise and who knows what the future may hold for him. I don’t want to labor the point, but both these teams would be better suited for a lower level of competition. (Even if Everton do have a brand new sparkling Stadium). | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 6 – Sat Aug 22nd 10:30
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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BRENTFORD |
TOTTENHAM |
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| Odds Pick | O/U 3 | Odds -Pick | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: A complete shakeup at Spurs this season: a new manager, Roberto De Zerbi, seems to be the kind of gaffer they’ve been needing for years. De Zerbi has made some interesting acquisitions in the summer break and has optimistic plans for the upcoming season. Brentford, for a large part of last season were punching above their weight. After changing their manager, Thomas Frank, and selling off some key players, last season turned out to be a lot better than most people expected. I think reality is going to set in and I doubt if they will get the same kind of results as they did last year. Spurs have to make amends for the last couple of dismal seasons and I think they can, starting on week 1. This game is pegged as a PICK and I think Tottenham will start this season on an up note. Therefore the short trip across London should give Spurs all 3 points. Tottenham. PICK’em. | |||||||
| RESULTS: 3-0 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: What a load of rubbish. I guess a new manager plus more than $300,000 in transfer fees does not ensure a better team, or results. The good news for Spurs is that whoever got to start for this game won’t be showing up for the rest of them. In the next few weeks this team won’t look anything like it did last season, and hopefully for them the results won’t either. In one word, this showing was pathetic, but Tottenham were not alone this opening week in underachieving. Not much point in going over this game, Brentford were the much better team and Tottenham looked a lot like they did for much of the last two seasons. As if 3-0 wasn’t bad enough, Brentford also missed a penalty which would have made this look even worse. The optimistic attitude in North London that this might be the beginning of a new era has been blown to bits. But wait, after all this is only the opening game, who knows, anything could happen. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 7 – Sun Aug 23rd 7:00
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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BRIGHTON |
ASTON VILLA |
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| Odds -1/2 | O/U 3 | Odds +1/2 | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: Aston Villa scored big when they sold Morgan Rogers to Chelsea in the summer. They got a small fortune for him, well actually not really a small fortune, more like a large fortune. Anyway he was the heart of the team and his exit leaves a huge hole. Unai Emery seems to think he can get some kind of performance out of Alejandro Garnacho, I will remind viewers that he was a top candidate for the Timo Werner Award last year. He obviously doesn’t have too much faith in Garnacho as he is only taking him on as a 1-year loan. But with a clause to buy him at the end of the season, for north of $45 Mill, it would take a minor miracle to get anything worthwhile out of this reject. Brighton are a very capable team and as the season opener is at their stadium, I would favor the Seagulls to be victorious. Brighton -1/2. | |||||||
| RESULTS: 4-0 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: Well this shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Villa have sold anybody that had any value and it’s kind of hard to see where their plans for this season in the Premier League are going. Brighton ran rampant over a Villan team that had very little similarity to anything that they have fielded in the last couple of years. They were already 4 goals down when Joao Gomes was sent off. Not that it would have made any difference even if they had 4 or 5 extra players on the field. This was a preview of Aston Villa’s season and all they can look forward to is more of the same. Brighton scaled it back in the second half but were still unlucky to hit the post from a Costinha shot that rebounded to sub Charalampos Kostoulas who put it in the net only to be flagged offside. A quick summary… Brighton look to improve their position in the League this season and Aston Villa are toast. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 8 – Sun Aug 23rd 7:00
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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MANCHESER CITY |
BOURNEMOUTH |
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| Odds PICK | O/U 2 1/2 | Odds PICK | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: Pep Guardiola has left; Rodri is trying to find the exit door, and the rest of the Manchester team is starting to look a little jaded. With that said, they should still have the beating of Bournemouth. The last couple of years, for various reasons, have seen City not quite as formidable as previous years. A new manager may ignite lost passions, but at this point, the signs aren’t very encouraging. Earling Haaland had a very satisfying World Cup, and he for one, shows no signs of slowing down. Bournemouth can play some entertaining football, but I don’t think they will be a match for a Manchester team, even with their accumulated problems. The spread favors City by 1-1/2 goals and I think they are capable of beating The Cherries by 2 goals. Manchester City -1-1/2. | |||||||
| RESULTS: 2-1 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: Manchester City had this game by the scruff of the neck even after going 1-0 down in the 26th-minute from a Marcus Tavernier goal. They had this game in their pocket, all they had to do was pull the trigger. They dominated the game in all important metrics, but it took until the 84th-minute for Marc Guehi to level the score. One minute into injury time saw Josko Gvardiol score the winner for the Citizens. It was always a long shot for Bournemouth to get anything out of this game, but they almost did. They had the lead for 78 minutes but the relentless pressure and the home field advantage wore them down. A commendable effort by Bournemouth almost saw them get something out of an improbable situation. As it stood at the final whistle, Enzo Maresca chalked up his first win for the post Pep Guardiola regime. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 9 – Aug 23rd 9:30
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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NEWCASTLE |
LIVERPOOL |
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| Odds +1/2 | O/U 3 | Odds -1/2 | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: Newcastle are on life support. By the end of the season, they will be begging someone to be putting them out of their misery. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has left. Even Joelinton, who bleeds black and white stripes, is looking for a way out, if he hasn’t found one by the time you read this. Talking to the fans, to a man, they say they are going down. Looks about right to me, and Liverpool should help them on their way. A new manager for the Reds may get them to break out of the lethargy that plagued them last year, and they will start this season with 3 points in the win column. Liverpool -1/2 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 2-2 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: The fact that it took a last gasp penalty to grab a point against a rag tag bunch of misfits at Newcastle only goes to show what problems Liverpool are facing this season. So many Liverpool players were mediocre at best. Jeremie Frimpong spent much of the game running around like a Ever Ready bunny, lots of action but no real impact on the game as he invariably lost the ball too easily at the end of his runs. Alexander Isak was booed relentlessly by his ex fans whenever he got the ball and cheered when he lost it. Whether that affected his game I don’t know, but he certainly was not at his best. Florian Wirtz might as well have stayed at home along with Rio Ngumoha. Milo Kerkez put in his usual erratic performance and was directly responsible for Newcastle’s first goal. Even Cody Gakpo, who did score a good goal, missed many more chances and was beaten off the ball too many times. A sad showing by the Reds and they have lots of work to do if they are going to turn this around. On the other side of the field, Newcastle should never have been in this game and were gifted two easy goals to help them on their way. I don’t think they will find many more teams as accommodating as Liverpool in the rest of the season. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 10 – Mon Aug 24th 1:00
Scroll down to watch or listen to Harry’s Prognosis of this game. |
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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FULHAM |
CHELSEA |
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| Odds =1/2 | O/U 3 | Odds -1/2 | |||||
| PROGNOSIS: I read just yesterday that Fulham have a very good chance of relegation. I should have taken notice of what Muppet said that I don’t think that is going to happen. Checked their odds and they are at 11/2. Newcastle are around 12/1 which seems to be a much better value for your money. Fulham are capable of upsetting the best teams and the appointment of new manager, Alvaro Arbeloa, is seen as a big plus in my book. Well at this stage of the season, of course it is. He brings plenty of top-notch personal experience as well as some promising young talent from his old club, Real Madrid. As usual, Chelsea could go either way. It could be the break-out season they have been threatening for the last few years or a complete bust. Marc Cururella has left but on the bright side, they have signed Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa and offloaded deadbeat Alejandro Garnacho. But for Chelsea to get amongst the top spots, they need Cole Palmer to regain some of his early form. This game could go close, and a draw would not be out of the question. Fulham +1/2 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 2-3 | |||||||
| POSTMORTEM: Fulham were behind the eight ball almost before the game started. Joao Pedro had the ball in Fulham’s net within the first minute. Despite some people predicting Fulham’s demise this year, they looked pretty sharp to me. They had the lions’ share of the ball and a 90% pass accuracy, and at the end of the day, they were unlucky not to get even a point. They cut through Chelsea’s defense at will and had many chances to score. Although the Blues did show flashes of some very fine football, Fulham looked to be the stronger, more balanced team. Cole Palmer had an excellent game, for a change, and perhaps he will regain some of the promise that he showed in recent years. New-signing Morgan Rogers seemed to fit in well with the game plan and had a good first game for his new side, including the second Chelsea goal. Their problem is in the defense, and that obviously needs work. Even if the referee was a little card happy, Chelsea did show some of the undisciplined play that plagued them last year, picking up 3 yellows. Fulham did show promise, and in the weeks to come I think we will see them climb the ladder. | |||||||