Week 2 of the 2024-25 Premier League season features intriguing matchups over the weekend.

The featured game of the week is the late kickoff on Saturday featuring the first matchup of UEFA Champions League clubs this season when Arsenal travel to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa.

Fresh off their opening-weekend win, Brighton and Hove Albion play host to Manchester United and will look to continue their strong start to the season under new head coach Fabian Hürzeler.

And on Sunday, Pedro Neto—the newly minted No. 7 in Chelsea's 40-plus squad—takes on his former team as the Blues head to Molineux to take on Wolves.

Here, B/R's Nick Akerman and Leo Collis predict every game this week.

Let's get to it.

Last Week's Results

Manchester United 1 Fulham 0

Ipswich Town 0 Liverpool 2

Arsenal 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

Everton 0 Brighton and Hove Albion 3

Newcastle United 1 Southampton 0

Nottingham Forest 1 AFC Bournemouth 1

West Ham United 1 Aston Villa 2

Brentford 2 Crystal Palace 1

Chelsea 0 Manchester City 2

Leicester City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Prediction results

Nick Akerman 2-3

Leo Collis 4-1

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Manchester United

DraftKings odds: Brighton & Hove Albion: +145, Draw: +270, Manchester United: +160

Brighton have tapped into some serious witchcraft when it comes to recruitment.

The departure of Roberto De Zerbi has all but been forgotten after just Week 1 of the 2024-25 Premier League season, with new boss Hürzeler truly announcing himself to Seagulls fans with a 3-0 thrashing of Everton away from home.

True, the Toffees finished the game with 10 men, but Brighton were already 2-0 up and cruising by that point. What a start it was for the south-coast club.

On paper, a visit from Manchester United should bring the soaring Seagulls back to earth with a bump. But, in truth, the Red Devils underwhelmed in a 1-0 victory over Fulham, with debutant Joshua Zirkzee grabbing an 87th-minute winner.

The same problems that plagued United last year were on display again last Friday night, as they just could not finish a wealth of presentable chances. Zirkzee will likely get the start on Saturday lunchtime to mitigate that issue.

At home, with a buzz of enthusiasm emanating from the stands and four wins from their last six meetings with United across all competitions, Brighton should be full of confidence heading into this one.

Prediction: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Manchester United

-Leo Collis

Crystal Palace vs. West Ham United

DraftKings odds: Crystal Palace: +115, Draw: +255, West Ham: +230

Both of these teams endured a difficult start to their Premier League campaign.

Crystal Palace worked hard to get back into their opening game at Brentford but were felled 2-1 after Dean Henderson could only palm a save to the feet of Yoane Wissa, while West Ham were beaten by the same scoreline against Aston Villa at the London Stadium.

Palace fans will be the most anxious about this game—and the run to the transfer deadline next Friday. Joachim Andersen is on his way to Fulham, and Marc Guehi is the subject of strong interest from Newcastle United.

Having already lost Michael Olise to Bayern Munich, there's a chance manager Oliver Glasner's excellent work will quickly unravel at Selhurst Park.

As such, Palace need to put on a performance in front of their fans.

West Ham are still finding their feet under head coach Julen Lopetegui, who has multiple new signings to bed in. This is a great opportunity for Palace to catch them cold.

Expect a tight match with chances at both ends, but the home fans will lift Palace in a difficult moment and help them wrack up their first three points of the season.

An extra week's training for Jean-Philippe Mateta will help massively for an attack that was fairly blunt against Brentford.

Prediction: Crystal Palace 2-1 West Ham United

-Nick Akerman

Fulham vs. Leicester City

DraftKings odds: Fulham: -125, Draw: +265, Leicester City: +340

Leicester City's return to the Premier League went about as well as could have been hoped for given the circumstances.

The Foxes had to replace their manager in the offseason and lost a few notable first-team players from their promotion campaign, but they still pulled off a 1-1 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur thanks to 37-year-old Jamie Vardy rolling back the years.

Leicester clung on a bit, with Spurs dominating the game and just lacking a clinical edge in front of goal, which is exactly what Dominic Solanke was brought in to provide. Still, a point could be incredibly valuable to the east Midlands outfit even this early in the campaign.

Fulham, meanwhile, were unlucky to lose to Manchester United, but they didn't really deserve a win, either. They had a handful of excellent opportunities on the counter-attack, but that final pass was lacking every time.

The Cottagers just have the edge at home, but any victory will likely be by a narrow margin.

Prediction: Fulham 1-0 Leicester City

-Leo Collis

Manchester City vs. Ipswich Town

DraftKings odds: Manchester City: -1200, Draw: +1200, Ipswich Town: +2200

We're not going to see too many games with such decisive odds this season. Manchester City, the machine, rolled through Chelsea with alarming ease at Stamford Bridge last week.

Goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovačić were one thing, but the control in midfield and the relentless possession was even more frightening. Kevin De Bruyne dropped back to link play sharper than he has done for a while in an ominous sign for the rest of the division.

So, what can newly promoted Ipswich do? Manager Kieran McKenna had an excellent game plan to thwart and threaten Liverpool in their opening game, which worked brilliantly for the first half. But the pace of the Premier League caught up with his players who struggled in the second period as Liverpool took complete control en route to a 2-0 win.

This will be harder than that.

Unfortunately, only one result is happening here. City will win, it's just about how long Ipswich can hang on without sustaining damage that could prove irreversible later in the season.

City manager Pep Guardiola will likely use this game to get some fitness into fringe players once it's won, which, in all honesty, shouldn't be too far in.

Ipswich are terribly unlucky to face such a difficult first couple of fixtures, but once it's over, they can begin to think about the games they actually need to get something from to survive.

Prediction: Manchester City 4-0 Ipswich Town

-Nick Akerman

Southampton vs. Nottingham Forest

DraftKings odds: Southampton: +145, Draw +245, Nottingham Forest +175

Southampton had 60 minutes against Newcastle United's 10 men but still couldn't grab any points on their return to the Premier League.

A 1-0 loss is perhaps better than many were expecting, and some heart can be taken from that. However, it was a golden opportunity to grab at least a point that might end up being vital come the end of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest were desperately close to grabbing three points at home against Bournemouth until Antoine Semenyo spoiled the afternoon with an 86th-minute equalizer.

The Reds had to contend with a traumatic injury to Danilo in the 15th minute and performed admirably in the circumstances. Manager Nuno Espírito Santo later confirmed the Brazilian had broken his ankle.

On Saturday, it should be a close game, but Forest just have the edge in quality to take all three points.

Prediction: Southampton 0-1 Nottingham Forest

-Leo Collis

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Everton

DraftKings odd: Tottenham Hotspur: -230, Draw: +400, Everton: +550

Both of these clubs reverted to type during their opening games.

Spurs, for all their dominance, somehow contrived to draw 1-1 with Leicester City. Everton, despite looking sharp in the opening stages, couldn't score and were crushed 3-0 by Brighton. A collective sigh from both sets of supporters.

It's time for Ange Postecoglu's men to step up. Dominic Solanke is expected to miss Saturday's match with an injury, putting more emphasis on Son Heung-min to carry the attack

Gutsiness is needed for Everton. They completely clammed up last week when things turned against them and quickly became an outfit to worry about.

How many goals does this side have in them? If Dominic Calvert-Lewin doesn't find sustained goalscoring form, who will? It's likely going to be really tough.

Spurs are not an ideal follow-up to a match in which the Toffees really would have wanted a draw at minimum.

It's not about to get any better.

Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Everton

-Nick Akerman

Aston Villa vs. Arsenal

DraftKings odds: Aston Villa +310, Draw +280, Arsenal -125

Aston Villa needed super-sub Jhon Durán to seal a win against West Ham United—the club linked with a move for the Colombian for much of the summer.

Things weren't quite clicking for the Villans, who struggled to get star striker Ollie Watkins involved and hooked him from the pitch after just 62 minutes.

With Arsenal heading to the midlands on Saturday evening, they'll need to get back into gear and quickly.

The Gunners were comfortable against Wolverhampton Wanderers, starting a long road to a possible title with a 2-0 home win.

It was much the same as last season, with a stout back line keeping things in check while the talent up top did the damage. Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka got the goals, continuing to make a mockery of the idea of playing with an actual striker.

The north Londoners should again get the job done, but Villa will at least put up more of a fight than their Black Country neighbors.

Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal

-Leo Collis

AFC Bournemouth vs. Newcastle United

DraftKings Odds: AFC Bournemouth: +200, Draw: +270, Newcastle United: +120

Neither side got the result they truly wanted from their season openers, but Newcastle United can at least say they came away with all three points.

The Magpies were on the back foot for the majority of the game against Southampton following Fabian Schär's 28th-minute red card.

The Switzerland international moved his head toward Ben Brereton Díaz following a scuffle, and the Saints striker made the most of the incident with some theatrics to gain his side an advantage.

Still, Newcastle dug deep and rode Joelinton's 45th-minute goal to a hard-fought victory.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, needed Antoine Semenyo to step up with minutes to spare against Forest to claw back a point from the jaws of defeat.

Evanilson has arrived at the Vitality Stadium to fill the striker spot vacated by Dominic Solanke, and he should make his debut. The former FC Porto star might take some time to adjust to the Premier League, though.

Both teams will want to give a better showing of themselves in Week 2, and should Newcastle keep a full complement of players on the pitch for the whole game, you'd bank on them to take the spoils.

Prediction: Bournemouth 0-2 Newcastle United

-Leo Collis

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Chelsea

DraftKings: Wolverhampton Wanderers: +350, Draw: +300, Chelsea: -140

New Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has been thrown into the deep end.

His midweek defence of the Blues' ridiculous squad numbers, in which he revealed he's barely working with half of the players, was perhaps a sign of the pressure already showing.

Wolves away is not a fun follow-up to losing to Manchester City. Gary O'Neil's team played some excellent stuff in pre-season and will have viewed last week's 2-0 loss to Arsenal as a free hit. Their season begins here. If they attack, they should have considerable joy.

Maresca's setup against City was surprisingly defensive, even against a team of that quality. One has to ask if Roméo Lavia, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are all needed in midfield when the ball failed to stick up front and a lack of attacking numbers got into City's box. There's staying in games through a defensive mindset, and then there's waiting to be picked off because you have zero impetus.

The midfield trod on each other's toes, left wingers were isolated and just didn't click last time out.

Wolves will be looking to move the ball quickly to bypass the central three and to get into the Chelsea box at pace. Pedro Neto, now with the Blues, would have been perfect for that. But alas, he will be looking for his first start against his former club.

Don't get me wrong; the west Londoners have it in them to turn up and overpower Wolves. A team that includes Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku and Neto shouldn't be written off. But right now, it feels as if it's going to take a little time before that connection comes to fruition.

Prediction: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Chelsea

-Nick Akerman

Liverpool vs. Brentford

DraftKings: Liverpool -450, Draw: +600, Brentford: +900

Arne Slot's Liverpool tenure got off to a decent start against Ipswich Town, despite some teething issues in the first half.

There's definitely a No. 6 issue to work out—especially with Martín Zubimendi deciding not to leave Real Sociedad—during this work-in-progress transition from Jurgen Klopp.

The Reds grew stronger as their opening win went on. Ryan Gravenberch was a big part of that, his long stride and distribution pinging the ball to Mo Salah, whose link with Diogo Jota looks sharp.

The Tractor Boys showed how to trouble Slot's side, though, which Brentford need to build on come Sunday.

They have the players to do exactly that. Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo and Kevin Schade are going to cause problems for many teams this year; their combo of pace and willingness to burst forward dragging backlines closer to the keeper, opening space in the process.

We know Trent Alexander-Arnold leaves room behind him, so there will be moments to exploit him if Brentford can break free of the onslaught on their goal.

Still, this is Liverpool, at Anfield. Add in a thumping atmosphere under a new manager, and Brentford will need to be perfect to get anything.

Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Brentford

-Nick Akerman