⛅️ Friday Forecast: The new Premier League season starts here | OneFootball

It feels like only yesterday that we closed the book on the 2021/22 season, but the Premier League is back and 2022/23 promises to be another thrill ride.

Here are our predictions for the opening weekend.

💪 Game of the weekend

Crystal Palace v Arsenal

Last season, Arsenal kicked off the Premier League season with a Friday night defeat away at newly-promoted Brentford that you could see coming a mile off.

But the Gunners are a different animal these days, or at least they feel like one after an impressive pre-season in which they won every game and new signing Gabriel Jesus hit the ground running.

A bouncing Selhurst Park on a Friday night is a different kettle of fish, however, and it will be the first big test of Mikel Arteta’s new-look team against a Palace side who are in pretty good shape themselves heading into the new campaign.

This is a great fixture to kick off the new season and you’d be a fool to miss it.

📊 Fun fact: Crystal Palace have lost just one of their last eight Premier League meetings with Arsenal, but the Eagles have never won consecutive league fixtures against the Gunners at any point in their history.

🔮 Our prediction: Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal

😨 Potential upset

West Ham v Manchester City

Manchester City won their first four visits to the London Stadium by an aggregate score of 18-0, but their last two league visits to E20 both ended in draws.

That probably says more about West Ham’s resurgence over the last couple of seasons than anything else, but the champions looked a little undercooked in the Community Shield last weekend and could have done with an easier assignment to begin their title defence with.

Erling Haaland won’t have much space to run in behind the Hammers’ defence and City will probably have to be patient rather than forcing a breakthrough, which could play nicely into the hosts’ hands.

And at the other end, new signing Gianluca Scamacca will no doubt be eager to show English football what he’s all about.

📊 Fun fact: West Ham have faced Manchester City on the opening day of a top-flight season on three previous occasions and lost all three, failing to score a single goal in any of them.

🔮 Our prediction: West Ham 2-0 Manchester City

👍 Big favourites

Fulham v Liverpool

Having notched up 90 points and over 100 goals, it’s fair to say Fulham were too good for the Championship last season.

But as Norwich and Watford have shown us, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Cottagers will be good enough for the Premier League this season.

They won’t get too many bigger tests of their credentials than Liverpool at Craven Cottage on the opening day.

Having come so close to an unprecedented quadruple last season, the Reds should be fired up to right a few wrongs this term and Jürgen Klopp will be imploring his team to start strongly and maintain a level of consistency throughout.

If they can be in or around top spot by the time we break for the World Cup in November, they’ll be in a great position to mount an assault on the title in the second half of the campaign.

📊 Fun fact: Liverpool have won their first Premier League match in each of the last four seasons, the longest ongoing run in the top flight, scoring at least three goals in each victory.

🔮 Our prediction: Fulham 1-3 Liverpool

🤔 Too close to call

Newcastle v Nottingham Forest

There are a few fixtures which perhaps fall into this category on the opening weekend, but this one has piqued our interest the most.

Newcastle might have been expected to extravagantly splash the cash this summer. While that hasn’t quite been the case yet, they have made a couple of solid signings and look well equipped to build on the progress made towards the end of last season.

Newly-promoted Nottingham Forest have actually outspent the Magpies this summer, bringing in 12 new players with are a nice blend of Premier League experience and potential from abroad.

How quickly Steve Cooper can bed those new boys in could be the difference between relegation and survival for the Trees this season.

For now, they can simply enjoy their first match in the Premier League this millennium, and what an interesting one it should be.

📊 Fun fact: Newcastle have faced Nottingham Forest more often without losing than they have any other opponent in the Premier League (8 – W5 D3).

🔮 Our prediction: Newcastle 3-2 Nottingham Forest

🔥 Your Fantasy Football captain should be …

Harry Kane (Tottenham)

The uncertainty that hung over Kane last summer has been non-existent this year and his displays in pre-season suggest he’s fit and ready for the new season.

The England captain is notoriously a slow starter but he’s getting towards the point in his career where it’s almost a case of now or never if he wants to win something, and we could be about to witness his most prolific season yet, starting with Southampton at home on Saturday.

Other predictions