Football Predictions League 2024-25

[Fog Dude]

The final scores went into the initial post on Monday night, and the penultimate table update of this campaign soon followed. In a low-scoring round, there was no movement but the gap at the top is at least down by a single point to just four. At the other end Rory goes two further clear of Stinky to give himself a cushion of seven points heading into the last weekend. Somewhere in between there's good news at last for Vegeta since he's top scorer as the only participant to get more than one exact scoreline right, albeit still failing to make it into double figures.

A bonus point each went to Rory and Chutney Spoon since they were the only people who thought Mainz would get a draw at home to Leverkusen and thus earn themselves a place in Europe. That was the randomly selected 'wildcard' fixture at match #8. Those were the last bonuses to be scored this season because the figure I've arrived at for ordinary points up for grabs on the final day is 78 instead of the usual 30, which is more than enough to be getting on with without adding any bonus point complications.

Anyway, wins for Chelsea women and Everton, Leicester and Arsenal's men all generally proved fruitful, but victories for Fulham, Brighton, Stuttgart and Toulouse all by the odd goal in five turned out to be tougher to foresee. Also difficult to guess beforehand was a first-ever Cup triumph for Palace but a couple of pickers did manage to get the outcome correct.

Right, check the top of the thread in a few minutes to see how I arrived at 26 matches for the bumper final round. I'll aim to get the last blurb of the season out on Tuesday with a full wrap-up coming by the end of the month.

[TildeGuy~!]

Week 40 fixtures

UEFA Women's Champions League Final

Arsenal 0-3 Barcelona (Saturday 17:00, in Lisbon) 

Premier League
Fulham 1-2 Manchester City
Manchester United 1-1 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 2-0 Everton
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Chelsea

Championship Play-off Final
Sheffield United 2-1 Sunderland (Saturday, at Wembley Stadium)

League One Play-off Final
Charlton Athletic 2-1 Leyton Orient (13:00, at Wembley Stadium)

League Two Play-off Final
Walsall 2-1 Wimbledon (Monday, at Wembley Stadium)

Scottish Cup Final
Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic (Saturday 15:00, at Hampden Park)

Scottish Women's Cup Final
Glasgow City 2-1 Rangers (14:00, at Hampden Park)

La Liga
Espanyol 2-2 Las Palmas (Saturday 17:30)
Leganés 2-1 Valladolid (Saturday 17:30)
Deportivo Alavés 1-1 Osasuna (Saturday 20:00)
Getafe 1-2 Celta Vigo (Saturday 20:00)
Rayo Vallecano 1-1 Real Mallorca (Saturday 20:00)

German Cup Final
Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 VfB Stuttgart (Saturday 19:00, in Berlin)

Serie A (14:00)
Atalanta 2-1 Parma 
Como 1-2 Inter
Empoli 1-1 Verona
Lazio 2-1 Lecce
Napoli 2-0 Cagliari
Torino 1-2 Roma
Venezia 0-2 Juventus

French Cup Final
Paris St Germain 3-1 Stade de Reims (Saturday 20:00, at the Stade de France)

Portuguese Cup Final
Benfica 1-2 Sporting Lisbon (17:15, in Oeiras)

Pro League
Club Bruges 2-1 Royal Antwerp (17:30)

[RoryFice]

UEFA Women's Champions League Final

Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona (Saturday 17:00, in Lisbon) 

Premier League
Fulham 1-2 Manchester City
Manchester United 0-1 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 2-1 Everton
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Chelsea

Championship Play-off Final
Sheffield United 1-2 Sunderland (Saturday, at Wembley Stadium)

League One Play-off Final
Charlton Athletic 0-1 Leyton Orient (13:00, at Wembley Stadium)

League Two Play-off Final
Walsall 0-1 Wimbledon (Monday, at Wembley Stadium)

Scottish Cup Final
Aberdeen 0-4 Celtic (Saturday 15:00, at Hampden Park)

Scottish Women's Cup Final
Glasgow City 0-2 Rangers (14:00, at Hampden Park)

La Liga
Espanyol 2-0 Las Palmas (Saturday 17:30)
Leganés 1-1 Valladolid (Saturday 17:30)
Deportivo Alavés 1-0 Osasuna (Saturday 20:00)
Getafe 1-0 Celta Vigo (Saturday 20:00)
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Real Mallorca (Saturday 20:00)

German Cup Final
Arminia Bielefeld 0-1 VfB Stuttgart (Saturday 19:00, in Berlin)

Serie A (14:00)
Atalanta 3-0 Parma 
Como 0-2 Inter
Empoli 1-0 Verona
Lazio 3-0 Lecce
Napoli 3-1 Cagliari
Torino 1-1 Roma
Venezia 0-1 Juventus

French Cup Final
Paris St Germain 2-0 Stade de Reims (Saturday 20:00, at the Stade de France)

Portuguese Cup Final
Benfica 3-1 Sporting Lisbon (17:15, in Oeiras)

Pro League
Club Bruges 0-0 Royal Antwerp (17:30)

[Fog Dude]

Women's Champions League Final

Arsenal 1-5 Barcelona (at the Estádio José Alvalade) 

Premier League
Fulham 1-1 Manchester City
Manchester United 0-3 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 3-1 Everton
Nottingham Forest 2-0 Chelsea

Championship Play-off Final
Sheffield United 1-2 Sunderland 

League One Play-off Final
Charlton Athletic 1-0 Leyton Orient 

League Two Play-off Final
Walsall 0-1 Wimbledon 

Men's Scottish Cup Final
Aberdeen 1-3 Celtic 

Women's Scottish Cup Final
Glasgow City 2-1 Rangers 

La Liga
Espanyol 2-0 Las Palmas 
Leganés 2-2 Valladolid 
Alavés 0-0 Osasuna 
Getafe 1-2 Celta Vigo 
Rayo Vallecano 1-1 Real Mallorca 

German Cup Final
Arminia Bielefeld 0-3 VfB Stuttgart (at the Olympiastadion)

Serie A 
Atalanta 1-0 Parma 
Como 0-3 Internazionale
Empoli 0-1 Verona
Lazio 2-1 Lecce
Napoli 3-0 Cagliari
Torino 2-3 Roma
Venezia 0-2 Juventus

French Cup Final
PSG 4-0 Stade de Reims (in St-Denis)

Portuguese Cup Final
Benfica 3-1 Sporting Lisbon (at the Estádio Nacional)

Bag of Potatoes League
Club Bruges 2-0 Royal Antwerp

[Vegeta]

Week 40 fixtures

UEFA Women's Champions League Final

Arsenal 0-2 Barcelona (Saturday 17:00, in Lisbon) 

Premier League
Fulham 0-2 Manchester City
Manchester United 0-2 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 0-1 Everton
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Chelsea

Championship Play-off Final
Sheffield United 2-1 Sunderland (Saturday, at Wembley Stadium)

League One Play-off Final
Charlton Athletic 2-0 Leyton Orient (13:00, at Wembley Stadium)

League Two Play-off Final
Walsall 1-2 Wimbledon (Monday 15:01, at Wembley Stadium)

Scottish Cup Final
Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic (Saturday 15:00, at Hampden Park)

Scottish Women's Cup Final
Glasgow City 2-0 Rangers (14:00, at Hampden Park)

La Liga
Espanyol 2-1 Las Palmas (Saturday 17:30)
Leganés 1-2 Valladolid (Saturday 17:30)
Deportivo Alavés 2-1 Osasuna (Saturday 20:00)
Getafe 2-0 Celta Vigo (Saturday 20:00)
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Real Mallorca (Saturday 20:00)

German Cup Final
Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 VfB Stuttgart (Saturday 19:00, in Berlin)

Serie A (14:00)
Atalanta 2-1 Parma 
Como 0-2 Inter
Empoli 1-2 Verona
Lazio 2-0 Lecce
Napoli 2-1 Cagliari
Torino 0-1 Roma
Venezia 0-1 Juventus

French Cup Final
Paris St Germain 3-0 Stade de Reims (Saturday 20:00, at the Stade de France)

Portuguese Cup Final
Benfica 2-1 Sporting Lisbon (17:15, in Oeiras)

Pro League
Club Bruges 2-1 Royal Antwerp (17:30)

All games kick off on Sunday and at 16:00 unless stated. Times are listed in BST. 

[Fog Dude]

The two Serie A matches which will decide the title have been brought forward to tomorrow night at extremely short notice, so unless everyone wants to get their picks in by 7:45pm then all guesses for those two games will be void.

FFS Italy. To think I even voted for you at Eurovision! *sigh* I'll update the opening post to reflect this change.

[MVP RULZ]

Women's Champions League Final

Arsenal 1-3 Barcelona (at the Estádio José Alvalade) 

Premier League
Fulham 1-2 Manchester City
Manchester United 0-2 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 2-0 Everton
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea

Championship Play-off Final
Sheffield United 2-1 Sunderland 

League One Play-off Final
Charlton Athletic 3-1 Leyton Orient 

League Two Play-off Final
Walsall 2-1 Wimbledon 

Men's Scottish Cup Final
Aberdeen 1-4 Celtic 

Women's Scottish Cup Final
Glasgow City 2-3 Rangers 

La Liga
Espanyol 1-0 Las Palmas 
Leganés 3-1 Valladolid 
Alavés 1-2 Osasuna 
Getafe 2-2 Celta Vigo 
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Real Mallorca 

German Cup Final
Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 VfB Stuttgart (at the Olympiastadion)

Serie A 
Atalanta 3-0 Parma 
Como 1-2 Internazionale
Empoli 1-1 Verona
Lazio 3-1 Lecce
Napoli 2-0 Cagliari
Torino 1-2 Roma
Venezia 1-2 Juventus

French Cup Final
PSG 3-0 Stade de Reims (in St-Denis)

Portuguese Cup Final
Benfica 2-1 Sporting Lisbon (at the Estádio Nacional)

Bag of Potatoes League
Club Bruges 2-0 Royal Antwerp

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

On 5/22/2025 at 2:05 PM, RoryFice said:

 

UEFA Women's Champions League Final

Arsenal 3-1 Barcelona (Saturday 17:00, in Lisbon) 

Premier League
Fulham 1-3 Manchester City
Manchester United 0-2 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 2-2 Everton
Nottingham Forest 2-2 Chelsea

Championship Play-off Final
Sheffield United 1-2 Sunderland (Saturday, at Wembley Stadium)

League One Play-off Final
Charlton Athletic 0-1 Leyton Orient (13:00, at Wembley Stadium)

League Two Play-off Final
Walsall 0-2 Wimbledon (Monday, at Wembley Stadium)

Scottish Cup Final
Aberdeen 0-4 Celtic (Saturday 15:00, at Hampden Park)

Scottish Women's Cup Final
Glasgow City 0-3 Rangers (14:00, at Hampden Park)

La Liga
Espanyol 2-1 Las Palmas (Saturday 17:30)
Leganés 1-2 Valladolid (Saturday 17:30)
Deportivo Alavés 1-1 Osasuna (Saturday 20:00)
Getafe 1-0 Celta Vigo (Saturday 20:00)
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Real Mallorca (Saturday 20:00)

German Cup Final
Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 VfB Stuttgart (Saturday 19:00, in Berlin)

Serie A (14:00)
Atalanta 3-1 Parma 
Como 0-3 Inter
Empoli 1-1 Verona
Lazio 3-1 Lecce
Napoli 3-1 Cagliari
Torino 1-2 Roma
Venezia 1-3 Juventus

French Cup Final
Paris St Germain 3-1 Stade de Reims (Saturday 20:00, at the Stade de France)

Portuguese Cup Final
Benfica 3-1 Sporting Lisbon (17:15, in Oeiras)

Pro League
Club Bruges 0-1 Royal Antwerp (17:30)

[ultimo the great]

Week 40 fixtures

UEFA Women's Champions League Final

Arsenal 0-2 Barcelona (Saturday 17:00, in Lisbon) 

Premier League
Fulham 0-1 Manchester City
Manchester United 0-2 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 3-1 Everton
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea

Championship Play-off Final
Sheffield United 2-0 Sunderland (Saturday, at Wembley Stadium)

League One Play-off Final
Charlton Athletic 0-1 Leyton Orient (13:00, at Wembley Stadium)

League Two Play-off Final
Walsall 1-2 Wimbledon (Monday 15:01, at Wembley Stadium)

Scottish Cup Final
Aberdeen 0-3 Celtic (Saturday 15:00, at Hampden Park)

Scottish Women's Cup Final
Glasgow City 1-0 Rangers (14:00, at Hampden Park)

La Liga
Espanyol 2-0 Las Palmas (Saturday 17:30)
Leganés 1-0 Valladolid (Saturday 17:30)
Deportivo Alavés 1-2 Osasuna (Saturday 20:00)
Getafe 0-2 Celta Vigo (Saturday 20:00)
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Real Mallorca (Saturday 20:00)

German Cup Final
Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 VfB Stuttgart (Saturday 19:00, in Berlin)

Serie A
Atalanta 2-1 Parma (19:45)
Empoli 1-0 Verona (19:45)
Lazio 2-0 Lecce (19:45)
Torino 0-1 Roma (19:45)
Venezia 0-3 Juventus (19:45)

French Cup Final
Paris St Germain 3-0 Stade de Reims (Saturday 20:00, at the Stade de France)

Portuguese Cup Final
Benfica 2-1 Sporting Lisbon (17:15, in Oeiras)

Pro League
Club Brugge 2-0 Royal Antwerp (17:30)

Edited May 24, 2025 by ultimo the great

[Stinky Dad]

 

Premier League
Fulham 1 v 2 Manchester City
Manchester United 0 v 2 Aston Villa
Newcastle United 2 v 0 Everton
Nottingham Forest 1 v 1 Chelsea

League Two Play-off Final
Walsall 1 v 2 Wimbledon (Monday 15:01, at Wembley Stadium)

Atalanta 2 v 0 Parma (19:45)

Empoli 0 v 1 Verona (19:45)
Lazio 2 v 0 Lecce (19:45)

Torino 1 v 2 Roma (19:45)
Venezia 0 v 2 Juventus (19:45)

Portuguese Cup Final
Benfica 2 v 1 Sporting Lisbon (17:15, in Oeiras)

Pro League
Club Bruges 1 v 0 Royal Antwerp (17:30)

[Fog Dude]

The results went into the opening post last night, but I'd had a cheeky check of just the top two's scores the night before... and they were level on points. Luckily they'd made different guesses for the one remaining match. If it'd gone to penalties, we'd have been looking at a five-match play-off between just those two this coming weekend.

But the run-in hasn't been without controversy for both of them. Had the Italian Friday night matches counted, TildeGuy would've gone into yesterday four points ahead and already assured of the title. On the other hand, if the late-but-probably-honest picks by ultimo for last month's early Easter fixtures had been accepted, then he'd have wrapped up the title halfway through this Bank Holiday weekend instead. I hope they and all other participants can accept that it's swings and roundabouts so these things even themselves out, just like with bad officiating (with or without VAR) in the real game itself.

===

For the first time in 17 years, I feel like I majorly messed up in terms of start times taking me by surprise. Of course some have been inaccurate before, but only ever in a benign way. It's a wonder it hasn't happened sooner, especially as until the start of last season updates were usually done last thing Tuesday night instead of on Wednesday evening.

Full disclosure: I use three different sources to check future kick-off times a few times a week during the season, but generally only use one while I'm actually updating the original post. Unfortunately that one hadn't cottoned onto the changes yet.

Last time I'd checked them before Wednesday all they still had all 10 Week 38 Serie A matches happening on Sunday afternoon like in the good old James Richardson Channel 4 days. Speaking of which, I've since found a Football Italia article dated to about an hour before I posted which makes the alterations clear, but I haven't had that site bookmarked for a decade or more.

Last Wednesday was my busiest of the month, I'd been out all afternoon and was off out again straight away as soon as I'd finished posting here and editing the first post. Obviously those conditions weren't ideal for a bigger card than usual at a crucial stage of the season.

One thing I'm not going to blame it on is the "bumper" gimmick. If we had a normal set of 10 with room for only a couple of matches from abroad, those are the two I would've chosen. As for the motivations of the Lega Calcio in putting those two matches on Friday (when the two meaningless games could've been played, if they wanted to spread things out) rather than Saturday? Well, it seems they wanted to give Inter more time to prepare for their final against PSG. Which, considering the Champions League no longer concludes in midweek feels like very flimsy reasoning. But it is something we'll have to live with now.

===

So with all that said, my official overall decision is... make his a Double! At last ultimo the great lives up to his username and wins the whole thing by a single point over an incredibly unlucky Tilde, according to the final table. A massive well done to him having already wrapped up the FPL Cup a few weeks ago.

Full last update coming later in the week, plus details of when next season is expected to start. In the meantime, feel free to fume/discuss/congratulate with each other.

[Vegeta]

Congrats @ultimo the great

Thanks for running again @Fog Dude

Looking forward to next season

[ultimo the great]

I thought i'd blown it this weekend with my playoff and cup predictions being god awful.

This makes up for United's season obviously ?

Well done to Foggy for running it again

 ?Memories Light the corners of my mind.....?

Edited May 27, 2025 by ultimo the great

[Fog Dude]

Rounding up the final week

The last update to the first post has now been made. In a slightly low-scoring round considering all the extra matches, the only movement saw MVP RULZ overtaken by Chutney Spoon for the bronze medal position. Stinky picked late but was on course to be worst performer anyway based on the results he was in time for. He therefore finished a full 19 points adrift of Rory who didn't make much of a defence of his title but did at least avoid the wooden spoon comfortably enough in the end.

Victories for Manchester United, Everton, Sunderland, Glasgow City and Arsenal Ladies plus five away wins in Italy and a score draw in Belgium and the men's Scottish Cup final going to spot kicks caught most participants cold. Barcelona Women failing to score was particularly astonishing given the Gunners' defensive record in their previous few games. I did predict Arsenal would only score one goal though!

In contrast, expected successes for Chelsea, Charlton, Wimbledon, Espanyol, Leganés, Celta Vigo, Stuttgart, PSG and Sporting Lisbon alongside a stalemate in Vallecas (the people's barrio) and another score draw in the Basque Country went with the form book so all proved somewhat fruitful. Oh, and I don't usually toot my own horn but I was top scorer this time out... 

===

Brief Fantasy interlude

Speaking of which, I don't want to turn this into a weekly Fantasy League blog like we tried to do a couple of seasons back, but this still feels like the best place to note that I actually somehow won the Chippy Tea Cup despite my league position suggesting I shouldn't have even made the quarter-finals. It was a close-run thing since I only made it through the last 16 on goals scored after a tie.

===

On the overall standings

First of all, the main thing to note is everyone who still plays has got really good at this over the years. A majority of people broke the 300-point barrier and the 8-point average mark. The two people who dropped out early were on course for an upper mid-table finish. Even Stinky is averaging almost a full point per week higher than I'd have expected of the worst player 12-15 years ago. Rory and Vegeta prevent him from dominating the right-hand side of the stats, although for the three categories he was last in I'm afraid it wasn't even close.

Luckily everyone of course starts with a clean slate next season. Tilde only managed an improvement of a single raw point compared to the season prior, but that was enough to rocket from sixth up to second and so nearly first place. Vegeta once again appears on the left-hand side (and was just one behind otherwise dominant ultimo in one of the other stats) but seems unable to put a run together to make him a title challenger. Again, maybe next time. Naturally, for fairness the figures below the line only relate to people who finished the whole campaign.

===

About next season

Stuff over the summer includes the UEFA Nations Leagues (on ITV and S4C), the new Club World Cup (partly on Channel 5), various money-spinning tours and four women's continental tournaments including Euro 2025 (on the BBC and ITV). Up to you how many or few of those you take in during the break.

The last of those events has its final on the 27th of July. The sign-up thread for 2025-26 should appear sometime in the week that follows with the 10-match card for Week 1 going up in a new thread on the evening of Wednesday the 13th. I'm off to Gamescom over the Bank Holiday weekend so we probably won't settle into a routine until after the first international break (by which time all D2D picks need to be in), but it was ever thus.

The spreadsheet is coming along with a skeleton ready for the first half, taking us up to Christmas when I ponder the usual double/treble round shenanigans. I'm eagerly awaiting various cup draws and fixture release days next month. Meantime, a few internationals are already pencilled in including a possible chance for a big gamble on a one-sided fixture.

Lastly, a warning for nobody to get too big for their boots, even Double winners. I said that ultimo lived up to his name, referring to the "great" part - but it's worth keeping in mind that ultimo can also mean "last"

Thanks to all for playing and following along again. It's been a pleasure. See you in eight and a half weeks!