Football Predictions League 2025-26

[Fog Dude]

The final scores for both the actual football and our own FPL Cup went into the initial post on Sunday night, and all tables have since been updated. Vegeta chose a good week to find some scintillating form - the kind of performance you only usually get when you win a D2D bet or have an especially strong international week. That moves him up into second position, just three points behind ultimo and also nets him a place in the Cup semi-finals as the best runner-up, going from negative points difference to double figures in a single bound.

He'll face me in March, with group winners Gooner and Stinky Dad coming up against each other that same weekend. The former leapfrogged the latter in the main competition this time out, not helped by Stinky being the worst performer. For the third time in four weeks, the randomly selected "wildcard" game was match #1, in this case at Stamford Bridge which allowed MVP RULZ to nab two extra points and thus widen the gap to Chutney Spoon by one further point.

Elsewhere, victories for Liverpool, Fulham, Carlisle, Ajax, Palace's women and the male and female Sunderland teams all proved fruitful, but a score draw at Lionel Road and a shock Cup final triumph for the boys from Paisley caught people out, even though the latter is consistent with Celtic's form under Wilfred Nancy so far.

Bit of housekeeping: the next update after this will be on Monday for the traditional-ish (now with added AFCON!) Christmas double round to give you plenty of time to make Boxing Day picks, and the next after that on New Year's Eve. Week 21 will be a normal round covering the 3rd & 4th of January; we're skipping New Year's Day this season since it's awkwardly landed on a Thursday.

In the meantime we've got a relatively straightforward card going live at the top of the thread in short order.

[Vegeta]

Week 19 fixtures

Premier League

Bournemouth 2-0 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Sunderland
Manchester City 2-0 West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool (17:30)
Everton 1-3 Arsenal (20:00)
Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)

French Cup Round 9 (Sunday 13:45)
Auxerre 0-1 Monaco 
Nice 1-0 St-Étienne
Strasbourg 1-0 Dunkirk

All games take place on Saturday and kick off at 3pm unless stated otherwise. Start times are listed in GMT. 

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Week 19 fixtures

 

Premier League

 

Bournemouth 2-0 Burnley

Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Sunderland

Manchester City 3-0 West Ham United

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-3 Brentford

Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Liverpool (17:30)

Everton 2-3 Arsenal (20:00)

Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)

 

French Cup Round 9 (Sunday 13:45)

Auxerre 0-2 Monaco 

Nice 1-0 St-Étienne

Strasbourg 1-0 Dunkirk

[RoryFice]

Premier League

Bournemouth 1-0 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 Sunderland
Manchester City 3-0 West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Liverpool (17:30)
Everton 1-2 Arsenal (20:00)
Aston Villa 2-3 Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)

French Cup Round 9 (Sunday 13:45)
Auxerre 0-1 Monaco 
Nice 3-1 St-Étienne
Strasbourg 4-0 Dunkirk

[TildeGuy~!]

Week 19 fixtures

Premier League

Bournemouth 2-1 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Sunderland
Manchester City 2-0 West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool (17:30)
Everton 0-1 Arsenal (20:00)
Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)

French Cup Round 9 (Sunday 13:45)
Auxerre 0-2 Monaco 
Nice 2-1 St-Étienne
Strasbourg 3-0 Dunkirk

[Fog Dude]

Premier League

Bournemouth 3-1 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Sunderland
Manchester City 4-2 West Ham United
Wolves 2-1 Brentford
Spurs 0-0 Liverpool 
Everton 0-1 Arsenal 
Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester United 

French Cup Round of 64
Auxerre 1-3 Monaco 
Nice 2-0 Saint-Étienne
Strasbourg 3-0 Dunkirk

[ultimo the great]

Week 19 fixtures

Premier League

Bournemouth 1-0 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Sunderland
Manchester City 2-0 West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool (17:30)
Everton 1-2 Arsenal (20:00)
Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)

French Cup Round 9 (Sunday 13:45)
Auxerre 0-2 Monaco 
Nice 2-1 St-Étienne
Strasbourg 3-1 Dunkirk

[Stinky Dad]

Premier League

Bournemouth 2 v 1 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 v 1 Sunderland
Manchester City 2 v 0 West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v 2 Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur 1 v 2 Liverpool (17:30)
Everton 1 v 1 Arsenal (20:00)
Aston Villa 2 v 1 Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)

French Cup Round 9 (Sunday 13:45)
Auxerre 0 v 1 Monaco 
Nice 1 v 0 St-Étienne
Strasbourg 2 v 0 Dunkirk

[Gooner]

Week 19 fixtures

Premier League

Bournemouth 2-1 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Sunderland
Manchester City 2-0 West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool (17:30)
Everton 0-1 Arsenal (20:00)
Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)

French Cup Round 9 (Sunday 13:45)
Auxerre 1-2 Monaco 
Nice 2-1 St-Étienne
Strasbourg 2-0 Dunkirk

[MVP RULZ]

Premier League

Bournemouth 2-0 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 v 1 Sunderland
Manchester City 3-0 West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Liverpool (17:30)
Everton 1-2 Arsenal (20:00)
Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester United (Sunday 16:30)

French Cup Round 9 (Sunday 13:45)
Auxerre 0-2 Monaco 
Nice 1-0 St-Étienne
Strasbourg 3-0 Dunkirk

[Fog Dude]

The results were up in the original post last night, and as a consequence of those the table now has a new leader. TildeGuy went ahead of ultimo by a point... and then level with him again because his performance was so strong that it triggered a rarely-invoked rule where everyone else gets a bonus to stop anybody from running away with things. There were no other bonus points awarded because for the fourth time in five weeks, match #1 was selected as the "wildcard" fixture (in an unprecedent move I even ran the randomiser thrice and it threw out a 1 each time) and given Burnley's recent form, everybody understandably went for a home win at Dean Court so we were all wrong there.

In a high-scoring round, everyone got at least one scoreline exactly right, with only lowest scorer Rory and myself failing to make it into double figures. Chutney Spoon therefore closes the gap at the bottom to seven, with Stinky and MVP RULZ also beneficiaries by moving up one spot each. Vegeta is perhaps unlucky to slip a place, but it's Gooner who really shines this time out with a whopping 18 points, bumping himself up into fourth.

Further along the south coast: a stalemate at the AmEx, alongside a win for Brentford and narrow progress for all three favourites in France were generally good for one-pointers, while widely expected victories for Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa proved especially fruitful.

We're doing this update early partly because Boxing Day is a Friday, partly because it's a hectic time of year in general and in part because I'm off for a long-planned visit to family (as opposed to the impromptu one last month) tomorrow lunchtime and it's just easier to do the blurb and round-up without them under my feet. To that end, a new set of 20 should appear in the opening post very soon.

[TildeGuy~!]

Week 20A fixtures - Boxing Day & December 27th

Premier League

Manchester United 1-1 Newcastle United (20:00)
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City (Saturday 12:30)

Championship
Oxford United 1-2 Southampton
Wrexham 1-2 Sheffield United (17:30)

League One
Bradford City 2-1 Wigan Athletic
Chesterfield 1-1 Notts County

League Two
Gillingham 1-1 Cambridge United
Walsall 2-1 Crewe Alexandra

National League
Gateshead 0-2 Carlisle United

Scottish Premiership
Hibernian 1-2 Heart of Midlothian (Saturday 12:30)

Week 20B fixtures - December 28th & 29th

Premier League

Sunderland 2-1 Leeds United (Sunday 14:00)
Crystal Palace 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Sunday 16:30)

Championship
Leicester City 2-1 Derby County (19:45)
Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Blackburn Rovers (19:45)

League One
Peterborough United 2-2 Reading (19:45)

League Two
Cheltenham Town 1-2 Swindon Town (19:45)

National League South
Chelmsford City 1-2 Dagenham & Redbridge (19:45)

Africa Cup of Nations group stage
Ivory Coast 1-1 Cameroon (Sunday, in Marrakesh)
Zimbabwe 1-2 South Africa (16:00, in Marrakesh)
Zambia 0-2 Morocco (19:00, in Rabat)

[Fog Dude]

Week 20A

Premier League

Manchester United 2-1 Newcastle United 
Nottingham Forest 1-3 Manchester City 

Championship
Oxford United 1-0 Southampton
Wrexham 0-3 Sheffield United 

League One
Bradford City 3-1 Wigan Athletic

League Two
Chesterfield 2-2 Notts County
Gillingham 0-1 Cambridge United
Walsall 2-0 Crewe Alexandra

National League
Gateshead 1-1 Carlisle United

Scottish Premiership
Hibernian 1-2 Hearts

Week 20B

Premier League

Sunderland 3-2 Leeds United 
Crystal Palace 0-0 Spurs

Championship
Leicester City 3-1 Derby County 
Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Blackburn Rovers 

League One
Peterborough United 1-1 Reading 

League Two
Cheltenham Town 2-2 Swindon Town 

National League South
Chelmsford City 1-3 Dagenham & Redbridge 

African Nations' Cup group stage
Ivory Coast 2-1 Cameroon (in Marrakesh)
Zimbabwe 0-2 South Africa (in Marrakesh)
Morocco 3-0 Zambia 

[RoryFice]

Week 20A fixtures - Boxing Day & December 27th

Premier League

Manchester United 2-1 Newcastle United (20:00)
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City (Saturday 12:30)

Championship
Oxford United 1-1 Southampton
Wrexham 2-1 Sheffield United (17:30)

League One
Bradford City 1-1 Wigan Athletic
Chesterfield 1-0 Notts County

League Two
Gillingham 3-2 Cambridge United
Walsall 1-0 Crewe Alexandra

National League
Gateshead 1-2 Carlisle United

Scottish Premiership
Hibernian 2-2 Heart of Midlothian (Saturday 12:30)

Week 20B fixtures - December 28th & 29th

Premier League

Sunderland 0-1 Leeds United (Sunday 14:00)
Crystal Palace 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Sunday 16:30)

Championship
Leicester City 2-2 Derby County (19:45)
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Blackburn Rovers (19:45)

League One
Peterborough United 1-0 Reading (19:45)

League Two
Cheltenham Town 2-1 Swindon Town (19:45)

National League South
Chelmsford City 1-1 Dagenham & Redbridge (19:45)

Africa Cup of Nations group stage
Ivory Coast 1-0 Cameroon (Sunday, in Marrakesh)
Zimbabwe 0-2 South Africa (16:00, in Marrakesh)
Zambia 0-2 Morocco (19:00, in Rabat)

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Week 20A fixtures - Boxing Day & December 27th

 

Premier League

 

Manchester United 1-2 Newcastle United (20:00)

Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester City (Saturday 12:30)

 

Championship

Oxford United 1-2 Southampton

Wrexham 1-2 Sheffield United (17:30)

 

League One

Bradford City 2-2 Wigan Athletic

Chesterfield 2-1 Notts County

 

League Two

Gillingham 1-1 Cambridge United

Walsall 2-1 Crewe Alexandra

 

National League

Gateshead 0-2 Carlisle United

 

Scottish Premiership

Hibernian 1-2 Heart of Midlothian (Saturday 12:30)

 

Week 20B fixtures - December 28th & 29th

 

Premier League

 

Sunderland 2-1 Leeds United (Sunday 14:00)

Crystal Palace 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Sunday 16:30)

 

Championship

Leicester City 2-1 Derby County (19:45)

Sheffield Wednesday 1-3 Blackburn Rovers (19:45)

 

League One

Peterborough United 2-2 Reading (19:45)

 

League Two

Cheltenham Town 1-2 Swindon Town (19:45)

 

National League South

Chelmsford City 1-3 Dagenham & Redbridge (19:45)

 

Africa Cup of Nations group stage

Ivory Coast 1-2 Cameroon (Sunday, in Marrakesh)

Zimbabwe 1-3 South Africa (16:00, in Marrakesh)

Zambia 1-2 Morocco (19:00, in Rabat)