Premier League Matchweek 4 Preview and Prediction
Our expert has delivered his latest selection of match predictions as the early part of the 2024-25 Premier League season resumes following the international break. Manchester City and Liverpool are setting the early pace, while Everton and Southampton are still waiting for their first point at the other end of the league table.
Matchday 4 will see all 10 matches crammed in across Saturday and Sunday as club football returns, with the UEFA Champions League also set to begin next week. Eight of those Premier League matches will occur on Saturday, starting with a clash between two under-pressure teams when Southampton takes on Manchester United.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal
This weekend's Premier League main event comes from a raucous Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Ange Postecoglou's Spurs and Arsenal clash in the first North London derby of the season on Sunday afternoon.
The Lilywhites entered the international break on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United, while the Gunners lost their perfect start in a controversial 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
A 4-0 thumping of Everton had seemingly dusted off the cobwebs from gameweek one, where Tottenham's wastefulness on the road cost them in their draw with Leicester City, but a lack of ruthlessness is still prevalent in the Spurs ranks if their Newcastle exploits are anything to go by.
Lying smack-bang in the middle of the table in 10th place, Tottenham will also endeavour to end a particular pattern of home results in the Premier League, having followed a win-loss sequence since the beginning of April.
Having crushed Everton in their first home contest of the season, the omens are not exactly promising for Postecoglou's side if that streak is to continue this weekend, but the Lilywhites could arguably not be facing Arsenal at a more opportune time.
When Brighton defender Joel Veltman took a wild swipe at Declan Rice in Arsenal's showdown with Brighton, the vast majority of supporters inside the stadium expected the Dutchman to receive punishment. Instead, the Emirates crowd were left aghast when Chris Kavanagh sent the equally bewildered Rice for an early bath.
Already on a yellow card, Rice lightly tapping the ball away from Veltman as he was lining up a free kick triggered the Englishman's second yellow, allowing the Seagulls to fight back through Joao Pedro after Kai Havertz's delicate first-half lob.
As Arsenal and Mikel Arteta were left to lament Rice's highly controversial sending-off - which came after Pedro escaped a booking for kicking the ball away in the first half - the Brighton faithful were bouncing all the way home after denying the Gunners a third win from three matches in 2024-25.
Saturday's visitors therefore occupy fourth place in the Premier League table at present, two points worse off than Manchester City and Liverpool ahead of their games on Saturday, but Gooners at least received one piece of good news this week with Arteta's new contract signing.
Solace can also be taken from their last two Premier League wins away to Spurs in 2023 and 2024, but they have never triumphed against the Lilywhites in three straight road matches in the Premier League era and head to their rivals' home without arguably their first-choice midfield.
Tottenham vs Arsenal Head-to-Head Record
Tottenham are winless in their previous four outings against the Gunners, with their most recent victory arriving at the end of the 2021/22 season when Antonio Conte was at the helm.
The Gunners have won five of the last seven derbies after Spurs enjoyed a prosperous run before the Covid-19 pandemic. Mikel Arteta's side are also hunting for their third-straight win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs have claimed just two wins at the Emirates since its 2006 opening.
Prediction: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE @1.48
Southampton vs Manchester United: 2 DNB @1.32
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Ipswich Town: HOME WIN @1.38
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest: HOME WIN @1.23
Manchester City vs Brentford: OVER 2.5 GOALS @1.33
Aston Villa vs Everton: HOME WIN @1.50
Bournemouth vs Chelsea: AWAY WIN OR DRAW @1.30
Spanish Laliga
Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid: 2 DNB @1.26
Girona FC vs FC Barcelona: AWAY WIN OR DRAW @1.21
Atletico Madrid vs Valencia: HOME WIN @1.35
German Bundesliga
RB Leipzig vs FC Union Berlin: HOME WIN @1.47
TSG Hoffenheim vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen: OVER 2.5 @1.30
Holstein Kiel vs FC Bayern München: OVER 2.5 @1.28
