English Premier League Predictions – Sunday 18 October 2026, Round 7

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 1 hour ago

Simon Lewis 1 hour ago

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A resilient Leeds host floundering Manchester United.
Forest take on Arsenal after back-to-back defeats.
Brighton have won their last three matches in the Premier League.
Arsenal have taken five wins from six matches in the Premier League.

Bournemouth are winless after six matches but home advantage could bring a win over Sunderland (Getty Images).

English Premier League Predictions, Round 7

English Premier League Predictions, Round 7
Bournemouth vs Sunderland
Brighton vs Crystal Palace
Leeds United vs Manchester United
Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal

Bournemouth vs Sunderland

Bournemouth are winless after six matches of the Premier League season, drawing three and losing three. A 5-1 defeat at Chelsea last weekend exposed serious defensive frailties, although the Cherries have also been competitive in draws with Brentford and Newcastle.

Sunderland’s six-game league return stands at one win, one draw and four defeats, the last three on the bounce including a 2-0 loss at home to Brighton. Sitting in the bottom four gives both teams plenty of motivation to pull off a crucial win against a potential relegation rival but neither side enters this game in convincing form.

Bournemouth have home advantage but may struggle to shut out the visitors and with both teams averaging a goal a game and being desperate for a win this has the whiff of a home victory with both teams to score.

Brighton vs Crystal Palace

Brighton are riding high in third spot on the table after an impressive four wins and a draw in their first six matches. They have won their last three matches on the bounce coming into this clash without conceding a goal, taking down Coventry (5-0), Arsenal (3-0) and Sunderland (2-0).

Crystal Palace have been far less consistent this season after kicking off with two wins, a draw and three losses. They bounced back last weekend to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 with Daichi Kamada, Jefferson Lerma and Yéremy Pino scoring after going behind in the third minute.

Brighton are huge favourites at home, but the straight win is slated at close to 1.50. Brighton’s form suggests a win with a clean sheet is on the cards, and Palace were goalless in two matches in a row before scoring a combined five goals in their last two matches.

Leeds United vs Manchester United

Leeds kicked-off their season with two wins and a draw before losing 2-1 to Arsenal in their last match after taking the lead in the 55th minute, so they are highly competitive this season.

Manchester United are winless in their last four league matches, scoring four goals but conceding just five. Bryan Mbeumo scored in their latest 1-1 draw with Tottenham, while Bruno Fernandes has been an important attacking contributor this season.

With neither side consistently collecting wins the match looks difficult to call, particularly in the cauldron of Elland Road. Leeds have scored nine goals in their last five matches and took the lead against defending champions Arsenal, so I’m backing Leeds to score first.

Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal

Forest have scored five goals to eight in their first six matches and have lost two and drawn two of their four home matches this season. They have been inconsistent, drawing away to Liverpool (2-2) and beating Aston Villa on the road (2-1) but lost 1-0 at home to Coventry in their last home match.

Forest’s last match saw them go down 3-1 at Crystal Palace despite taking an early lead through Dan Ndoye, so they need to ramp up their defensive fortifications.

Arsenal have won nine of their 10 competitive matches this season with 21 goals while letting in just seven, so it could be a tough afternoon for Forest. Arsenal’s last league match saw them come back from behind to beat Leeds 2-1 thanks to a winner from Bruno Guimaraes, while Noni Madueke has also been among the notable attacking contributors.

Forest do bring an unknown factor into the clash with a healthy payout of 5.50 but that’s a big risk bet. Arsenal have scored two or more goals in seven of their 10 matches this season but the payout on their goals isn’t compelling unless you back three goals or more which is a good call but also a stretch.

Forest have failed to score in four of their last seven matches and combined with Arsenal’s goal split of 10:5 and their six clean sheets in 10 competitive matches this season makes an Arsenal win to nil a compelling bet.

Verdict

English Premier League

I’m backing a goal-rich win for Bournemouth, both teams to score as Brighton beat Palace, Leeds to score first against Man United and Arsenal to keep a clean sheet against Forest.

Leeds Goals

First Team To Score

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Brighton Win

Both Teams To Score

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Bournemouth Win

Both Teams To Score

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Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

You can follow more from Simon at Muckrack, X and LinkedIn.