A top three clash between Arsenal and Liverpool headlines this weekend’s slate of English Premier League football. With only three sides with perfect records after two weeks, the table is jam packed, and there’s plenty of crucial fixtures on display for EPL Matchday 3.
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EPL 2025-26: Matchday 3 Preview & Betting Tips
Chelsea vs Fulham
Stamford Bridge, Saturday 30th August, 9:30pm AEST
The first game of Matchday 3 sees West London rivals Fulham and Chelsea go head to head at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea picked up their first win of the season with a 5-1 smashing against West Ham last week, with five different goal scorers getting on the sheet within a 41 minute period. Fulham have started the season with back to back draws, with Emile Smith Rowe’s 73rd minute equaliser securing a point at Old Trafford on Matchday 2. Despite having yet to win a game, Fulham have shown the defensive discipline and structure that made them such a tough side to beat last season.
Fulham picked up more points in away games than they did in home games, and they will be right up for this clash against their rivals. In both of their games this season they’ve won the possession battle, and if they can deny Chelsea control through the middle of the ground, it’s going to make things very hard for them. Chelsea will want speed on the ball through the middle third like they did last week, and showed to be incredibly dangerous when they get that.
Fulham were the 9th best defence in 2024/25, and have made it tough for quality teams to break them down. Fulham were able to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season on the back of an outstanding defensive performance, and will be looking for the same in this fixture. For a number of years Chelsea have shown an inability to convert general play control on the scoreboard, and you only have to go back to their 0-0 draw with Palace on the opening day of the season to see what they’re capable of if brought into a scrap.
Fulham +0.5
$2.10 (1 unit)
Brighton vs Manchester City
American Express Stadium, Sunday 31st August, 11:00pm AEST
After a brilliant start to the season, Manchester City were brought back to earth with a calamitous 2-0 defeat against Tottenham at home. Errors at the back and inefficiency in the front third cost Pep Guardiola’s side dearly, who will be desperate to bounce back against Brighton on Sunday night. The Seagulls are in desperate need of a win to get their campaign going, after picking up just one point from the opening two games of the season. After finishing 8th last season, Brighton were held to a draw against Fulham and suffered a defeat against Everton, both sides they finished comfortably above last season.
Manchester City will be hoping that last weekend’s performance was an outlier, but they will need to sharpen up from a defensive standpoint. From an attacking standpoint, they should be able to stretch the Brighton defence, which was one of the worst in the Premier League last season. Despite nearly qualifying for European football, Brighton had the 14th ranked defence in the league, conceding 59 goals. They conceded 2 goals against an Everton outfit that ranked 17th for goals last season, showing that they haven’t improved on their defensive struggles.
Man City have a great record against the Seagulls since their promotion to the top flight in 2017. City have a 12-2-2 record across sixteen Premier League games against Brighton, who certainly haven’t shown anything across the first two weeks of the season to suggest they will buck this trend. Pep Guardiola’s side will be desperate to stay in touch with Liverpool and Arsenal, and they’ll bounce back in convincing fashion away from home.
Manchester City
$1.82 (2 Units)
Liverpool vs Arsenal
Anfield, Monday 1st September, 1:30am AEST
A potentially defining clash in the title race takes place early in the season when Arsenal travels to Anfield to take on Liverpool. Both teams have started with two wins, with the Gunners sitting on top of the table after their 5-0 win over Leeds. It was a tougher task for the defending champions, who needed a last gasp winner from teenager Rio Ngumoha, scoring in the tenth minute stoppage time to claim a 3-2 win. It was a bizarre game for the Reds, who lost the shot count 10-5, despite having 63% as well as Newcastle being down to ten men for the entirety of the second half.
After scraping through with a 1-0 win over Manchester United on Matchday 1, Arsenal were back to their best last week in a dominant performance against Leeds. The Gunners had 68% possession and won the shot count 18-3, but most importantly Viktor Gyokeres scored a brace, a bounce back after a horror performance on his Arsenal debut. Liverpool has been a bogey side for Arsenal for a long time, and it’s cost them dearly over the past few seasons where they’ve fallen short of winning the title. Since August 2016, these sides have met 18 times in the Premier League, with Arsenal only winning on three occasions.
Anfield hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Gunners, who haven’t won a Premier League fixture at the venue since 2012, when manager Mikel Arteta was in the lineup. Despite Arsenal’s struggles to beat Liverpool, they’ve played in a lot of close matches in the last two years. Four of the last five league games between Liverpool and Arsenal have ended in a draw, including both fixtures last season. Arsenal have shown a tendency to be happy with draws against the best sides in the league, especially away from home.
