Premier League Matchday 5 Preview, September 18-20
In this preview, we break down the matches from Premier League Matchday 5. A whole group of fixtures are in contention to be the match of the round. Several exciting games await us: the London derby between Brentford and Chelsea, Tottenham and Aston Villa will battle for their first win of the season, Manchester United travel to London to face Fulham, and Bournemouth host Liverpool.
Brentford vs Chelsea
On September 18, Gtech Community Stadium will host a fiery west London derby between Brentford and Chelsea. The Bees, under Keith Andrews, have made an impressive and completely uncompromising start: they sit seventh and remain unbeaten, having opened with a 3-0 thrashing of Tottenham before producing three entertaining draws in a row, including a recent 2-2 with Bournemouth. Chelsea under Xabi Alonso are no less intriguing – the Blues score plenty but seem to have completely forgotten how to defend. After wild wins over Fulham (3-2) and Brighton (4-3), they slipped up against Arsenal (1-2), then only just rescued a draw against Hull City (2-2) in the previous round.
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Tottenham vs Aston Villa
Spurs under Roberto De Zerbi, despite £300 million in summer investment, have somehow repeated the nightmare of recent years and find themselves stuck in 17th place. The London side have made the worst start in club history, failing to score a single goal in four rounds, while only two dull 0-0 draws have kept them afloat. Aston Villa's situation looks no less depressing: Unai Emery's team have collected just one point, scored only once and meekly lost 1-2 at home to Nottingham in the previous round, although they partly made amends to the fans by beating Coventry 3-1 in the League Cup.
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Brighton vs Arsenal
American Express Stadium will host one of the most intriguing matches of Matchday 5 between Brighton and Arsenal. Fabian Hurzeler's hosts are riding a huge wave of momentum: a few days ago the Seagulls visited Old Trafford in the League Cup, went 0-2 down, then turned the match around, scored three unanswered goals and knocked Manchester United out. In the league, Brighton have alternated emphatic wins — including heavy victories over Aston Villa and Coventry — with frustrating slip-ups. Arsenal, meanwhile, have made a convincing start to the season, remaining perfect and rolling from one win to the next. The Seagulls score against absolutely everyone at home, but the Gunners' organized defense currently looks monumental.
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Newcastle vs Hull City
The Magpies under Matthias Jaissle are going through a serious on-field crisis and sit 12th with just one win from four rounds. The team are making far too many mistakes around their own goal. The Tigers, by contrast, have become the biggest surprise of the opening stretch: the bold newcomers have climbed to fourth place with eight points. Hull City are showing an incredibly solid defense, putting together two consecutive clean sheets and a high-scoring draw against Chelsea. Newcastle are considered favourites at home, but Hull have already shown that they can trouble any heavyweight. Given that the Tigers have avoided defeat in nine of their last ten matches, they have an excellent chance to extend their fairy-tale unbeaten run.
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Everton vs Ipswich
The Toffees under David Moyes have gathered decent momentum at the start of the season: they have six points, remain unbeaten in the Premier League, ground out a 0-0 draw away to Tottenham last weekend and a few days ago pragmatically beat Wolverhampton 1-0 in the League Cup. Ipswich have an identical league record with the same six points. Gary O'Neil's Tractor Boys have already become one of the biggest surprises of this stretch after winning 3-2 away to Crystal Palace, but in midweek their ambitions took a painful blow in the League Cup, where Arsenal's semi-reserve side beat them 4-2.
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Nottingham vs Coventry
Coventry City have looked flat following their long-awaited return to the top flight. The Sky Blues have yet to collect a single point or score a single goal, suffering three consecutive scoreless defeats at the start of the season — against Arsenal (0-3), Hull City (0-1) and Manchester City (0-1). Nottingham, meanwhile, have made a very solid start. The team have seven points and sit in the upper half of the table. The main intrigue is whether Coventry can end their awful winless run and score their first goal of the season, while Nottingham will look to build on their early success.
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Bournemouth vs Liverpool
The Merseysiders may still be unbeaten, but wins have also been hard to come by for Andoni Iraola's side. The team have drawn three matches at the start of the season and have often been forced to come from behind against less highly rated opponents. They have compensated for satisfactory league results with a successful start to the Champions League league phase — a 2-1 win over Atletico — as well as victory over Tottenham in the League Cup. Historically, the Vitality has been capable of giving favourites a very warm welcome: earlier this year Bournemouth already shocked the football world by beating the Merseysiders 3-2 in a crazy thriller.
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Leeds vs Crystal Palace
The opponents have had completely opposite starts to the season. The Peacocks sit third after four rounds with eight points and remain unbeaten at the start of their Premier League campaign. They produced a strong result in the previous round by thrashing Newcastle 4-1 at home. The Eagles, meanwhile, have somehow lost three of their four league games despite facing only Manchester City among the truly strong opponents. The only positive for Palace fans so far has been the win at Middlesbrough and progression to the next round of the League Cup.
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Manchester City vs Sunderland
Enzo Maresca's City have been flawless so far, taking 12 points from a possible 12 and making a major statement in the previous round by beating Manchester United in the derby while playing with ten men. The Black Cats, back in the top flight, are desperately fighting for survival. Regis Le Bris' side have four points from one win, one draw and two defeats, and in the previous round they meekly lost 0-2 at home to Arsenal without managing to impose their game on the favourites. Historically, this trip has been a nightmare for the visitors. Can Sunderland park the bus and contain the hosts' attacking potential?
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Fulham vs Manchester United
On Sunday, Craven Cottage will host one of the most unpredictable matches of Premier League Matchday 5 between Fulham and Manchester United. The Red Devils have been unable to find consistency at the start of the season, swinging from a convincing 5-2 thrashing of Ipswich to defeat at Old Trafford in the Manchester derby despite having a numerical advantage. The Londoners, however, started the season much worse and still cannot claim their first league win. This week they did improve the mood with a 3-2 away victory over West Ham in the League Cup. The intrigue is which club will head into the international break having taken the coveted three points.
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Matchday 5 Summary
This round contains plenty of intriguing fixtures: the London derby, Manchester United's trip to Fulham, Brighton vs Arsenal, and Manchester City vs Sunderland. There is another fascinating contest in London as well: after three rounds Tottenham remain winless and goalless as they host Aston Villa, who have also made a terrible start to the season. Chelsea travel to Brentford, with the two teams rounding out the top seven after four rounds and ready to fight for points as they try to keep pace with the leading group. Our https://scores24.live/en/sportbooks will help you prepare better for the weekend matches.
FAQ
When will Premier League Matchday 5 in 2026/2027 take place?
Premier League Matchday 5 will take place from September 18 to 20, 2026.
Which match will be the headline fixture of Premier League Matchday 5 in 2026/27?
None of the Big Six teams face each other this weekend, so several fixtures are in contention to be the headline game of Matchday 5: Brentford vs Chelsea, Brighton vs Arsenal, Tottenham vs Aston Villa, Bournemouth vs Liverpool, Manchester City vs Sunderland, and Fulham vs Manchester United.
Who is at the bottom of the Premier League table after four rounds in 2026/27?
The worst-performing teams after four rounds are Fulham, who still cannot claim their first league win, Aston Villa, who have managed to score only one goal in four rounds, and Coventry, who have misjudged their capabilities for competing in the top flight.
