The Athletic has moved into gameweek two of its Premier League prediction series with a new voice on the panel: Matt, 48, a Manchester United fan from London. He joins the regular mix of writers, Algo and Wilfred as Saturday’s fixtures are assessed one by one in a format that awards three points for each correct call.
That makes the Epl Table easy to understand and hard to keep clean. The first round produced five correct predictions and 15 points for The Athletic, but it also produced enough shocks to remind everyone how fragile early-season guesses can be. Hull’s home win over Manchester United set the tone, Manchester City came from behind to beat Bournemouth on Sunday, and Liverpool needed Dominik Szoboszlai’s 99th-minute penalty to avoid losing to Newcastle United.
There were other calls that landed too. Elias Burke was the only one brave enough to back Everton against Crystal Palace, while the panel and Ryan correctly took Brighton & Hove Albion over Aston Villa and Chelsea over Fulham. Jack Clarke’s 90th-minute winner for Ipswich Town against Sunderland and Anton Stach’s free-kick for Leeds United against Nottingham Forest underlined why the standings were never going to stay tidy for long.
Matt’s presence gives the format a different edge because he is not arriving as a detached pundit. He is a Manchester United supporter from London, stepping into a contest where the opening weekend already bruised several certainties and where Andy Jones has been clear that United must improve quickly after Hull’s win exposed their slow start. Jones also noted that Benjamin Sesko was on the bench last weekend and that giving him a focal point could matter, a reminder that the predictions are tied to real pressure on real teams.
For now, the attraction is less about picking a perfect table than watching whether a guest subscriber can match the regulars across 10 fixtures while the season is still settling. The Athletic’s writers for 2026-27 are Oliver Kay, Elias Burke, Andy Jones and Duncan Alexander, but GW2 now has one more voice in the room. If the first weekend was any guide, the next set of picks may be less about certainty than surviving the surprise that comes with it.
