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The Athletic has live coverage of Chelsea vs. Manchester City in the 2026 FA Cup Final.Welcome to The Athletic’s Premier League predictions challenge, where Savinho has lifted young Wilfred back to within striking distance of the summit.At 9.41pm UK time on Wednesday, Manchester City were cruising to a 2-0 home win against Crystal Palace — just as our guest subscriber Jack predicted, which would have taken the readers 10 points clear at the top of our predictions league with two rounds to play.However, that 84th-minute goal from Savinho, securing a 3-0 victory, meant a precious spot-on prediction for six-year-old Wilfred instead, taking our boy-wonder to within three. And, not for the first time this season, it left me wondering just what I have been up against in this game. Wilfred is a Palace fan, for goodness’ sake. What kind of six-year-old successfully predicts a 3-0 defeat for their own team?!Each week since the season began in August, four of us — an algorithm, a guest subscriber on rotation, Wilfred and I — have been predicting the Premier League results with varying degrees of success.We are awarding three points for a correct scoreline and one point for a correct result. We are also awarding a bonus point for any “unique” prediction, so Wilfred earned four after getting a bullseye with City 3-0 Palace.It leaves the subscribers with a slender lead over him going into the final two rounds.My brief hopes of a resurgence are over; the best I can hope for now is to avoid the further humiliation of being dumped to the bottom of the table by the algorithm.This week’s guest subscriber is, by the luck of the draw, another Aston Villa fan: Joe, 22, from Birmingham.Good luck, Joe.Our subscriber’s match of the weekBournemouth vs Manchester City, Tuesday, 7.30pm UK/2:30pm ETJoe says: “Manchester City will likely come into this match knowing that anything but a win will hand the title to Arsenal. Bournemouth are still fighting for a Champions League spot for next season and will be no pushovers. There will be nerves for both teams but City have a great record against Bournemouth and I expect them to continue that with a 3-1 win.”Bournemouth 1-3 Manchester CityOli says: As Joe mentions, City have won 16 of their 17 Premier League meetings with Bournemouth. Of all the match-ups that have taken place at least 10 times in the Premier League era, this is the most one-sided. But Tuesday’s edition looks like such a difficult game for Pep Guardiola’s team as they try to take the title race to the final set of fixtures the following Sunday — Bournemouth are unbeaten in 16 matches in the league since Arsenal won 3-2 at their Vitality Stadium on January 3. If I predict a City victory, it’s with no sense of certainty. It’s a real test, just three days after the play in the FA Cup final against Chelsea, too. It will be very tight.Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester City
Manchester City lost 2-1 at Bournemouth last season – the only time they have failed to defeat them in the clubs’ 17 Premier League meetings (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)Oli’s other predictionsAston Villa vs LiverpoolIf I knew what kind of line-up Unai Emery was going to pick tonight (Friday), I would have a clearer view on this. If his Villa team had held on to win at Burnley last Sunday, which would have all but guaranteed Champions League qualification, I suspect he would have rested his entire starting XI here ahead of Wednesday’s Europa League final against Freiburg. But the race for the Champions League qualification is tight enough to make me think he will go full-strength — or close to it. And if he does, it might be Liverpool who are left clinging nervously onto fifth place.Aston Villa 2-1 LiverpoolManchester United vs Nottingham ForestUnited have taken just one point from their past four Premier League meetings with Forest, dating back to December 2023. It’s the type of miserable record United have often gently cast aside in the four months since Michael Carrick was named interim head coach. This should be another of those victories that sum up their undoubted progress under Carrick, even as certain questions linger about the way forward for them beyond this season.

Manchester United 2-1 Nottingham ForestBrentford vs Crystal PalaceCredit to Pep Guardiola for recognising Oliver Glasner’s right to prioritise Palace’s upcoming UEFA Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano. Glasner’s wrap-them-in-cotton-wool approach worked in Manchester City’s favour on Wednesday but might well work against them when Palace host Arsenal on the last matchday of the Premier League season, just three days before that final against Rayo Vallecano. The challenge for Glasner is to keep his players ticking over rather than risk losing rhythm altogether. Brentford, pushing to qualify for Europe next season, will want to capitalise on that.Brentford 2-0 Crystal Palace
Palace’s priority for the remainder of this season is the UEFA Conference League final they play in on May 27 (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)Leeds United vs Brighton and Hove AlbionLeeds have never beaten Brighton in the Premier League. Admittedly, that is only a seven-game sample size, but it’s still quite striking. They are, however, unbeaten in the league since March 4 — also only a run of seven matches, but again quite striking. In these situations, people sometimes say, “So something has to give”. But it doesn’t. This could be a draw. It really might be a draw.Leeds 1-1 BrightonWolverhampton Wanderers vs FulhamThe risk when Rob Edwards took over at Wolves last November was that, with relegation already looking inevitable, the positive energy he hoped to bring — and did bring for the first few months — might fade over the remainder of the campaign. That is how it is turning out; Wolves going down is not his fault by any means, but relations with an unhappy fanbase have already become strained. That is a concern. In that difficult atmosphere, against a team who have all but given up, this should be an away win to keep Fulham’s faint hopes of European qualification alive.Wolves 0-2 FulhamEverton vs SunderlandFrom the buoyant mood of a month ago, heading into a home Merseyside derby with genuine hopes of beating Liverpool to Champions League qualification, Everton are now five games without a win. Every one of the five has been tight, but precious points have slipped through their fingers. They too could yet get into Europe, but they’ll need to beat Sunderland. And nobody — with the exception of Nottingham Forest the other week — finds that easy.Everton 2-1 SunderlandNewcastle United vs West Ham UnitedAs much as I’m intrigued by the dynamic between Eddie Howe, his Newcastle team and the St James’ Park crowd after such a disappointing season, this one is all about West Ham. They desperately need a result on Sunday — ideally, a win — to heap the pressure back onto Tottenham, who don’t play until Tuesday, in the relegation battle. I can see West Ham scrapping for a point. I’m just not sure I see enough match-winning quality from them at the moment.Newcastle 1-1 West HamArsenal vs BurnleyFrom the very start of this season, Arsenal’s pursuit of their first Premier League title since 2004 has been a slog. How often have their supporters been able to sit back and enjoy the ride? Very rarely. But this looks like the kind of game where everything falls into place for them and a state of something approaching nirvana takes hold. Arsenal will score early on Monday night, then they’ll score again, and it will get to the point where their play is flowing more freely and irresistibly than it has all season. I’m going for a 4-0 win and, with goal difference and even goals scored potentially still a factor in this title race, I was tempted to go higher than that.Arsenal 4-0 BurnleyChelsea vs Tottenham HotspurI was at the “Battle of the Bridge” in 2016, when Chelsea, at the end of a miserable season for them as outgoing champions, found the motivation to inflict a terminal blow to Tottenham’s title hopes. It was a wild night, and it’s tempting to imagine something similarly anarchic here. These two teams have the worst disciplinary records in the Premier League — neither of them aggressive in any positive sense, but both lacking composure and prone to immaturity and recklessness when the pressure is on. The last thing Spurs, desperate for points in their attempts to avoid relegation, will want on Tuesday is for Chelsea to come out ready for a street fight.Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham

Liverpool council said an inspector has confirmed all the equipment in the play area is safe21:13, 15 May 2026Updated 21:13, 15 May 2026Swings at Everton Terrace playground(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)It’s been claimed a swing snapped as a child played on it at a new children’s play park. Parents raised concerns over a new Liverpool City Council play area on Everton Terrace after the incident which reportedly happened last weekend.The playground opened in Everton on Saturday, May 9 following an upgrade as part of the council’s programme to refresh a number of playgrounds across the city. Following Saturday’s opening, it was claimed a swing at the park had “snapped” while a young child was on it.It was also claimed a young girl suffered facial injuries, while a boy was reportedly injured following an incident with a rope swing. Parents have claimed the park was “poorly built” and are worried about their children’s safety.A spokesperson for the council said an inspector has confirmed all the equipment in the Everton Terrace play area is safe to use.One mum visiting the park with her children at the time of the incident said: “The swing snapped off with a baby inside. The baby was really hurt. A little boy got took out by the rope swings and smacked into a rock. A little girl smashed her nose off the bar.”The newly upgraded Everton Terrace playground(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)The Liverpool Echo attended the playground this morning, Friday, May 15 and there was no signs of damage.A Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: “All of our play areas are independently assessed and must pass rigorous health and safety checks before they are opened to the public. This includes stress testing all equipment.“Any reported incidents are taken extremely seriously. We have reached out via social media to understand what happened in this instance.“A play inspector has confirmed that all the equipment in Everton Terrace play area is safe to use.”Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by signing up to our daily and breaking newsletter.Sign up to our breaking news newsletter here. Follow us on X @LivECHONews or on Bluesky @liverpoolecho.co.uk – official Liverpool ECHO accounts – real news in real time.We’re also on Facebook/theliverpoolecho – your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Liverpool ECHO.Join the Liverpool ECHO Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community to receive the latest news straight to your phone by clicking here.