How to Play PLPredictor

PLPredictor is a free Premier League score prediction game. You predict the exact scoreline of every match in a gameweek before it kicks off, and score points for how close you get.

A season is 38 gameweeks, usually around 10 matches each. Points build up all season, and whoever has the most at the end of 2026/27 wins the PLPredictor crown.

Everyone plays in the Global League against every other player. Most of the fun is in private leagues though — your own table, for you and your friends.

There are two ways to score, and you get one or the other — never both.

An exact score is worth 40, not 50 — it replaces the 10 for the result, it doesn't add to it.

Goals are capped at 7. A prediction can't go above 7, and results are compared at 7 too — so if you predict 7-0 and it finishes 9-0, that counts as an exact score.

These two numbers change what people pick, not just what they score: 1-1 pays the same 10 as 0-0 and lands about twice as often, so hardly anybody predicts 0-0. There is a study of what 1.2 million predictions did with this scoring, across seven seasons.

Once every gameweek you can play a joker on one match, which doubles whatever that match returns. Pick the prediction you're most confident about: a jokered exact score is worth 80 points.

You can move the joker freely until the match you've put it on kicks off. After that it's locked — you can't move it, and you can't take it off.

You don't have to use it, but there's no reason not to. It costs nothing and can only add points.

Everyone is entered into the Global League when they sign up. It's every player on the site in one table.

Private leagues

Create your own league and invite whoever you like — mates, family, the group chat. There's no limit on how many leagues you can be in.

To create one, go to Leagues and choose MANAGE LEAGUES.

Jokers in private leagues

A league admin can switch joker points off for their league, if they'd rather rank everyone on base points. The joker always counts in the Global League either way.

League vs league

Leagues also compete against each other, scored each week on the average of their active members. Two things about that are worth knowing:

• Leagues with fewer than three members aren't included at all.
• If fewer than three of your members predict in a given week, the total is still divided by three — so a quiet week costs the league. Getting everyone to predict matters as much as predicting well.

Two players who can't be separated aren't separated. Level on points is a shared place, not a coin toss.

League tables

Anyone level on points gets the same place, and the place below skips to make room — so a table reads 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 4th. That holds right to the top: two players level on the final day are joint champions, and both get the winner's trophy.

There is no countback on exact scores, jokers, or anything else. Points are the only thing that separates two players.

A league that has switched joker points off is ranking on different numbers, so two players can be level there and split in the Global League on the same day. Each table ranks on the points that table counts.

Winning a gameweek

Everybody who hits the top score in a gameweek wins it. There is no separating them — they all go into the Hall of Fame for that week, and they all get the trophy. It happens more than you'd think: about one week in five has more than one winner.

The Hall of Fame board

The all-time board is the one place a real countback is needed — "most weeks won" on its own would leave dozens of players level. It goes:

1. Weeks won
2. Best single week
3. Total points across the weeks they won

All three are columns on the page, so you can always see why you sit where you do. Anyone still level on all three shares the place, and it's shown with an = in front of it.

League vs league

Leagues level on their weekly average share a rank, exactly as players do.

Send a link

Open your league and use the invite link — something like plpredictor.com/j/1EKG. Send it to whoever you want in the league.

Whoever taps it ends up inside your league, whatever state their account was in when they tapped. If they're already a player they join straight away; if they're new, they land back in your league once they've signed up. They never have to find the league themselves.

Or share the code

Every league also has a short invite code, shown on the league table. Anyone with it can join by going to Leagues → MANAGE LEAGUES → JOIN, and entering it. The link is easier — pasting the whole link into that box works too.

A league of one isn't much of a league — it's worth sending the link. If you're the one setting it up for everybody, there's a guide to running a league.

Start a Premier League predictor league — it's free

Live predictions

Once a match kicks off, everyone's predictions for it become visible on the Results page, updating live alongside the real score. Watching someone's brave 4-0 fall apart in real time is most of the point.

Predictions are only ever revealed after kickoff, so nobody can see what you've entered in time to copy it.

You choose which league's predictions you see from your Account page.

Reactions

You can react to a rival's prediction with an emoji — long-press their row on the Results page, or tap the + on it. The same emoji again takes it back, a different one replaces it.

When someone reacts to yours, you'll get a notification on the bell in the top bar. If you'd rather not have any of it, you can turn reactions off on your Account page.

PLPredictor Ai

PLPredictor Ai predicts every gameweek from a statistical model, and plays in the Global League like anyone else. It has finished in the top 8.3% of the league in all seven seasons it's run — twice in the top 1%.

It is beatable, and beating it over a season is a decent measure of a good one. Look for the next to a name to spot it in a table.

Hall of Fame

The highest scorer of every gameweek goes into the Hall of Fame, which goes back to 2019/20. Win a week and you'll be told, with a page you can share with people who don't even have an account.

Trophies

Trophies land on your public profile automatically: for winning a gameweek, for where you finish in each league at the end of a season, and for being the best predictor of a particular club's matches. You can hide any you'd rather not display.

Team expert ribbons

Ribbons are for reading one club well. Every club has its own table of who predicts its matches best, and the top 99 wear a ribbon in that club's colours on their profile.

The table is ranked on your average points per match of theirs you've predicted — so it rewards accuracy, not volume, and it counts every season you've played, not just this one. You need 30 of a club's matches predicted before you're eligible, and until you've predicted around two seasons' worth of them a small handicap applies, so a long record beats a hot run of ten.

The ribbon gets taller and grander the higher you go, and the top three carry a crown. Every club's table is rebuilt each week, and you're told when you climb a tier — not every time your rank shifts a place. Slipping a tier passes without comment; losing the ribbon altogether doesn't.

Your stats

Your stats page breaks down how you predict club by club — which teams you read well, and which ones keep catching you out.

Is PLPredictor free?

Yes. The game is free, there are no ads, and no feature is behind a payment. Running costs are covered by voluntary donations.

When can I make my predictions?

Any time up until a match kicks off. Once a match is under way its prediction is locked and cannot be changed. You do not have to predict a whole gameweek at once - each match locks on its own kickoff.

What happens if I miss a prediction? Do I get 0-0 automatically?

No. A missed prediction is simply void and scores nothing. This was put to a player vote, and voiding was judged fairer than entering a score nobody chose.

What happens if the match I jokered is postponed or cancelled?

If the gameweek has matches still to kick off, you can move the joker to one of them. If there are none left, it is moved automatically to the last eligible fixture of the gameweek when points are calculated.

When do points and league tables update?

Within about five minutes of the last final whistle of a match day. Points move once per match day rather than after each individual match, so a full Saturday is scored together once the last game that day has finished.

What happens if two players finish level on points?

They share the place. A table reads 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, and two players level at the end of a season are joint champions with a trophy each. There is no countback on exact scores - points are the only thing that separates two players.

What are the ribbons on a player's profile?

Team expert ribbons. Every club has its own table of who predicts its matches best, ranked on your average points per match of theirs, and the top 99 wear a ribbon in that club's colours. The higher you rank the better the ribbon, from Tipster at the bottom up to Oracle for the top three.

Is PLPredictor the same as the BBC Predictor?

It is a continuation of it. The BBC discontinued its predictor game, and PLPredictor uses the same core rules - 10 points for the right result, 40 for the exact score - with private leagues, a double-points joker, live rival predictions, trophies and a hall of fame added on top.

Can I beat the prediction bot?

Often, yes. PLPredictor Ai predicts every gameweek using a statistical model, and has finished inside the top 8.3% of the global league in all seven seasons it has run - consistently good, and beaten by plenty of human players every season.

Do I have to play with the double points joker?

In the global league, yes - the joker always counts there. In a private league it is the league admin's choice: they can switch joker points off for their league, and everyone in it is then ranked on base points alone.

How do I renew my league for a new season?

Only the league admin can renew. On the Leagues page choose MANAGE LEAGUES, then RENEW LAST SEASONS, and pick the league from the list. Everyone who was in it last season is added back automatically the next time they log in.

Can I play on my phone?

Yes. The site works in any mobile browser, and can be installed to your home screen from your browser menu so it opens like an app.