Sutton and actor John Hannah make Premier League week eight predictions after Arsenal cup shock
Chris Sutton faced actor John Hannah to predict the Premier League's week eight results after Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two side Fleetwood Town at Highbury on Tuesday, in a BBC Sport piece published on 29 October 2026. Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season and this week’s contest pits him against Hannah, who is an Arsenal fan.
Arsenal's midweek exit prompted Sutton to say: "Arsenal put a pretty strong team out but were humiliated by Fleetwood, and at Highbury too," and he added: "Liverpool seem to be getting it together so this will be a big test for Mikel Arteta's side after the week they have had." Hannah, star of the action thriller Bad Day At The Office, which opens in UK and Irish cinemas from 30 October, joined Sutton for the predictions; the two were speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan. The article notes the AI predictions were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat by asking it to 'predict this weekend's Premier League scores'.
Sutton highlighted the spotlight on Manchester United because of Michael Carrick's position, saying: "Everyone will be watching this game because of Michael Carrick's situation at Manchester United, and wondering how much longer he will be in charge." The piece records that Carrick kept his job after heavy defeats against Como and Bournemouth the previous week. Sutton reviewed Chelsea's recent form and cup exit to Liverpool, and noted Xabi Alonso is without the injured Joao Pedro; he expected Danny Welbeck to lead Chelsea's attack and Cole Palmer to return from suspension. John Hannah predicted Manchester United would lose 3-1.
On Bournemouth's run and Leeds' structure Sutton pointed to Bournemouth's consecutive wins over Aston Villa, Manchester United and AC Milan as evidence they were "flying at the moment," while saying Leeds were "extremely well structured" even if not scoring freely; John Hannah forecasted a 2-2 draw. Sutton said Nottingham Forest had failed to take chances against Ipswich and remained desperate for a win; he described Brentford as a side that often draws. Hannah commented that "Brentford at home will maybe give them an edge."
Sutton assessed the relegation-battle fixture at the Coventry Building Society Arena and backed Sunderland, citing Brian Brobbey's return from injury as a positive; John Hannah also put Sunderland down for a win, predicting 0-2. On the promoted sides, Hannah backed Hull to beat Ipswich, saying "Hull are doing really well," and giving that match a 2-0 scoreline. For Manchester City's meeting with Brighton, Sutton expected goals and flagged Erling Haaland as a likely scorer, while Hannah's prediction for that game was 3-1 to City.
Sutton previewed Crystal Palace's Carabao Cup progress and the pressure on manager Pierre Sage, and he tipped Tottenham to find another result; John Hannah's prediction for Palace v Spurs was 0-1. On Fulham v Aston Villa Sutton expected Villa and striker Nicolas Jackson to produce goals, while Hannah gave that fixture a 0-0 scoreline. Discussing Liverpool v Arsenal, Sutton noted Liverpool had tightened defensively and referenced last season's 1-0 outcome from a Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick, saying he expected a similar one-goal match with a different winner; Hannah predicted Arsenal to win 0-2.
Hannah spoke about his own footballing background and Arsenal allegiance, saying: "I'd like to compare myself to Bukayo Saka," and recalling childhood ambitions in East Kilbride and friends such as Rangers legend Ally McCoist who went on to professional careers. He described his later sports limitations: "Not anymore though - since then I have snapped my ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] which has put paid to football and a lot of sport. It is really just cycling and running for me now." On the title race Hannah offered his view in a segment labelled "John's title prediction": "I don't actually think we have clicked yet this season and if we find our gear then it is going to be hard to stop us. I don't see anyone other than City putting together a strong challenge." He also listed his favourite Arsenal players: "Ian Wright, Tony Adams and then Thierry Henry stand out of course but, after that, I was always a big fan of Cesc Fabregas. Santi Cazorla was fantastic too - he was Arsenal through and through - so skilful and so committed."
Chris Sutton finished week eight with five correct results, including two exact scores, earning 110 points, which beat the BBC readers' tally of 100 points from four correct results and two exact scores. The AI entry won the week for the fourth consecutive time with five correct results and three exact scores for 140 points. The only fixture everyone predicted correctly was Arsenal's 2-0 win over Everton, which was the most popular exact score from around 28,000 predictions, with more than 11,500 people selecting it exactly.
