Sutton's predictions v Johnny Marr ahead of Manchester United v Fulham

Chris Sutton and guitarist Johnny Marr faced off on BBC Sport in week four of Premier League predictions on 17 September 2026, with attention on Manchester United's trip to Fulham on Sunday before the three-week international break. Sutton warned: "For teams who have had a bad start to the season, United being one of them, it could be a horrible few weeks."

Sutton is forecasting every one of the 380 Premier League games this season against AI, BBC Sport readers and guest predictors, and for week four he went head-to-head with Manchester City fan Johnny Marr. Marr's new album, The Age Of Everything, is out on 2 October, and both men spoke to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan. The AI predictions were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat - we simply asked the tool to 'predict this weekend's Premier League scores'.

Johnny Marr reflected on Manchester City's derby win at Old Trafford, saying: "I think that derby will be remembered by City fans for a long time." He added: "We all feared the worst when Phil Foden was sent off so early, because you don't know what could happen. It should have been a yellow card for him and Bruno Fernandes anyway." Marr also praised new boss Enzo Maresca: "No-one expected Maresca to win his first four games... but then again, why not? He's shown that he's his own man with his own philosophy. I like him."

On Chelsea's clash with Brentford, Sutton judged Chelsea to be "free-scoring" but "leaking goals left, right and centre" and said Xabi Alonso's challenge was finding balance between defence and attack; he tipped a 2-2 draw. On Tottenham, Sutton questioned Roberto De Zerbi's progress despite heavy spending and said De Zerbi "has to come under scrutiny," while suggesting Aston Villa look likelier to improve and "I can see them edging this." He expected Spurs to get one goal: "Do I give Spurs their first league goal of the season? Yes, but only one."

Sutton praised Brighton's style and their summer signing Luka Vuskovic, noting: "Luka Vuskovic, who they got from Spurs for £46m in the summer, is only 19 but he strolled through the game against United." He contrasted that with Arsenal, calling them "the real deal" and saying: "I don't see any weaknesses in their team," adding that Arsenal could expose Brighton if the Seagulls go toe-to-toe. Sutton also referenced Fabian Hurzeler's previous comments about Arsenal's time-wasting as a source of edge between the sides.

On the Ipswich v Crystal Palace fixture Sutton acknowledged changing his mind last week and praised Ipswich's ambition and Gary O'Neil's approach, while still favouring Everton to win because "They have made a great start to the season to stay unbeaten so far and, under David Moyes, they are a battle-hardened, resolute and well-organised outfit." Regarding Hull, Sutton described them as strong defensively and dangerous on the break and said he would tip them not to lose this time, admitting a superstition: "Apologies in advance to Tigers fans, because this happened with me and Sunderland last season."

Sutton assessed Coventry's early away fixtures as difficult and noted Nottingham Forest's momentum under Oliver Glasner, congratulating Forest striker Liam Delap: "Well done to Forest striker Liam Delap by the way, who got his first goal for them in last week's win at Aston Villa." He added a personal anecdote about Delap's market value and his own: "By the way, Delap scored one league goal for Chelsea, same as me, but his price went up by £20m, from £30m to £50m. My value went down by almost 50% when I left Stamford Bridge - from £10m to £6m."

The week's prediction scoreboard produced mixed results: Chris Sutton and guest Marc White both recorded four correct results with no exact scores, giving them 40 points each, while the AI reached 60 points by nailing Brentford's exact 2-2 draw and two other correct results. BBC Sport readers took the weekly win for the first time this season, moving from bottom to level on points with Chris at the top of the predictions table; they had one exact scoreline (Arsenal's 2-0 win at Sunderland) and four correct results for a total of 40 points. From more than 33,000 predictions, just under 30,000 (91%) favoured a Liverpool win at Anfield, fewer than 2,000 backed any draw and only 390 predicted the correct 0-0 scoreline.

You can make your own selections in BBC Sport's new Match of the Day predictor game, which runs every week and features six fixtures from domestic and European competitions. The site's most popular scoreline for each match is used in the on-page scoreboards and tables, and a correct result is worth 10 points while the exact score earns 40 points.