Sutton takes on Football Manager 27 and AI in BBC Sport prediction league
Chris Sutton went head-to-head with predictions generated by the Football Manager 27 game engine and Microsoft Copilot Chat in BBC Sport's prediction league for this weekend's Premier League fixtures, in an article published on 5 November 2026. Miles Jacobson of Sports Interactive also contributed predictions and joined Sutton in discussion with BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
Football Manager 27, which is released on 10 November, provided results from its game engine for the weekend's matches and Miles Jacobson described a new feature that allows wheelchair-using managers to be represented in the game for the first time. Jacobson said: "It's something we are really proud of." He added: "I am not a teary person, but I have to admit I had some tears in my eyes last weekend when I was watching some Instagram videos from our free trial of the game, of disabled people who just wanted to be seen, and represented." Jacobson also outlined a new training system, saying: "It reflects what happens in real life when a new manager comes into a club and does something different - it takes players a while to get used to the new tactics" and: "So, when you are the manager coming into a club, you have to decide whether to spend more time training the players in a really complicated tactic - which is going to take them a long time to learn and which means less time training them on other things - or do you start off with the basics, and build from there?" The AI predictions were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat by asking the tool to "predict this weekend's Premier League scores", and BBC Sport also invited readers to play its Match of the Day predictor game.
At Hill Dickinson Stadium, Sutton noted that promoted Coventry have three Premier League wins so far, "as many as sixth-place Brentford," and said their displays have been up and down; he expected Frank Lampard's return to his former club to produce an Everton win. Miles Jacobson forecast Everton 2-1, citing Thierno Barry's form and Everton's current defensive solidity, and said: "It's going to be a cracker of a game but I've gone with Everton to win... because their defence is so strong at the moment, and Coventry might find them harder to break down than they did Sunderland, but also because David Moyes' side are playing with a lot of confidence now." On Tottenham v Leeds, Sutton pointed out Tottenham have only lost one of the past 15 meetings with Leeds and backed Tottenham 2-1, while Miles took a 1-1 draw.
Sutton previewed Hull v Arsenal by calling Hull "scrapping for points" and predicting Arsenal would again do enough to win, giving a 2-1 scoreline. Miles also opted for 2-1, observing Arsenal have "lost a lot of their width with Bukayo Saka out injured" and that while Arsenal are often narrow they still find results. For Newcastle v Fulham Sutton said Newcastle have lost three of their past four league games and that the match feels big for manager Matthias Jaissle, while expecting Fulham at home to be too slick and well organised for Newcastle; Miles predicted 0-0 and noted he had taken Yoane Wissa out of his Fantasy team.
On Nottingham Forest v Manchester City Sutton highlighted Forest's scoring problems, saying they had "managed only six league goals in their first nine games, the lowest total in the Premier League," and that Oliver Glasner had moved from a carrot to a stick approach; Sutton still expected City to create enough chances to win. Miles predicted a 0-3 win for City. On Brighton v Brentford Sutton backed Brighton after their win over Manchester City, noting Brentford can cause problems but that Brighton were likely to come out on top; Miles forecast a 2-2 draw and praised Brighton's performances.
Sutton said Crystal Palace would be hampered by Jean-Philippe Mateta's suspension after a failed appeal and argued Liverpool, despite a poor display in midweek against Fenerbahce, would keep a clean sheet with Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola scoring; Miles picked Liverpool 0-2. Ahead of Bournemouth v Ipswich Sutton described Bournemouth as a form team and Ipswich as spirited, suggesting Ipswich could get a point; Miles went with 0-2 for Bournemouth and singled out Julio Enciso's recent form for Ipswich.
Sutton outlined Sunderland's difficulties, noting they are "conceding an average of almost two goals a game in the Premier League," and added that "Forest are the only team with fewer goals so far," explaining why Sunderland sit bottom of the table; he predicted Chelsea would score and win. For Manchester United v Aston Villa Sutton warned United remain unconvincing and backed Villa to win 1-2, forecasting "Nicolas Jackson will bag a couple and we might see more tears from Bruno Fernandes at the final whistle," a scoreline Miles also selected 1-2 for Villa.
Sutton recorded four correct results, including two exact scores, from the 10 games in week nine to reach 100 points; guest John Hannah had four correct results with no exact scores for 40 points. AI's four-week winning run ended after it got five correct results and one exact score to finish on 80 points, while BBC readers combined to claim the weekly win with five correct results, including two exact scores, for 110 points. The only game everyone predicted correctly was Chelsea's 2-0 win over Manchester United — from more than 40,000 reader predictions that scoreline was the most popular, with almost 10,000 exact selections — and readers are invited to listen to the latest Football Daily podcast.