Sutton and Arsenal fan John Hannah share Premier League predictions
Chris Sutton takes on actor and Arsenal supporter John Hannah in the latest round of Premier League predictions, with Liverpool v Arsenal the headline fixture.
BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, pitting his picks against AI, BBC Sport readers and a weekly guest. For week eight his opponent is actor John Hannah, star of the action thriller Bad Day At The Office, who has supported Arsenal since moving to London from Scotland more than 40 years ago.
Sutton framed the weekend's biggest game at Anfield around Arsenal's midweek exit from the Carabao Cup at the hands of League Two side Fleetwood Town, describing it as a humiliation at Highbury despite a strong Arsenal line-up. He said Liverpool appear to be getting it together, making Sunday a significant test for Mikel Arteta's side. Hannah, who grew up in East Kilbride, explained that he once hoped to become a footballer and compared his own playing style on the right wing to Bukayo Saka's, before acting took over. He said a 2013 film role revived his involvement in kickabouts but that an ACL injury has since restricted him to cycling and running.
Sutton said he could not see Manchester United getting anything at Chelsea given how poor they were against Bournemouth, and suggested keeping Michael Carrick in charge may only prolong the misery. Hannah drew a parallel with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's spell at United. At the other end of the table, Sutton backed Sunderland to beat Coventry in the battle of the bottom two, citing Brian Brobbey's return from injury, while Hannah was surprised by Sunderland's run but still picked them to win.
On the promoted sides, Sutton tipped Ipswich to win away at Hull despite expecting a draw, and Hannah went for a Hull victory. Sutton predicted Manchester City would beat Brighton with Erling Haaland scoring a couple, and backed Tottenham to see off Crystal Palace, whose fans he said are uncertain about boss Pierre Sage. Hannah disagreed on both, favouring Brighton to lose narrowly and Palace to win.
Hannah, whose favourite Arsenal players include Ian Wright, Tony Adams, Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas, predicted a 2-0 Arsenal win at Liverpool with Martin Odegaard making the difference, and said only City look capable of a strong title challenge if Arsenal find their form. Sutton leaned towards Liverpool edging it 1-0. Last week AI claimed the weekly win for a fourth successive round, while Sutton beat the BBC readers and his CBeebies guests.
