Forget Liverpool against Everton or Arsenal taking on Manchester City, the big fixture this weekend is Chris Sutton versus AI chatbot Copilot.
Sutton claimed on this week’s Monday Night Club that he is “more intelligent than AI” and the stats do support him, at least when it comes to football scores anyway.
He is top of the BBC predictions league table (see bottom of page) so far, with three wins in the first four weeks – and he has beaten AI every time.
“I am 4-0 up on AI – I don’t know if it feels pressure, but it should,” Sutton said. “Also, why is it not going to the best source? That’s me. if it wants to do better, maybe it should start copying me?”
AI, however, does not agree that Sutton has superior intelligence, and seems to suggest that it is a bit early for him to be celebrating.
When asked ‘are you worried that Chris Sutton is cleverer than you?’ Copilot replied “not in the slightest”.
And when asked ‘is Chris Sutton better at football predictions than you?’, it also responded confidently.
“Over time, AI tends to improve as it absorbs more data and refines its models,” Copilot said.
It added: “Short term: Sutton’s instincts and experience can give him an edge, especially in unpredictable fixtures.
“Long term: AI may outperform with consistency and breadth, especially across hundreds of matches.”
We will find out who is best, humans or machine, over the course of this season because Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games in 2025-26, taking on BBC Sport readers and a variety of guests as well as AI.
For week five, he takes on some famous fans of Liverpool and Everton, before the 247th Merseyside derby at Anfield on Saturday.