Sutton's Premier League predictions pit expert against Kasabian's Pizzorno

Chris Sutton has built a peculiar kind of authority over the past two weeks: he is beating artificial intelligence at predicting football matches. After week two, the BBC Sport expert had accumulated 160 points to AI's 100, and he is not shy about enjoying the advantage. "It's not how you start the weekend, it's how you finish it," he said. "I am burying AI at the moment, which is a lovely feeling."

This week, Sutton faces a different sort of challenger. Serge Pizzorno, frontman of the band Kasabian, has stepped in as guest predictor for week three of the season. Pizzorno is a Leicester City fan—a position that has required considerable emotional fortitude over the past decade. Since Leicester won the Premier League title in 2016, their supporters have endured a Champions League quarter-final run, an FA Cup and Community Shield triumph, promotion from the Championship, and three separate relegations, the most recent sending them down to League One last season. Pizzorno's hope for this year is unambiguous: promotion back up. "It has to be," he said. "I love the play-offs, so a win at Wembley would do me." Leicester took their first step toward that goal by beating Plymouth on Tuesday, though Pizzorno acknowledged that Russell Martin's young squad will need time to find their rhythm in the third tier.

The centerpiece of this weekend's Premier League action is the collision between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Both teams have won their opening two matches without conceding a goal, which means one of them will leave with their perfect record intact and the other will not. Sutton sees Chelsea's attacking creativity—Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, and Joao Pedro all capable of producing moments of brilliance—as insufficient to overcome their defensive fragility. He predicts Arsenal will win 3-1. "I suspect Chelsea will give Arsenal lots of the ball and try to counter-attack quickly," Sutton explained, "but the fact they are vulnerable at the back could undermine them." What makes Arsenal particularly difficult to break down, in Sutton's view, is their tactical flexibility. They demolished Manchester City in the Community Shield with flowing possession football, then ground out a win at Aston Villa through sheer organisation. They can play multiple ways and still impose their will.

Elsewhere on the weekend, Newcastle host Bournemouth on Saturday lunchtime. Newcastle have collected four points from their first two games and appear to have shifted the mood at St James' Park despite losing several key players over the summer. Sutton has been impressed by Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa's resurgent confidence, and he sees Nico Gonzalez as a shrewd addition to a youthful midfield. Still, Bournemouth are dangerous—they have let leads slip away in both their matches so far, against Manchester City and Everton, and Marco Rose's team likes to play on the front foot. Sutton predicts a 2-1 home win.

Manchester City face Coventry City at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon, a fixture that tells two entirely different stories. City have begun brilliantly under Enzo Maresca, including a comeback victory over Bournemouth that felt like the start of a new era. Coventry, by contrast, have been dreadful. Their opening loss to Arsenal was forgivable, but a 1-0 home defeat to promoted Hull last weekend was genuinely deflating. Sutton believes City will dominate this encounter. He has also noted that Maresca has rebuilt City's midfield with significant investment, including the £125 million signing of Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea. "I said before the Bournemouth game I didn't think they could win the title without Rodri," Sutton said, "but they have rebuilt their midfield now with Fernandez and Ayyoub Bouaddi joining Elliot Anderson as new signings, and they have got real strength in there now." Sutton predicts City 3-0. Pizzorno, more bullish, sees a 4-0 rout.

Tottenham present a puzzle that has frustrated Sutton. Roberto de Zerbi arrived at the club with a reputation built on beautiful, organised football at Brighton, yet his Spurs side has produced two insipid performances without scoring or winning a point. De Zerbi has blamed fitness and pre-season scheduling, but Sutton is unconvinced. Other clubs with new managers and new players look far more organised. "We still don't know what his Spurs team are about, even though they have spent an absolute fortune on players," Sutton said. He expects Nottingham Forest, who have been unlucky in their first two matches, to hold Tottenham to a draw at the City Ground.

Liverpool travel to Ipswich on Friday evening to face a team that has spent nearly £200 million on new signings and shows no intention of merely defending. Ipswich beat Sunderland at home on the opening weekend and will approach Liverpool with genuine ambition. Sutton worries about Liverpool's defensive solidity as they adjust to Andoni Iraola's front-foot pressing style, but he expects their attacking quality to prevail after two successive 2-2 draws. He predicts Ipswich 1-2. The weekend concludes with Arsenal versus Chelsea, a fixture that will determine whether either team can maintain their perfect start into September.