Sutton faces Starsailor frontman James Walsh as Anfield watches City verdict
October 8, 2026 23:31
Premier League leaders Manchester City were found guilty of breaking the majority of the 115 financial rules they were accused of breaching, and all eyes will be on Anfield on Sunday to see how City react. "Everyone is looking at this game to see if City's players appear deflated and how much it will affect them. We don't know what the implications are for this season, either. They are top of the league at the moment but will they get a massive points deduction that changes that?"
PREDICTIONS DUEL
Jonathan Sutton continues his season-long run predicting all 380 Premier League fixtures. For week six he goes up against James Walsh, frontman of Starsailor and a Liverpool supporter. Starsailor have released a 25th anniversary edition of their debut album, Love Is Here, and are touring the record this month with a string ensemble.
Walsh on Liverpool
Walsh told BBC Sport he is "optimistic about winning some silverware under new manager Andoni Iraola." He urged patience: "You have to be realistic whenever a new manager comes in, especially with the big signings we made last year, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, not hitting the ground running." He added: "I don't see us winning the title but I'd be more than happy with the FA Cup or even the Carabao Cup, and having a good run in Europe." On the scale of expectation he said: "It's a bit greedy but of course you do like to see your team win something every season. Three more trophies like in 2001 would be pretty good!"
Wider match picks
The AI predictions featured on the page were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat. Sutton previewed Arsenal's home game with Leeds, noting Brighton's recent victory over Arsenal before the international break and suggesting the fixture will show how Arsenal have recovered. He backed Arsenal to win at home but expected a closer game than before. James Walsh made an outlier pick for that match, predicting a 1-1 draw.
ADDITIONAL CONTEXT
- Starsailor's Love Is Here reached number two in the UK album charts in 2001, has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide and has amassed more than 56 million streams on Spotify.
- When Love Is Here was released, Liverpool had just completed a treble of FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.
- The most popular scoreline selected for each game is used in the scoreboards and tables on the page. A correct result pick is worth 10 points and the exact score earns 40 points.