Sutton’s predictions v Blossoms & Songer

The 145th FA Cup final takes place at Wembley on Saturday but will it be Manchester City or Chris Sutton’s old club Chelsea who get their hands on the famous old trophy?

Chelsea have not beaten City in any of their past 13 meetings but their last success against Pep Guardiola’s side came on another huge occasion, the 2021 Champions League final.

“I was at that game and Pep did not get the better of Thomas Tuchel,” said BBC Sport football expert Sutton. “He is not going to be schooled by Calum McFarlane though.”

As well as the FA Cup, Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, BBC Sport readers and a variety of guests.

For all of this weekend’s games, he takes on two Manchester City fans – frontman and guitarist Tom Ogden and drummer Joe Donovan from indie band Blossoms – and a Chelsea supporter – rapper Songer.

Blossoms’ new single, Joke About Divorce, is out. It is their first new material since their 2024 UK number one album, Gary.

Songer’s latest single, Find My Face, is out now. He has just announced his sixth studio album, What If I Say No?, which will be released in July.

Do you agree with their predictions? You can make your own below.

For the Premier League fixtures, the most popular scoreline selected for each game is used in the scoreboards and tables at the bottom of this page.

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

Some Chelsea fans are planning to protest against their owners, BlueCo, at Wembley before Saturday’s FA Cup final and Songer understands why they are so unhappy.

The rapper, whose full name is James Songer, has supported Chelsea since he was a toddler and told BBC Sport: “I’ve been disillusioned with BlueCo from the very start.

“It has been like watching a circus and it has been infuriating for the fans to be dragged into it. Our club should not be guinea pigs for their pet project.

“You won’t find a Chelsea fan who doesn’t want to win the FA Cup, but the worry is that it would validate this approach in the owners’ minds, and give them far more credit than they deserve.

“It’s been a terrible season. Without the form we were in for the first third of the campaign, we would be giving Spurs a run for their money in the relegation battle.”

Whatever happens at Wembley, Chelsea need to appoint a new permanent manager for next season. Calum McFarlane has been interim head coach since Liam Rosenior was sacked at the end of April.

“I’d love it to be Cesc Fabregas but I am living in dreamland there, because that isn’t going to happen,” added Songer. “He won’t want to leave Como.

“I’d actually like Antonio Conte back, someone like that, but I can’t see that happening either. The owners don’t seem to do well with anyone who has an ego.

“I would definitely take Xabi Alonso, whose name has been mentioned, but I think it’s most likely to be Andoni Iraola. I wouldn’t choose him but, if it is him, I will get behind him.”

There is also some managerial uncertainty at City, with speculation rife that boss Pep Guardiola could decide to step down this summer.

“We were talking about this and how looks like it could be his last season, based on how long he’s been here and with his contract up next year,” Tom told BBC Sport.

“You just have to enjoy the years we’ve had with an amazing manager like that, and it has to end at some point.”

“Everything goes in cycles,” Joe added. “You can’t focus on him leaving, you have to focus more on the amazing time we’ve had. The past 10 years have been unbelievable.

“We’ll miss him so much, of course, and you can’t replace him – there is no manager like him. But just think about what he’s won – including a Double, a Treble, and four Premier League titles in a row – and you just have to say thanks for everything you’ve done.”

Guardiola could lift another trophy on Saturday, to go with the Carabao Cup that City won in March, and they are still in the Premier League title race too.

“Winning anything is a good season,” Joe added. “Especially when you consider this is a new team.”

“Sometimes you under-estimate how hard it is to rebuild,” Tom explained. “There have been some big changes over the past couple of years.

“But we’ve got one trophy already and we could get another one on Saturday. Just to still be in the title race now is a positive too, if you think about where we were a few months ago.”

Chris Sutton, Songer, Tom Ogden and Joe Donovan were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.

The AI predictions were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat – we simply asked the tool to ‘predict the score for the FA Cup final and this weekend’s Premier League games’.

Aston Villa have got the Europa League final against Freiburg on Wednesday so what will Unai Emery do here?

The last time Villa had a big European game coming up, against Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals earlier this month, Emery made seven changes against Tottenham and his team were awful.

This time? Villa need to build a bit of momentum before they head to Istanbul, so he cannot do the same again – if he does, they will lose momentum, not build it.

Liverpool are hardly flying at the moment either, though, and like Villa they are not guaranteed a top-five finish yet.

A draw feels like the most likely outcome but making predictions at this stage of the season is almost impossible because of the different things that can skew the results. If it was down to me the predictions from the last two weeks of the season would not count towards the table.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-1

Songer’s prediction: Both teams have been struggling a bit recently but Liverpool’s momentum has completely disappeared, so I’ll go with Villa. 2-1

Tom’s prediction: I think Villa might do them. 1-0

Joe’s prediction: Are we doing combined scores? I’m happy to be competitive! 0-1

AI’s prediction: 1-2

There is no replay in the FA Cup final. The game will be decided by extra time and penalties.

Gap = league places between the two teams

Pep rested players in midweek when City beat Crystal Palace and left Erling Haaland out, much to the annoyance of Fantasy Premier League managers.

Haaland will be back in the team at Wembley, though, and he will benefit from the rest, along with the likes of Rayan Cherki.

Chelsea have been patchy all season and if they have one of their bad days, then this could get a bit messy for them.

Sutton’s prediction: 0-5

Songer on Chelsea‘s squad: We’ve got some unbelievable players and there are still new levels for them to reach. Joao Pedro for example, is such a talent, and all the way through the team there are sparks like that… but even the players who do look like they are top-level, they just seem to be lacking something when they play for us.

The same way the fans are not convinced by the owners’ strategy , it doesn’t feel like the players are buying into the project either. They just don’t seem too bothered about what is going on. The model of investing in youth is all well and good if we have got Estevao playing but now he is injured and with all due respect many of the other youngsters we’ve bought are not ready to start for one of the best clubs in the league and it just feels like, as soon as they are, they will get sold – and this will be a neverending issue.

Songer’s prediction: Despite everything that is going on at Chelsea, I am still going to back my boys. It would just be the most ‘Chelsea’ thing ever if we turn up at Wembley after being so poor for so long and give us a glimmer of hope that we are back, when we are definitely not. This is not going to be a goal fest – instead it will be very tense and very tight and I am going for to win it. 2-1

Tom: I do think City will win this if we turn up, but we have to make sure we turn up this time.

Joe: Whenever you do these predictions, you always say something like that – you are confident about every other score, except City’s!

Tom’s prediction: Pep is going to play all the big-hitters so I am pretty confident. 0-3

Joe’s prediction: I am going to be boring and agree with Tom. I can see us scoring three as well. 0-3

AI’s prediction: 1-2

This is a proper dead rubber, with Nottingham Forest safe now, and Manchester United guaranteed a Champions League spot.

That makes it harder to call but United boss Michael Carrick will still be desperate for a strong end of the season and retain the feel-good factor at Old Trafford.

Nottingham Forest won’t want to let their season just peter out, either, but the pressure is off them now and, because of that, I am backing United here – this game is more important to them than it is to Forest.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-0

Songer’s prediction: All of a sudden Old Trafford feels like a very happy place to be, which shows how quickly things can change. 2-1

Tom’s prediction: United will win this. 2-0

Joe’s prediction: Yeah I am going to say the same this time – it will keep my United fans happy. 2-0

AI’s prediction: 2-0

Crystal Palace are going to keep on prioritising the Europa Conference League – their manager Oliver Glasner has already been talking about it.

So even if Glasner does not start with an obviously weakened line-up, he is managing the minutes for his players and everything is being done with an eye on the game with Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig on 27 May.

In contrast, Brentford’s focus is on their league position and making it into Europe for the first time in their history.

Because of all that, I am backing Brentford here. Palace beat the Bees at Selhurst Park in November, but they are not getting anything on Sunday.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-0

Songer’s prediction: My missus is a Brentford fan so I very much keep an eye on them, and I am going to back them here too. 2-0

Tom’s prediction: I can see Brentford getting a good win here. 3-1

Joe’s prediction: I know Brentford are going for the Champions League but I still fancy Palace to nick this. 0-1

AI’s prediction: 2-1

These sides are both in mid-table, and they have both gone a few weeks without winning now.

Performance-wise, they have not been terrible, but their results have tailed off a bit.

Everton have shipped a few goals recently, though and I can see David Moyes wanting them to get back to keeping a clean sheet.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-0

Songer’s prediction: Everton to edge it. 1-0

Tom’s prediction: Not much excitement here. 1-1

Joe’s prediction: I’m saying Everton to win, but a boring game. 1-0

AI’s prediction: 2-0

A lot has changed about Leeds since they got thumped by Brighton at Amex Stadium in November.

This will be a lot closer, and because of that it is also a lot harder to call.

I’ve been getting my Brighton predictions wrong for most of the season and I am not exactly confident that this will be the week when that changes.

I was tempted to back the Seagulls here because they are in good form and can still make sixth spot, but Leeds are playing well too and they were unlucky not to beat Tottenham on Monday.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-1

Songer’s prediction: Both of these teams are in decent form. Leeds are safe and Brighton are in and around the European spots. 1-1

Tom’s prediction: Brighton to score but Leeds will win. 2-1

Joe’s prediction: This is Leeds’ last home game of the season and I think they take this one. 2-0

AI’s prediction: 2-1

Fulham beat Wolves comfortably at Craven Cottage earlier in the season.

Marco Silva’s side are in mid-table and, as the saying goes, ‘on the beach’ a bit… but even teams who are on the beach should beat Wolves.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-2

Songer’s prediction: Wolves have nothing to play for now. 1-2

Tom’s prediction: This their last home game of the season so I feel like Wolves might try to sign off on a high note, to give their fans…