Sutton's predictions v Football Manager, the game

What the report says

BBC Sport Football says its weekly prediction feature pits expert Chris Sutton against Football Manager 27, BBC readers and an AI tool ahead of selected Premier League fixtures. The game’s latest edition is also being used to simulate the weekend’s results, with the published piece comparing the different forecasts and inviting readers to make their own picks. Miles Jacobson, the studio director of Sports Interactive, also took part in the discussion.

The article highlights several new Football Manager 27 features, including a broader set of customization options for managers that now includes wheelchair-using managers. Jacobson told BBC Sport that the inclusion was important for representation. He also described a new training mechanic called Tactical Effectiveness, which is designed to model how real teams need time to adapt when a manager changes tactics.

BBC Sport places the feature in the wider context of its prediction league, where AI has been leading the table. The piece uses the match previews to show how Sutton, the game and the AI differ on outcomes such as Everton vs Coventry, Leeds vs Tottenham and Arsenal vs Hull. The overall point is to combine football analysis with a preview of the upcoming release of Football Manager 27, due on 10 November.