BBC Sport rolled out a season‑long prediction challenge that pitted pundits, AI and fans against one another. Martin Keown, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Sue Smith, Leon Osman and Jermaine Beckford all backed Mikel Arteta’s side, while the remaining experts missed the mark. The contest culminated on the final day, a tight race for the title.

Opta’s ‘supercomputer’ ran 10,000 simulations before kickoff, flagging Liverpool with a 28.5% title‑retention chance and Aston Villa fifth. Microsoft Copilot Chat, fed a simple prompt, crowned Manchester City as champions. The BBC readers, however, saw Liverpool win in a collective vote, placing Arsenal, City and Chelsea in the top four.

Unlike the 2015‑16 season, only four teams appeared in the pre‑season top‑four across all 35 predictions, mirroring last year’s real finish. The exercise also spotlighted European qualification, with pundits correctly naming Arne Slot’s side for fifth place. Manchester United and Villa slipped into the surprise package, but neither matched the pre‑season hype.

Chris Sutton’s 380‑game predictions tied with the AI on outright wins but lagged in accuracy. Fans secured 90 points from three correct results, while Sutton earned only 20. Microsoft Copilot finished fourth, claiming four correct scores but no results. The contest underscored the limits of machine modelling against human insight in football forecasting.