Football Expert Chris Sutton’s Premier League Predictions Challenged by Darts Star Stephen Bunting

On Sunday, Manchester City and Manchester United will face each other at Etihad Stadium, with both teams seeking an improvement in their current performance. Chris Sutton, BBC Sport’s football expert, remarked, “Has there ever been a more miserable Manchester derby? I don’t think so.” He added, “Knowing Manchester, it will probably be raining. There are certainly clouds over both clubs at the moment anyway.” Sutton is providing predictions for all 380 Premier League matches throughout the current season, engaging with various guests. For week 16, his challenger is darts professional Stephen Bunting, a known Liverpool supporter. Bunting, currently ranked eighth in the Professional Darts Championship (PDC) order of merit, is scheduled to compete against either Alan Soutar or Kai Gotthardt in the second round of the PDC World Championship. This tournament commences on Sunday at London’s Alexandra Palace. Readers are invited to submit their own scores and compare them with the experts’ predictions. The most frequently chosen score for each match is incorporated into the scoreboards and tables located at the conclusion of the page. Stephen Bunting was seen celebrating his victory in the Cazoo Masters final in February. He secured the BDO World Championship title in 2014 and advanced to the PDC World Championship semi-finals in 2021. Beyond his status as a top darts player globally, Bunting is recognized for his passion for collecting vintage football stickers. Bunting shared with BBC Sport, “I collected them when I was a kid and used to get really excited when I got a shiny, like the Liverpool badge.” He continued, “It sort of disappeared out of my life for a while but then I stumbled across the ‘Paolo Panini’ TikTok channel. I started collecting all the old cards again and I’ve got some really good ones. Not long back I picked up an Andres Iniesta autograph card which is worth between £3,000 and £5,000.” He also noted, “It’s not just football – there is a Panini collection of darts cards out now that I have just got my hands on too, so I am going to unpack them on my YouTube channel.” While Bunting is known for discovering rare and valuable cards, stickers featuring Chris Sutton are unfortunately not considered either. Bunting’s expert opinion was, “He’d have to pay me to take one of those off him.” The article notes that some vintage stickers command thousands of pounds, but these particular ones do not. Bunting is a dedicated Liverpool supporter, following the team globally. He clarified, “A lot of my family were Blues but my dad was a massive Liverpool fan.” He added, “He started taking me to matches when I was five or six.” Bunting recounted, “He got me a ‘dad and lads’ season ticket when I was younger but unfortunately we had to give it up because of my darts, and now trying to get on the waiting list for a season ticket is almost impossible.” He continued, “I still get to some games now, and it is always special to go to Anfield but when I am playing in tournaments I have to settle for watching them on my phone.” Reflecting on the team’s current performance, he stated, “We are doing so well at the moment, which is such a pleasant surprise.” He further commented, “Filling Jurgen Klopp’s boots was always going to be difficult, but what Arne Slot has done so far is nothing short of a miracle. There is no way I thought we would be fighting at the front and top of the Premier League at this stage. It is still too early in the season to predict whether we are going to win it, but we have looked unbelievable so far.” Chris Sutton and Stephen Bunting provided their comments to Chris Bevan of BBC Sport. **Arsenal 0-0 Everton** Regarding the Arsenal vs. Everton match, Sutton noted that Arsenal controlled their previous draw against Fulham but lacked significant open-play creation. He expressed slight disappointment with Mikel Arteta’s team despite Fulham’s strong organization. Martin Ode