Premier League predictions: Chris Sutton v Royal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher - & AI

Defending champions Arsenal made an impressive start to the season against newly promoted Coventry but face a tougher test against Aston Villa on Monday.

But with the number of outgoings at Villa Park, will it be another eye-opener for Unai Emery's men after last week's heavy defeat by Brighton?

BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton thinks so.

"There's only one winner with this," he said.

"Aston Villa had a slow start last season, they have lost big players and I just think Arsenal are going to run all over teams this season.

"I think they are going to get better and better which is ominous for everybody else."

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

For week two, he takes on drummer Ben Thatcher from rock band Royal Blood.

Royal Blood's latest single, Ten Over Ten, is out now. It is taken from their fifth studio album, Dead Company, which is released in November.

Do you agree with their scores? You can pick your own below.

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.

Want to make more predictions? You can play BBC Sport's new Match of the Day predictor game every week, featuring six fixtures from domestic and European competitions.

Ben is a lifelong Brighton fan who is feeling optimistic about the new season despite seeing more star players like striker Danny Welbeck and defender Jan Paul van Hecke leave the club this summer.

"We loved Danny, because he really fitted into our style of play and he had such a great season last year," Ben told BBC Sport.

"We will miss Van Hecke at the back too, but the thing with Brighton is that we always bounce back. We always come through with the players we bring in that I've never heard of, but they get given this chance.

"I just trust in [Brighton owner] Tony Bloom. He knows better than anyone about these things, because he has done it so many times before.

"He has sold so many world-class players to other clubs and we have nurtured so many great players to replace them.

"So, I don't feel there is any need to worry right now. Just put the trust in the club and see how we get on.

"It's great to be back in Europe [in the Europa Conference League] but with us potentially playing so many more games, I don't expect us to get there again through our league position this time.

"But my hope is that we won't drop into the bottom half of the table. My thinking is that, as long as we finish in the top 10 again and have a good go at Europe, then that's a great season."

Chris Sutton and Ben Thatcher were speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.

The AI predictions were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat - we simply asked the tool to 'predict this weekend's Premier League scores'.

Brighton are off to a flying start and it was a great opening result and performance by Xabi Alonso's Chelsea, winning the west London derby against Fulham.

Chelsea have got some talented players and, because they've got no European football, they're going to have a good crack in the Premier League this season.

What interested me against Fulham is Chelsea didn't have a lot of possession, but they were effective when they did have possession.

But Brighton are just one of those teams. I don't think I predicted a single Brighton result right last season they're just impossible to call.

I really like Jack Hinshelwood he's such an exciting young player and there's a good history with his family in football and connection to Brighton.

But I'm going to say Chelsea carry on this run and get the three points.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Ben's prediction: I have to go with my team. It is going to be close - well, actually I don't know if it will be close... but I have just got to go with it. 1-2

Ben on which Brighton players will shine this season: We have managed to hang on to Bart Verbruggen, which was massive, and we have still got Georginio Rutter, who scored an amazing goal in pre-season against Roma, and then there is also Yasin Ayari.

But I've heard some amazing things about our Greek players Charalampos Kostoulas and Stefanos Tzimas, who we did not see much of last season. They will be like new signings for us.

AI's prediction: 2-1