Premier League predictions: Chris Sutton faces Afrobeats star and Man Utd fan Maulo

The Premier League title race is only just getting started, but can anyone stop BBC football expert Chris Sutton's charge to victory when it comes to predictions?

Sutton has declared himself "the one and only" after seeing off Chesney Hawkes in the festive fixtures - the fifth successive week he has won the battle with his guests. He now leads 11-5 overall.

"Should I be handed the title now?" asked Sutton. "I think am actually nine ahead technically, because some weeks I have beaten two guests, not just one. If my lead gets to double figures, they are not coming back from that."

Sutton is making predictions for every top-flight game this season against a range of guests.

You can take him on too, using the voting buttons for each game below, and so far you have made more correct predictions than Sutton or his guests have managed from the 156 Premier League games that have been played this season.

For the latest set of fixtures, from 30 December to 1 January, he is up against Afrobeats star and Manchester United supporter Maulo.

Maulo's latest single, Roll It, was featured on Radio 1's Future Artists slot by Jack Saunders. He will be releasing a new EP alongside his debut headline show in 2023.

Maulo was one of the musicians who made World Cup predictions for the BBC. He was wrong, sadly, when he picked England to win it, but still enjoyed the tournament.

"It was the best World Cup I've ever seen," he told BBC Sport. "There were so many great games where either side could win, and then the final was absolutely amazing.

"I don't think I've ever watched a match as intense as that. It felt like no-one knew what the outcome was going to be, until the very last minute.

"Growing up, I've always been more of a Cristiano Ronaldo fan than Lionel Messi, so part of me didn't want Messi to win it. But take that out of it and it was just a brilliant game to enjoy - it's mad to think how many people were watching it around the world."

There was no shortage of entertainment either when the Premier League returned this week. Maulo no longer has Ronaldo to cheer on at United but Marcus Rashford has hit the ground running since his return from Qatar.

"Rashford has come back firing," Maulo added. "He is just a man on a mission at the moment. He was the same at the start of the season for United but he kept it up right through the World Cup and he has not stopped yet.

"He looks like he is having fun again and enjoying his football, which is great to see - especially from United's point of view.

"After a difficult start, it feels like the manager Erik ten Hag is doing a great job too.

"He's dealing with superstars and is trying to build a team so it's not realistic to expect him to just come in and have success straight away, but it really feels like we are heading in the right direction - the sky's the limit, really."

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

SUTTON'S PREDICTIONS

Games kick off at 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated

FRIDAY, 30 DECEMBER

West Ham 0-2 Brentford

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Maulo's prediction: 2-0

Liverpool 2-1 Leicester

Sutton's prediction: 3-1

Maulo's prediction: My dad is a Liverpool fan so I've watched them quite a bit. Darwin Nunez always looks like he is going to score goals. 2-0

SATURDAY, 31 DECEMBER

Wolves 0-1 Man Utd

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Maulo's prediction: I'd love to say 10-0 to United with Rashford scoring six but I'm going to try to be realistic here! We don't know how Wolves will approach this but they will be full of belief under Lopetegui so this is going to be difficult for us. I'm still going for a United win, though! 1-3

Bournemouth 0-2 Crystal Palace

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Maulo's prediction: Palace are a strange team. I've watched them quite a lot and one minute they look like they are on fire, then the next minute they are really struggling. They seem to struggle against the smaller teams but I am going to go with them to win this time. 1-2

Fulham 2-1 Southampton

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Maulo's prediction: I always used to love watching Fulham when Scott Parker was playing for them. They are doing pretty well at the moment, especially in attack with Aleksandar Mitrovic in form, but I think Southampton might surprise a few people here. 2-2

Man City 1-1 Everton

Sutton's prediction: 5-0

Maulo's prediction: There are going to be a few goals here, all of them from City and at least one by Erling Haaland. Everton have got no threat, really. 3-0

Newcastle 0-0 Leeds

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Maulo's prediction: Leeds have got a great work rate but Newcastle are doing so well and I am expecting them to carry on doing what they are doing. 2-0

Brighton 2-4 Arsenal

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Maulo's prediction: The break for the World Cup could have hurt Arsenal but they looked pretty good against West Ham. 1-2

SUNDAY, 1 JANUARY

Tottenham 0-2 Aston Villa

Sutton's prediction: 2-2

Maulo's prediction: 1-2

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Maulo's prediction: 1-0

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

How did Sutton do last time?

From the festive fixtures played between 26 and 28 December, Sutton got five correct results from 10 matches, including one exact score, giving him a total of 80 points.

He beat singer Chesney Hawkes, who also got five correct results, but with no exact scores, for a total of 50 points.

How did you get on?

Only 13% of you went for a Fulham win over Crystal Palace but, otherwise, you did pretty well with seven correct predictions.

*Win, draw, loss prediction based on highest % of vote for each match.