Chris Sutton Predicts Man United 2-1 Over Spurs And Six Outlets Repeat It With Escalating Adjectives

A Tottenham man sat down at his kitchen table at ten past seven on Friday and read Chris Sutton's prediction for the game at Old Trafford, which was that Manchester United would win 2-1. He then read it five more times before the toast had popped, on five different websites.

The Herald has traced the claim to its source, a column for BBC Sport in which Sutton said United should probably take the three points because Tottenham are "so flaky", and added that it was hard to make a case for anyone to win. Both halves of this were published. Only one half travelled.

By the second website, flaky had become fragile. By the third, Spurs were crumbling. By the fifth, the prediction was a grim warning for De Zerbi, although the scoreline had not moved and nobody had asked Sutton anything further.

Each outlet carried the same supporting material. Tottenham were winless in five, had two points, and had entered the international break bottom after the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa. The Herald can confirm these facts were accurate on all six occasions.

The news that Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke are fit followed a similar path. It was a boost at the first site, a major boost at the third, and by the sixth a defensive lifeline, which the Herald understands is a type of rope.

It's the same article. It's the same article with a different photograph at the top.

Our correspondent examined all six pages side by side at the table and found one new item across the lot, an advertisement for a mattress, which the man said he was monitoring.

He has now opened a seventh.