It’s going to be close, really close. Super Bowl predictions often indicate the same in the days immediately before the big event. This year it’s either the New England Patriots or the Seattle Seahawks that will walk away with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

One thing’s for certain: fans here will be glued to their screens on Sunday.

“It is going to be tight,” said Bermuda resident Michael Baldwin, a Patriots fan from the Boston area. “Both teams have great defences. I will lean towards the Patriots winning because they have worked so well this year with the new players and coaching staff.”

He plans to watch the game at Flanagan’s Irish Pub on Front Street.

“There’s a big group of expatriates who rally at Flanagan’s on the weekend,” he said. “I will be watching with them.”

Another Patriots fan, Kara Simmons, also thought they had a good fight on their hands.

“The Seattle Seahawks are a good team,” she said. “We can’t underestimate them because they are the reigning Super Bowl champions. However, I do feel my team has a lot of fire under them. You don’t want to make [quarterback] Tom Brady mad.”

The 27-year-old has been a Patriots fan as long as she can remember.

“I am Bermudian, but my mother is from New England,” said Ms Simmons, manager of Docksider Pub and Restaurant on Front Street. “My father took me to my first Patriots game, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, when I was three years old.

“We are planning a big Super Bowl party at Docksiders. I will be watching the game as I work.”

Stephanie Lewis is a huge Seahawks fan. She said she would be rooting hard for her team, but feared hers might be the lone voice.

“There are a lot of Patriots fans in Bermuda,” she said. “I usually have a Super Bowl party at my house, but this year my friend is holding one. There will be a few Seahawks fans there. I hate the Patriots with a passion.”

The cheating allegations didn’t help, Ms Lewis added.

The Patriots were accused of under-inflating footballs at the AFC Championships this month. The move would have made it easier for the team to throw and receive their ball in rainy conditions. The controversy became known as Deflate-gate. It’s still under investigation.

“The Patriots are pretty obnoxious,” said Miss Lewis.

But she admitted her reasons for liking the Seahawks weren’t all that deep. She liked the Seahawks colours — lime green and blue — and that quarterback, Russell Wilson went to her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin.

Said Mr Baldwin of the cheating allegations: “It could be hype. It could be propaganda. No one knows. Even the coaches have said we aren’t getting the full story. It feels like the whole country is against the New England Patriots.”

Mikaela Pearman wasn’t letting controversy sway her feelings. The 29-year-old has been a Patriots fan since her family moved from Bermuda to Massachusetts when she was 12.

“I grew up watching Boston sports teams,” she said. “For years, the Patriots weren’t the best team, but then in the early 2000s, everything changed when we won the Super Bowl in 2001, 2003 and 2004. The atmosphere in New England was electric back then.”

She planned to watch the game at a cousin’s house.

“We haven’t won a Super Bowl in more than a decade now,” she said.

“For Tom Brady, it’s pretty much now or never.

“He’s 37 so he’s close to the end of his career and needs to prove that he’s still an amazing quarterback. But the Seahawks are a younger team and they won last year, so who knows.”

American Gary Young lived in Boston in the 1970s before moving to Bermuda.

“I have been a Patriots fan since I lived in New England,” he said. “I have been through the bad years as well as the more recent good ones. Me and my friends would meet at each other’s homes and watch the games while dining on the traditional favourites.

“This Sunday I will still enjoy my favourite foods thanks to my lovely wife, Sheena, but will be texting my mates in Boston during the game. I will also be wearing my Patriots jersey and the same clothes I wore during their last two wins.”

Jenna Martin, who is originally from Washington State, said there is so much excitement back at home about the Super Bowl that she feels a bit left out watching it from Bermuda.

“Everything on Facebook, from my friends back home, is about the Seahawks,” she said. “There is so much excitement. Here, not everyone can get the game on Cable.

“If you want to watch it with a group you have to pick the best bar, so that’s probably what we will do. We haven’t decided where yet.”

She is hoping the Seahawks will win but knows they are in for a battle.

“Both teams seem to be pretty strong,” she said.