- The Premier League final table has been predicted by Opta’s supercomputer
- New champions have been tipped to lift the Premier League title this season
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The Premier League’s expected points table for this season has been revealed after a supercomputer made thousands of predictions and discovered some surprising results.
Liverpool are tops heading into the second international break of the season, with new boss Arne Slot enjoying a dream start to his managerial reign at Anfield.
Manchester City and Arsenal follow closely behind with just one point separating the top three teams after seven games, while Chelsea played a starring role under Enzo Maresca.
During Erik ten Hag’s third season at Manchester United, they were expected to aim for the title, but instead they have endured their worst ever start to a Premier League season and remain fourteenth in the standings.
But, Optas supercomputer has crunched the numbers and predicted that while some clubs are performing as expected, other clubs might consider themselves lucky to be as high as they are.
The Premier League’s expected current positions have been revealed after a supercomputer made thousands of predictions
Liverpool are currently top of the table going into the international break – which fits in with Opta’s statistics
Pep Guardiola could see Man City’s grip on the title coming to an end, while Opta’s current expected points table has them in fourth place
Chelsea have been the surprise package of the league this season and could end up in second place
The expected points model uses statistics from the season to date to simulate where each of the 20 competing teams should sit based on the expected goals value (xG) of each shot taken, simulating each match 10,000 times.
The computer model has picked Liverpool as the frontrunners going into the international break based on their performance so far, in a rare case where reality matches the data provided.
Chelsea – spurred on by Cole Palmer’s sensational goalscoring form – might find it difficult to find themselves in fourth place, while Opta are in second place according to the expected points table.
Should the Blues live up to expectations, chasing the league leaders would represent an excellent result for Maresca after a turbulent few years at the club.
The Blues are currently predicted to be above their London rivals Arsenal, while Mikel Arteta’s side – who sit third in the table – are eighth in the table according to Opta’s statistics, after a series of bitter clashes that saw the Gunners eventually escape.
The statistics show that Pep Guardiola’s City team have dropped from second to third place, with Tottenham fourth and Aston Villa fifth.
Fulham and Bournemouth can be backed after a strong start to the season, with both improving their positions based on the data from eighth to sixth (Fulham) and as much as thirteenth to seventh, in the case of the Cherries.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping Arsenal can win the league title, but the expectation is that he will now sit mid-table
Man United’s disastrous start to the new Premier League season seems somewhat unfair
Equally dissatisfied could be Manchester United, who could reach 10th if they live up to their xG metrics.
At the other end of the table, Wolves, Leicester and Ipswich occupy the relegation places, with the two promoted sides probably counting their blessing that these places actually belong to Crystal Palace and Southampton.