We’re halfway through the Premier League season and the table is starting to take shape. Arsenal are sitting at the top, Newcastle are in the third, Fulham are flying in sixth, Chelsea are languishing in 10th while Southampton are propping up the table. The analysts over at Opta have worked out where each team is most likely to finish and here's the final outcome.
20th - BOURNEMOUTH (36.5%)
Nothing new here. Bournemouth are likely to get promoted, spend little to no money and get relegated after sacking the manager mid-season.
19th - EVERTON (22.9%)
Everton Football Club will be relegated from the Premier League. The Toffees find themselves in a sticky situation and may have to adapt to life in the Championship next season.
18th - SOUTHAMPTON (16.9%)
Nathan Jones has looked good in spells but ultimately it won’t be enough. Having flirted with relegation for a few years Saints are predicted to return to whence they came. There’s only so many free-kicks James Ward-Prowse can score in a season.
READ MORE:
- Pre-season Premier League predictions 22/23
- Why Zaha should stay at Crystal Palace
- Premier League odds with Betfred*
17th - WOLVES (13.7%)
By the finest of margins they are going to survive. Tipped by our very own Simon Lillicrap to be relegated, Opta are kinder and give Wolves another chance to get it right.
16th - LEEDS UNITED (14.4%)
Marsching on together, Leeds United will live to fight another day. A young side with plenty of potential, there’s reason to be optimistic as a Leeds fan but it’s not without stress.
15th - WEST HAM UNITED (14.7%)
Will David Moyes still be in charge this summer? The Hammers spent a small fortune in the summer and the side who reached the Europa League semi-final last season can only dream of returning to the top 10 in the near future.
14th - NOTTINGHAM FOREST (14.0%)
Another side written off before the season started, Steve Cooper's Tricky Trees have spread their roots in the Premier League and secured their place. They weren’t great at the start but some big results including a win against Liverpool epitomises the fighting spirit that’ll see them stay up.
13th - LEICESTER CITY (15.1%)
A disappointing campaign for Brendan Rodgers’ side will see them suffer a tough fall from grace. Big exits from the club are pending in the summer with the likes of James Maddison and Youri Tielemens almost certainly departing. This sort of league position could become familiar.
12th - CRYSTAL PALACE (22.3%)
Crystal Palace set to finish in 12th. Water is wet and the grass is green. Over the last nine seasons they’re average finish is 12th. It’s just meant to be.
11th - ASTON VILLA (23.9%)
Terrible under Steven Gerrard, improved under Unai Emery - 11th isn’t quite the finish Villa fans would’ve wanted but they’ve more or less written off this season. Next year they will be looking to kick on and reach the European places.
10th - FULHAM (25.4%)
In 6th at the time of writing, this feels a little unfair on Marco Silva’s side, but also it’s still a massive overachievement for a club who were nailed on for relegation by many.
9th - BRENTFORD (25.1%)
Thomas Frank has done a fine job with Brentford. His side play great football and they’ve dug out some big results against the “big six” sides. 9th is a fair finish. All this could change if Ivan Toney gets a lengthy ban though.
8th - CHELSEA (26.1%)
Not where Chelsea want to be but they’ve been woeful for large parts of this season. Pressure is mounting on Graham Potter and come the end of the season he may not be there. They’ve just committed £100m to sign Mykhailo Mudryk so lets see if he can change their fortunes.
7th - BRIGHTON (28.5%)
Roberto De Zerbi has taken Graham Potter’s team and taken them to a new level. From not being able to finish their chances they now cant stop scoring. This seems like a fair spot for them to end up.
6th - TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (25.5%)
Tottenham Hotspur were tipped as title dark horses before the season began. Now they’d be lucky to finish in sixth. It’s not quite working at Spurs for Antonio Conte but they’ve got enough quality to get the job done. Another Harry Kane carry job perhaps?
5th - LIVERPOOL (23.1%)
Jurgen Klopp has plenty to do to finish in 5th but if any manager could do it, it’s the heavy-metal loving German. He needs Darwin Nunez to start finding the net, Mo Salah to re-discover his form and his defence to tighten up. A big ask but reasonable to be expectant.
4th - NEWCASTLE UNITED (25.2%)
Newcastle United are the most likely to finish in 4th and appear to be way ahead of where they thought they’d be following the takeover. Eddie Howe is working wonders and with more backing in the summer there’s little doubt that Newcastle will be a force in the coming years.
3rd - MANCHESTER UNITED (28.2%)
Erik ten Hag is doing a wonderful job at Old Trafford and Opta seem to think he can guide them to a third place finish. Most Manchester United fans would certainly take that but some are quietly hopeful they could push on even further.
2nd - MANCHESTER CITY (43.5%)
Pep Guardiola’s side have only taken 4/9 points in their last three Premier League games (Everton, Leeds and Man Utd) and this heavily impacted their likelihood of winning the league. It’ll be interesting to see how they approach it as the chasers rather than favourites.
1st - ARSENAL (51.4%)
“And Arsenal are Premier League champions!”
Mikel Arteta’s men have plenty of work to do to ensure this happens but they’ve certainly put themselves in the best possible position.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | T&Cs apply
