We've run the rule over the final 10 games of the season to bring you our anticipated final table. All abuse to Nick Miller...
There are 10 games remaining in the Premier League season, but do you really need to pay attention to them all? We’ve gone through each fixture remaining and predicted the outcome, thus saving you the trouble of watching them.
You’re welcome.
20. Huddersfield – 16 points
Huddersfield have been hurtling towards relegation for most of the season, and there isn’t an awful lot of hope for reclamation of dignity in the final weeks. They can’t play Wolves every week.
Our game-by-game predictions have them drawing two more matches and losing the rest, slipping back silently into the Championship.
19. Fulham – 19 points
A season that started with hope and spending, but one in which more or less every decision made by Fulham has been catastrophic.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Claudio Ranieri’s men have been so bad that we only have them picking up two further points – against Newcastle and Cardiff, since you ask – and even that might be a bit generous.
18. Cardiff – 33 points
After a season of turmoil it almost seems cruel to suggest that Cardiff will be relegated, but our predictions say they just about will be.
The Bluebirds will beat West Ham and Crystal Palace, but ultimately the rest of their fixture list means it won’t quite be enough.
17. Southampton – 35 points
This could go down to the wire. After a storming start under Ralph Hasenhuttl, Southampton have stalled recently: indeed, we have them collecting only one point in the next seven games, but seven in the final three fixtures – beating Bournemouth and Huddersfield, while drawing with West Ham – to just keep them up.
16. Brighton – 35 points
Once upon a time 35 points would spell certain doom for a Premier League club, but just like the last couple of seasons, it should be enough this time.
We actually only have Brighton winning one more game, but with plenty of draws their place in the Premier League – still quite an achievement for them – should be secure.
15. Crystal Palace – 39 points
A frustrating campaign that has never seemed to get going, and we suspect it will remain that way for Roy Hodgson’s side. They’ll probably get a few home wins, against Bournemouth and Huddersfield for example, but not a great deal more than that.
And so the annual transfer dance around Wilfried Zaha can commence in the summer.
14. Burnley – 41 points
The season started really quite badly for Burnley, and it seemed like they were circling the drain. But they’ve looked more like themselves of late, and Sean Dyche’s side will survive comfortably.
In fact, our predictions might even be a little pessimistic – they should give some big teams a good game – but we have them taking points off Leicester and Everton nonetheless.
13. Bournemouth – 42 points
They’re a funny team, Bournemouth; capable of outstanding performances but also some truly abysmal ones.
They haven’t managed so much as a point on the road since winning at Fulham in October, losing nine on the trot, and our predictions only have them gathering one more, at Huddersfield. That, as much as anything, explains why they’re not in the top half.
12. Newcastle – 42 points
Rafa Benitez almost certainly regards glasses as not just half-empty, but also chipped and full of bleach.
His instinctively pessimistic nature led him to assert before Christmas that Newcastle needed a miracle to stay up, but they look a team revived recently and should come close to another top-half finish.
11. Everton – 44 points
Things haven’t gone to plan since Marco Silva’s arrival at Everton: a managerial appointment designed to push the Toffees to another level, perhaps even threatening the top six.
Instead, our predictions have them turning in their worst league finish for 15 years, having dropped (more) points against West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace.
10. West Ham – 45 points
Things didn’t start well under Manuel Pellegrini, but the return of Manuel Lanzini should galvanise West Ham a little down the home stretch.
We can see them dropping a couple of careless points, and they may be one of the few teams Cardiff beat in the run-in, but holding steady for a top-half finish is a respectable result.
9. Leicester – 52 points
Bringing Brendan Rodgers in at this stage of the season rather than waiting until the summer was a smart move by the Foxes. This squad seems ideal for him: lots of young, exciting talent that can play fine football, and up until the last three games they’ve got a relatively kind fixture list.
Before then they’ll pick up enough points to move into the top half and build some optimism for next season.
Gone are the days in which Watford merrily changed managers every summer. Javi Gracia is here for keeps, and no wonder too: eighth will be their highest finish since they were runners-up in the top flight way back in 1983.
Despite us predicting a couple of slip-ups, notably against Leicester and Wolves, they’ll still be pretty happy with their lot.
7. Wolves – 56 points
What a season. Wolves have wobbled just a little bit recently but they should hold steady for the remainder of the campaign, given that their run-in is reasonably friendly.
A low-key ‘big’ game could come at the end of April, when Wolves visit Watford in what could be a play-off to be ‘best of the rest’: we have Nuno’s side coming out on top in that one.
6. Arsenal – 74 points
What to make of Arsenal’s season? Another year out of the Champions League, but in the circumstances – a new coach and a rebuilding job underway – perhaps not as bad as it could have been?
They’re in the top four at the time of writing but we can see defeats to Spurs and Manchester United ahead, plus dropped points against Leicester and Watford.
5. Chelsea – 76 points
Crisis averted? Not as such, because Chelsea will still finish outside the top four for the second season in a row – the first time that’s happened since Roman Abramovich’s arrival.
We can see them dropping points with a few draws, most notably against Everton and Wolves, while they’ll lose at Anfield and Old Trafford.
4. Manchester United – 80 points
Ole’s at the wheel of a juggernaut right now. Even with half of their attackers out injured, you can’t Manchester United dropping too many points before the season ends.
Future opponents Wolves are good against the big boys and United still have to visit Manchester City, but they’ll still end up achieving what Jose Mourinho called a ‘miracle’ in qualifying for the Champions League. In fairness, if he was still in charge, it would have been.
3. Tottenham – 85 points
The wobble of losing a couple of games in a row isn’t necessarily a sign that Tottenham are bottle jobs, it’s just that this is what happens to a team when you don’t buy a single player in a year.
Third place is a creditable finish, and a reasonably favourable run-in means they should only drop points in the really tough games, against Liverpool and Manchester City.
2. Liverpool – 95 points
There’s no disgrace in losing the title to Manchester City, although it’s probably not a good idea to put an arm around a weeping Liverpool fan come May and point out how good the team that got the better of them are.
We have them dropping points at Everton and against Tottenham: not much, but enough for them to be overhauled. This will comfortably be the biggest total for a runner-up since three points for a win was introduced.
Manchester City have a look about them at the moment. Their football might not be the best they’ve ever produced, but they have that dead-eyed Terminator vibe as unstoppable winners.
They’ll need that to hold off an excellent Liverpool, but there’s every chance they’ll go the rest of the season without dropping another point.
