Chelsea are Champions League-boundChelsea are Champions League-bound
Chelsea are Champions League-bound | AFP via Getty Images
A look at how the pre-season Premier League table compares to the final standings.
The Premier League is now over and done with, with the final table now set. We had an exciting final day of the Premier League campaign, with the Champions League race concluding dramatically.
Aston Villa were left feeling hard done by after a controversial decision, while Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United secured Champions League football. Those three join Champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal in next season’s Champions League. Aston Villa have had to settle for a Europa League spot, and they will be joined by FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in that competition. Nottingham Forest saw their Champions League hopes fade over recent weeks and months, and they will end up in the Conference League.
Palace’s FA Cup win meant the likes of Fulham and Brentford lost out on the chance to secure Europe in the final games, and at the other end of the table, there was little to no drama. The three promoted sides were all relegated without a trace, and Southampton only picked up one more point than Derby County’s record-low points total of 11.
But how was the Premier League predicted to end up? We have taken a look the pre-season predicted table from data specialists Opta, who ran 10,000 simulations to get their result. The position difference is based on real position so, for example, if a team was predicted to finish first but ended up second, they would get a minus one in that column, while the same applies to the ‘real points difference’, so if a team finished with three more points than expected, they would score a plus in that column.
1st: Manchester City – 88.7
(Position difference: -2 // Real points difference: -17.7)
2nd: Arsenal – 77.6
(Position difference: 0 // Real points difference: -3.6)
3rd: Liverpool – 74.0
(Position difference: +2 // Real points difference: +10)
4th: Chelsea – 61.7
(Position difference: -2 // Real points difference: +7.3)
5th: Newcastle United – 60.5
(Position difference: 0 // Real points difference: +5.5)
6th: Manchester United – 58.5
(Position difference: -9 // Real points difference: -16.5)
7th: Tottenham Hotspur – 58.2
(Position difference: -10 // Real points difference: -20.2)
8th: Aston Villa – 54.1
(Position difference: +2 // Real points difference: +11.9)
9th: Crystal Palace – 52.7
(Position difference: -3 // Real points difference: +0.3)
10th: West Ham United – 49.1
(Position difference: -4 // Real points difference: -6.2)
11th: Brighton & Hove Albion – 49.0
(Position difference: +3 // Real points difference: +2)
12th: Fulham – 48.0
(Position difference: +1 // Real points difference: +6)
13th: Everton – 46.7
(Position difference: 0 // Real points difference: +1.3)
14th: Brentford – 46.3
(Position difference: +3 // Real points difference: +9.7)
15th: Bournemouth – 45.1
(Position difference: +6 // Real points difference: +10..9)
16th: Wolverhampton Wanderers – 42.5
(Position difference: 0 // Real points difference: -0.5)
17th: Nottingham Forest – 39.3
(Position difference: +10 // Real points difference: +25.7)
18th: Leicester City – 35.0
(Position difference: 0 // Real points difference: -10)
19th: Ipswich Town – 34.1
(Position difference: 0 // Real points difference: -12.1)
20th: Southampton – 33.9
(Position difference: 0 // Real points difference: -21.9)
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