- Newcastle United face uphill battle for European spots
- Supercomputer predicts rest of Premier League season
- Where are Magpies expected to finish?
Newcastle United dropped points once again to Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace side over the weekend, which saw Eddie Howe’s side slip down to 14th. With six games of the Premier League season to go, the Magpies are five points off seventh-place Brentford, which would be the last Champions League place at this stage.
Opta Analyst crunch the data behind performance and expected results, keeping regular tabs on how the Premier League will finish according to the statistics.
There’s a lot more to football than numbers, with emotions running high at St James’ Park. But do the experts believe there is reason for hope?
Supercomputer predicts final Premier League table
The defeat to Crystal Palace meant that the hosts moved ahead of the Magpies in the league on goal difference, with them both on 42 points.
The computer expects the two teams to switch positions by the end of the season, with Howe’s side finishing the campaign in a lowly 13th.
It predicts that the Black and Whites will just break into the 50-point threshold with 50.23, while Palace are just below the line with 49.79.
While there is still a chance the Tyneside outfit can catch Liverpool in fifth, and bag Champions League qualification once again, that chance is 0.12%.
The chances of the Europa League stand at 0.86%, while the Conference League hasn’t been drawn up yet, with those places still unknown.
The Toon Army will be furious to see newly promoted rivals Sunderland finish above them, as they are anticipated to finish in 11th, 2.72 points ahead of Howe’s team.
Newcastle’s next game is against Bournemouth, who are forecast to finish a place higher than the Black Cats and, coming off the back of a win against league leaders Arsenal, the Cherries are in a great position.
| Team | Expected Finish |
| Arsenal | 1st, 82 points |
| Manchester City | 2nd, 77 points |
| Aston Villa | 3rd, 65 points |
| Manchester United | 4th, 64 points |
| Liverpool | 5th, 61 points |
| Chelsea | 6th, 57 points |
| Brighton | 7th, 55 points |
| Everton | 8th, 55 points |
| Brentford | 9th, 55 points |
| AFC Bournemouth | 10th, 53 points |
| Sunderland | 11th, 53 points |
| Fulham | 12th, 51 points |
| Newcastle United | 13th, 50 points |
| Crystal Palace | 14th, 50 points |
| Leeds United | 15th, 44 points |
| Nottingham Forest | 16th, 41 points |
| West Ham | 17th, 39 points |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 18th, 37 points |
| Burnley | 19th, 25 points |
| Wolves | 20th, 24 points |
Newcastle’s disappointing campaign
This season has been one that many supporters may not have expected. After a wonderful season where they qualified for the Champions League and won a domestic trophy, this one has been the opposite.
From a lack of planning in the summer transfer window to the manager deploying the wrong tactics and lacking trust in players, with other players not pulling their weight, this season has been one massive step backwards.
The fans wouldn’t have expected the team to challenge for the title or even perhaps the UCL places, but they put up a good fight while working on a new squad, which is something they haven’t achieved.
While the supercomputer could be wrong, many in the Newcastle fanbase have fully accepted their fate, and a 13th-place finish would be better than their current 14th position in what has been a season full of commotion.
In other news, Jamie O’Hara slams two Newcastle United players after ‘shambolic’ defeat to Crystal Palace.
