Scientists already ‘know’ Man City will win EPL again
MAX WINTERS in London
MANCHESTER City will win the Premier League title ahead of Liverpool again, Tottenham Hotspur will come up against Manchester United in the Europa League final, and Newcastle United will be relegated.
Those are some of the bold predictions made in a report commissioned by BT Sport after they brought together some of football’s biggest data platforms in an attempt to script the upcoming season using artificial intelligence and piles of statistics.
Leading data scientists and realtime sports analysis experts Squawka analysed vast amounts of football data from Opta and project how things will look come May 17, 2020 – the final day of the new season.
What has been produced is a comprehensive ‘script’ featuring all 380 matches of the coming Premier League season, their outcomes and how the Champions League and Europa League campaigns will play out too.
Pep Guardiola, apparently, will spend a third season lifting the Premier League title, pipping Liverpool to the crown by six points.
Former Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole, who is a BT Sport pundit, believes the Reds will fall short again in the title race but the margin will be closer than the script has made out.
He said: “I think it will be bigger than it was last year but six points is quite a lot when it comes to the end of the season so I’m thinking maybe less than that.
“City have recruited well, I think Liverpool may need a little more to challenge but listen, the window is still open and many things can happen. There’s always a transfer late doors that surprises everywhere.
“It has surprised me actually (Liverpool’s lack of transfers). You ride that wave of Champions of Europe and then give the fans something. I’m sure Jurgen Klopp wants to because if I was the manager of a top club and all your rivals are spending money than you need to compete if you can. I think he would want to.”
The report also shows Tottenham are primed to finish third with Chelsea in fourth as the top four remain in place.
Arsenal and Manchester United will miss out on the Champions League places on the last day, falling short behind Chelsea – who perhaps will feel Frank Lampard’s first year could have gone even better given they topped the table at Christmas before a major collapse.
At the other end of the table, Newcastle join newly-promoted Norwich City and Sheffield United in being booted into the Championship. Aston Villa survive, finishing in 15th.
In Europe, no English teams will go beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League – but there will be success on these shores in the Europa League again.
Manchester United, having beaten Arsenal to get to the final in Gdansk, will find Tottenham – who dropped down from the Champions League after finishing third in the group stage – too strong as Mauricio Pochettino finally gets his hands on a trophy.
Cole admitted he feels United fans need to temper their expectations for the season ahead, especially with the script predicting a sixth-placed finish.
He added: “The reality and perception of United at the minute is very different and I think fans need to realise where they are. Forget Sir Alex Ferguson’s years, celebrate them but put them behind you, because the club now needs stability and that’s why they’ve gone for young British players and are looking at Harry Maguire because they need players they can mould into the new United vision.”
Here are the top six teams forecasted:
MANCHESTER CITY – 1ST Could City be knocked off their perch at last? Failing to beat West Ham, Norwich and Everton early on and a defeat at Southampton hints that could be the case… but it turns out: No.
Eventual Champions League winners Real Madrid will tear through City at the Etihad to send them crashing out in the last-16 and extend their wait for continental glory.
Sergio Aguero becomes the first player in Premier League history to score 20+ goals in six consecutive seasons and trails only Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer in the overall scoring charts.
LIVERPOOL – 2ND Liverpool’s title drought enters a third decade as they miss out on the Premier League crown by six points to Manchester City.
With their recent Champions League battle fresh in the memory, Lionel Messi will shine to help Barcelona send the Reds crashing out of Europe in the quarter-finals.
Jurgen Klopp will earn his first win at Old Trafford this season but Liverpool can also expect to be hit for four in a drubbing away to Pep Guardiola’s champions.
Mohamed Salah will win a third consecutive Golden Boot – with his 29 goals beating Harry Kane to the honour again.
TOTTENHAM – 3RD Spurs will fall short in the title race by the turn of the year but another fine campaign from Mauricio Pochettino’s men is capped by delivering the silverware that fans have been craving.
Two heavy defeats by Bayern Munich compound a difficult Champions League run but they make the most of falling into the Europa League and lift the continent’s secondbiggest prize, beating United in the final. No prizes for guessing who tops the scoring charts as Harry Kane bangs in 30 goals in their first full season in their £1billion new stadium.
CHELSEA – 4TH Frank Lampard will lose his opening game as manager at Old Trafford but then embark on the longest unbeaten run of any Premier League team all season – lasting until a defeat at Everton on December 7.
Chelsea make it through the Champions League group stage and impressively see off Borussia Dortmund in the last-16 before Eden Hazard comes back to haunt them with Real Madrid to knock them out in the quarter-finals.
The Blues scrape a fourth-place finish after a roller-coaster season that sees them top at Christmas but crash out of the title race in game-week 34. It will be a bumpy ride.
ARSENAL – 5TH Unai Emery’s team will miss out on the Champions League again, finishing a point behind Chelsea after a horror start which sees them lose three of their five opening games.
The Gunners will be knocked out of the Europa League by Manchester United – and will have to watch Tottenham end up winning silverware.
Arsenal will not finish a single game-week inside the top four as the goals of Pierre-emerick Aubameyang (23) and Alexandre Lacazette (16) fail to get them anywhere.
MANCHESTER UNITED – 6TH It’s another sixth-place finish for United as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fails to bump them up the table.
They will lose 12 matches this season for only the second time in the Premier League era.
The Europa League will provide a buzz, but ultimately end in disappointment. Arsenal will be knocked out by United on the road to the final in Gdansk… where they will lose 1-0 to Tottenham.
Paul Pogba will overcome his consistent desire to quit Old Trafford for a move to Spain, scoring 13 goals and adding eight assists to top United’s charts on both accounts. | Daily Mail