Half way final points prediction

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Sorry, left this pretty late for enough people to notice and comment if interested, but it struck me that the current situation, where every PL side has played exactly half its PL matches, might be a good point to try to predict final points. This is my attempt, with actual current (19 games played) points in brackets. In four blocks of five just for ease of counting, and in current league position order:

Arsenal 82 (39)
Leicester 66 (39)
Man C 80 (36)
Tott'm 70 (35)
C Palace 64 (31)

Man U 62 (30)
Liverp'l 61 (30)
W Ham 56 (29)
Watford 53 (29)
Stoke 67 (29)

Everton 56 (26)
So'ton 53 (24)
WBA 40 (23)
Chelsea 56 (20)
Norwich 41 (20)

B'mth 37 (20)
Swansea 36 (19)
Newcastle 40 (17)
S'dld 20 (12)
A Villa 25 (8)

[Mr Beast]

Half way final points prediction

Should Sunderland read 30?

Good to see Stoke & Leicester battling it out for champions league qualification, hope you are right.

[Sundeporino]

Half way final points prediction

Sunderland won't get anywhere near 30 or possibly even 20 with their current squad.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Half way final points prediction

Eternal optimist that I am, I can't see Liverpool having such a rough second half to the year. They've played all the teams above them away already. Admittedly, they did quite well in those games, but even so. I think 36, heading for 66, which would lift them right into your top-4 battle with Stoke and Leicester.

[Patrick Thistle]

Half way final points prediction

Can't see Villa finishing above anyone else tbh

[Satchmo Distel]

Half way final points prediction

I think Liverpool and Stoke have to be swapped, as much as I'd like to see Klopp have to explain why he got 8 points fewer than Stoke in the second half of the season.

There's a bunch of six teams headed for 60-67 points and it's too early to tell where those chips will fall, but Man U and Liverpool's squad depths should outweigh their managerial chaos over 38 games I would think, whereas Stoke and Leicester are overachieving with what they have.

So my gut and my head both say Leicester and Stoke are in the Europa.

[ale]

Half way final points prediction

would like to share EEG optimism regarding NUFC but even New Year spirit(s) dont see 40 points...nor Sunderland only getting 20 points..Stoke total also seems eye brow raising..

[Janik]

Half way final points prediction

Stoke had a very slow start, but have taken 26 points from the last 13 games since (8-2-3 record). EEG's prediction is little more than saying they will continue to play exactly as they have been doing.

[ale]

Half way final points prediction

Janik wrote: Stoke had a very slow start, but have taken 26 points from the last 13 games since (8-2-3 record). EEG's prediction is little more than saying they will continue to play exactly as they have been doing.

still feel it doesnt sit right...especially finishing above Leicester after giving them 10 points start...theres no stats this season that allows for that...

[Patrick Thistle]

Half way final points prediction

Vardy out for 2 weeks for surgery apparently. So that could be the wheels wobbling off the wagon for them.

[Kevin S]

Half way final points prediction

What is the difference in prize money between each position? I imagine, now that Norwich are looking like they have a fighting chance (only 17 more to reach 40) that the suggested transfer activity is aimed at eking out enough to move above a few other teams.

[Jah Womble]

Half way final points prediction

While I'd be happy with third place for Spurs, I think you're going to have to show workings here, EEG.

(I mean, where the f*** are Villa going to find seventeen points by the middle of May?)

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Half way final points prediction

While I'd be happy with third place for Spurs, I think you're going to have to show workings here, EEG.

Workings? I had the idea for the thread/post and then had to oomplete it at lightning speed while the missus was summoning me downstairs to join her in viewing Downton bloody Abbey*, so it wasn't the most considered set of guesses. In particular, I got sloppy towards the end, hence massively overstated my Villa (relative) positivity and Sunderland (wishful anti-Allardyce thinking, nothing against the club per se) negativity.

Such thought process as I had was focused on a few clubs, in particular Stoke, where the idea in Janik's post above was very much in my mind when I guessed 38 more points for them, combined with the fact that I was very impressed indeed with recent arrival Shaqiri.

Other thinking: unlike Rogin I didn't expect much of a points ratio increase for Man U or Liverpool because I've heard a lot of experts say that the problem is not the managers but the fundamentally mediocre sets of players in the squads. Contrast Chelsea, where the problem was clearly the old manager.

Obviously the 20th round of matches - the first since my post - has been pretty terrible for my predictions, in particular the Villa-Sunderland match and also Stoke losing to West Brom.

* The Christmas special, you might think. Sadly not, we have backlog of about 7 episodes on our hard drive still for me to wade through.