Opta\u2019s latest supercomputer forecast paints a bleak picture for Manchester United, with the club projected to finish 13th on 44.26 points and carrying a 21.58% relegation chance. That comes after Michael Carrick\u2019s side were confirmed in the relegation zone following Sunday\u2019s 4-4 draw at Old Trafford, a result that leaves them 18th in the actual table.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter, the table,\u201d Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso insisted heading into the second international break of the season. It is a line that may resonate with several clubs lower down the standings, but the numbers released by Opta suggest United\u2019s situation is especially troubling. The club are set to spend at least 15 days in the relegation zone, their longest stretch since the autumn of 1986.<\/p>\n
The model places Newcastle 12th on 47.35 points, with Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Ipswich, Hull, Sunderland, Coventry and Crystal Palace all predicted to finish below them. Crystal Palace, bottom of the projected table, are given a 49.52% relegation chance. In more than one-fifth of Opta\u2019s 10,000 simulations, United are relegated for the first time in half a century.<\/p>\n
At the top end, Arsenal are clear favourites to retain the title, projected to finish with 82.29 points and a 74.61% title chance. Manchester City are next on 70.85 points, followed by Brighton on 67.82. Liverpool and Chelsea complete the projected top five, while Brighton are also expected to be strong contenders for a top-four place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in November,\u201d Michael Carrick was keen to remind everyone after Manchester United\u2019s position in the relegation zone was confirmed. That may be true, but the wider context is unflattering. No team has gone from a top-three finish to winning just one of their first 10 league games since Arsenal 73 years ago.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Brighton\u2019s rise is backed by the numbers, while Fulham\u2019s unbeaten four-game run and the struggles of City\u2019s rivals have added further weight to Opta\u2019s projections. Chelsea\u2019s path is less convincing, with concern around their reliance on Jo\u00e3o Pedro for attacking invention, despite their place in the projected top five.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Opta\u2019s latest projections put Manchester United in danger while Arsenal remain strong title favourites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,172],"tags":[1836,1162,59],"class_list":["post-22312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics-stats","category-epl","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-analytics","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}