In front of the final stretch of the Premier League, Gary Neville has revised his top four pick, and the former Manchester United defender now believes Newcastle will make the Champions League.
As teams head into the final stretch of the season, the competition to finish in the top four is intensifying, with leaders Arsenal and second-placed Manchester City leading the pack.
Eddie Howe's team is in third position, level on points with fourth-placed Manchester United, but with a far higher goal difference, putting Newcastle in the driver's seat for a top-four finish.
Although Newcastle and Manchester United both have a game remaining, Tottenham is now only three points behind Cristian Stellini's team, While Brighton is still very much in the running, they would need to win both of their games against Spurs in order to have any chance.
Neville stated in March that due to Newcastle's lack of the experience of Man Utd, Tottenham, and Liverpool, they will likely narrowly miss out.
"Newcastle have got a clear run until the end of the season, Gary Neville stated on Sky Sports in March.
"[Manchester] United have progressed in the FA Cup and the Europa League makes it more difficult for them with the fact that they’ve Casemiro suspended for the next four matches, which is a big difference."
“Newcastle with these last two wins are in a position whereby they’ll have a real go at it. But I still think Liverpool, Tottenham and United have got a little bit more experience."
“This is the time to hit form. Eddie Howe won’t be getting carried away but he’ll be a lot more confident after this week," he asserted.
But after a stellar week in which Newcastle defeated Man Utd, Brentford, and West Ham, Neville now believes Howe's team will advance to the Champions League.
"What a week for Newcastle. To beat Manchester United, West Ham away and then Brentford away that’s a tough week and to get nine points – that’s a brilliant performance," Gary Neville continued.
“I didn’t have them down as top-four probably three weeks ago and even after the [Manchester] United game, I thought ‘well they’ve got three tough away games now in West Ham, Brentford and Aston Villa."
“‘You’ll probably drop points in that and it will give Tottenham and Liverpool maybe a chance’."
“But looking at them now, watching them closely against Manchester United where I thought they were absolutely brilliant, I think they will finish in the top four now because their confidence will be so high."
“I thought Man United were really poor against Newcastle. But what we’ve seen with this side under Erik ten Hag is that they do respond and they do bounce back."
“They were dominant against Everton but beating Brentford was really important. Six points from that week doesn’t look so bad now."
“They do respond and come back which will mean they do finish in those Champions League places. With Tottenham, they were pretty fortunate against Brighton. But it gives them a chance, they’re still in it.”
Meanwhile, last week, Super Computer made it's predictions regarding how the Premier League table will turn out to look like at the end of the season. It claimed Man United will finish in the top four alongside Newcastle United and claimed Everton will narrowly escape relegation.
Despite losing 2-0 to Manchester United in the Premier League on April 8th, Everton is anticipated to narrowly avoid relegation.
Toffees appear to have benefited greatly by the Saturday losses of Nottingham Forest and Leicester City to Aston Villa and Bournemouth, respectively.
Sean Dyche's team will finish with 35 points and in 17th position, ahead of Leicester, Nottingham Forest, and Southampton, predicts FiveThirtyEight's Super Computer.
Everton is aware that in order to stay in the top flight, they must win at least three more games, and even that may not be enough. Naturally, the goal will be to reach 40 points, but based on the table, it appears that 38 would be sufficient, albeit the Super Computer is indicating 35.
Sean Dyche has done a wonderful job thus far, but the performances or results at home need to improve quickly. With games against Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea in his recent schedule, it is natural that the fixture list is more accommodating for them in the upcoming weeks.
They should strive to win both of their upcoming games against Fulham and Crystal Palace, which are both winnable. Their next two games are against Fulham at home and Crystal Palace away.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin may return for those games since there seems to be some encouraging news on the injury front, so Dyche will be hoping for that.
Regarding what the top of the Premier League table will look like at the end of the campaign, Based on the most recent matches in England's top division, the supercomputer has forecasted the final Premier League rankings, and the title fight between Arsenal and Manchester City is anticipated to be close.
"SPI ratings are our best estimate of a team’s overall strength," FiveThirtyEight explains. "In our system, every team has an offensive rating that represents the number of goals it would be expected to score against an average team on a neutral field, and a defensive rating that represents the number of goals it would be expected to concede."
"These ratings, in turn, produce an overall SPI rating, which represents the percentage of available points the team would be expected to take if that match were played over and over again."
According to the supercomputer, Manchester City has a 49% chance of winning the Premier League, while Arsenal has a 51% chance of doing so. As a result, there is almost any difference between the two teams competing for the title.
Arsenal should only surpass City with 88 points, who are now on 67 points, as City is predicted to achieve 87 points. Manchester City, however, are the clear favorites when the two teams play on April 26 at the Etihad Stadium. With a probability of winning the match of 59% compared to Arsenal's 25%, it is anticipated that the defending champions would make the title chase even more exciting.
Brighton is predicted to finish ahead of Tottenham in fifth place, with Newcastle United and Manchester United being heavily favored to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League. In terms of rankings, FiveThirtyEight places Liverpool fifth.
The team most likely to be relegated at the other end of the table is Southampton, who are predicted to finish with just 32 points. The remainder seems to be up in the air, but according to the supercomputer, they will be joined in the Championship by Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth in the upcoming season.
In fact, Forest are predicted to finish with 34 points, Bournemouth with 36, the same as Everton and Leicester City, but the latter two will remain up due to their superior goal differential.
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