As the world continues to battle against the coronavirus pandemic, football fans across the globe face another weekend scratching around for something to fill the void.
The domestic calendar in England has been halted in a bid to reduce social gatherings and the Premier League has confirmed its fixtures will not resume at the start of May.
While we cannot say for sure how this weekend's Premier League fixtures would have gone, we have a system here to predict the outcomes, courtesy Opta.
What chance would your team have had? Take a look below.
Predictor explainer:
The Opta Predictor estimates the probability of each match outcome (win, draw or loss) given each team's attacking and defensive quality. The team's attacking and defensive qualities are based on four years of historic results, with more weighting given to their most recent results. The model will take into account the quality of the opposition that a team scores or concedes against and reward them accordingly.
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ASTON VILLA v WOLVES
Home win: 27 per cent
Draw: 28 per cent
Away win: 45 per cent
Struggling Aston Villa was rated as unlikely to get a key victory in its battle against relegation in their scheduled fixture at home to Wolves. A home win is the least likely of the three results, with Villa having lost five straight matches across all competitions. Top-four chasing Wolves have only won five of 14 top-flight away games this season, but are backed to pick up a sixth here.
BOURNEMOUTH v NEWCASTLE UNITED
Home win: 39 per cent
Draw: 29 per cent
Away win: 32 per cent
The predictor percentages for this match are all in a very close range across the three results, indicating how hard it would have been to call. Home advantage sees Bournemouth, which sits in the bottom three, rated as narrow favourites, as it was to end a four-match winless run against a Newcastle side sitting five places and eight points above them.
ARSENAL v NORWICH CITY
Home win: 67 per cent
Draw: 21 per cent
Away win: 12 per cent
The predictor rated Arsenal versus Norwich City as the most one-sided match of the week, with the Gunners given a massive 67% chance of victory. No other team got over the 50% mark. Three straight wins boosted Mikel Arteta's men prior to the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Meanwhile, bottom-of-the-table Norwich only have one win in 15 away attempts in this season's Premier League.
BRIGHTON v MANCHESTER UNITED
Home win: 25 per cent win
Draw: 29 per cent
Away win: 46 per cent
Of the 10 away teams in action, Manchester United was rated as the second-most likely to earn victory in its contest at Brighton and Hove Albion. Prior to the halt in football, United had closed within three points of Chelsea in the race for fourth place, while struggling Brighton is still yet to win a match in 2020.
CRYSTAL PALACE v BURNLEY
Home win: 41 per cent
Draw: 30 per cent
Away win: 29 per cent
No game in this match week was rated as more likely to end in a draw than the mid-table battle between Crystal Palace and Burnley at Selhurst Park. Sitting 10th and 11th, Palace and Burnley are level on points and also have the same goal difference, with Sean Dyche's side only ahead in the table due to goals scored. It is Roy Hodgson's hosts who would have gone into the clash with a narrow advantage in win probability.
WATFORD v SOUTHAMPTON
Home win: 39 per cent
Draw: 29 per cent
Away win: 32 per cent
Another tight match would have seen Watford host Southampton as Nigel Pearson's side continues its battle against relegation. Playing at home and with a win over Liverpool in its last contest at Vicarage Road, it would have gone in as very slight favourite, but Saints sit seven points better off and this is another that goes down as too close to call.
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SHEFFIELD UNITED v TOTTENHAM
Home win: 32 per cent
Draw: 30 per cent
Away win: 38 per cent
A game between two teams chasing a European place, Sheffield United and Tottenham, was the one the predictor had significant trouble calling a winner for. At 30%, it is tied with the Palace v Burnley contest as the most likely draw of the weekend. Interestingly, Spurs – who have not won for six games - do go in with a better chance of victory despite the contest being held at Bramall Lane and Sheffield United, by contrast, being on a six-match unbeaten run.
WEST HAM v CHELSEA
Home win: 25 per cent
Draw: 27 per cent
Away win: 48 per cent
Of the 10 away teams, Chelsea is given the best chance of victory in its match on the road against West Ham. Frank Lampard's men thumped Everton 4-0 before the break in action and are given a 48% chance of following that up with a win over their London rival West Ham, which is a poor run of one win in 10 games.
MANCHESTER CITY v LIVERPOOL
Home win: 46 per cent
Draw: 27 per cent
Away win: 27 per cent
Unquestionably the biggest match of this week was due to be second-placed Manchester City's clash with runaway league leader Liverpool. After an almost perfect season, Jurgen Klopp's men had finally started to show some vulnerability prior to the suspension of action. The Reds had lost three of their last four games in all competitions and the predictor believes they were most likely to go down to another defeat here, although surely it would not have been enough to derail their title bid.
EVERTON v LEICESTER CITY
Home win: 36 per cent
Draw: 29 per cent
Away win: 35 per cent
The closest match of the week is the game that was going to be the Monday night contest between Everton and Leicester City. The predictor can hardly split the two teams, with Everton given a 36% chance of winning, compared to 35% for the Foxes. Of the teams who are favourites, Carlo Ancelotti's men have the lowest percentage. They would have come into the game having collected only one point from three games, but those were against Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. Leicester are third but without a win in three top-flight away fixtures.
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