Many West Ham fans were predicting something of an average season this year.
So many changes in the summer meant it would’ve been unfair to expect Julen Lopetegui to mount an immediate challenge for the top six, which is something we had grown quite accustomed to during four years of David Moyes.
But with a new boss and a new style of play, as well as a new club captain and nine new players arriving in east London, it would’ve been a tad unrealistic to expect it all to work perfectly from the off.
So it’s no real surprise that, after seven games, West Ham are currently sitting just below mid-table and are still finding our feet, with the most recent win over Ipswich Town arguably the first time this season we’ve been truly impressed by what we saw from this Lopetegui side.
However, when you consider the only games we’ve lost in the league have come against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea, there haven’t really been any shock results to speak of. Performances haven’t been perfect, but the overall results haven’t exactly left us scratching our heads.
So far it has been relatively average, and that’s what Opta’s supercomputer is predicting for us this season, with an expected final league finish of 11th on the cards right now.
It says we’re currently forecasting a total of 48.44 points, which is bang on our average points total from our 26 previous Premier League seasons with 38 games. We averaged 51 points in the two 42-games seasons we played in.
On top of that, a predicted 11th placed finish is the exact same as our average final position in the Premier League era. So, an average season all round as things stand, but there’s still 31 games to go for us to try and improve on that.
As things stand, it’s suggesting we have a 1.43% chance of qualifying for the Europa League via our league position, and 0.47% chance of finishing in the top four. To be relegated? A 1.56% chance, meaning we’re currently marginally more likely to go down than qualify for Europe again.
But, there is good news.
The supercomputer also predicts that Man City will pip Arsenal to the title for a third consecutive season, this time beating them to it by an impressive seven points, while Tottenham currently look set to have to settle for a place in the Europa Conference League by finishing 7th.
Happy days.
Meanwhile, Man United are predicted to finish 9th, which would be their lowest finish in Premier League history.
Everton are supposedly going to survive the drop again, but Leicester will survive by the skin of their teeth, with Wolves, Ipswich and Southampton all dropping down to the Championship.
