Predictions 2015-2016 (Round 37) With Magic Numbers, Relegation, and Other Stuff

This past week I picked five games out of ten correctly with two correct scores for 110 points.  Lawrenson picked seven out of ten correctly with three correct scores for 160 points.   Merson picked five out of ten correctly with two correct scores for a total of 110 points.

My current total for the season is 169 out of 356 with for 2530 points.  Lawrenson has picked 180 out of 356 for 2760 points. Merson has picked 160 out of 346 for a total of 2420 points.

Lawrenson’s and Merson’s new predictions can be found here and here if I remember to add the information once it becomes available. 

PREDICTIONS

My system’s picking rules can be found here. (The uneven number of games played does not affect anything this week.) Based upon those rules here are my predictions for the next round of games:

Norwich-Man U                               1-2

Aston Villa-Newcastle                    1-1

Cherries-West Brom                       1-1

Palace-Stoke                                      1-1

Sunderland-Chelsea                       1-2

West Ham-Swansea                       2-1

Leicester-Everton                            2-1

Tottenham-Southampton            2-1

Liverpool-Watford                           2-1

Man City-Arsenal                             1-1

I was hoping to post my mid-week predictions here now but, unfortunately, three of them can be affected by the weekend’s results.  Only Liverpool over Chelsea 2-1 is fixed.

RELEGATION AVOIDANCE

It now takes 41 points to guarantee relegation avoidance. Only Crystal Palace remains at theoretical risk of the clubs that are effectively safe.

We can still finish as low as tied with Chelsea for 9^th or as high as 5^th place.   If we tie with Chelsea, goal differential could go either way, but we are very likely to lose if it comes down to goals scored.

MAGIC NUMBERS

These are Southampton’s current magic numbers as explained here. (Note that magic numbers don’t actually go negative because once they hit zero, you have clinched finishing ahead of the other club.  I am just making them go negative to keep track of just how far back some clubs are.) 

Leicester City                     27

Tottenham                         20

Arsenal                                17

Manchester City                14

Manchester United           13

West Ham                           12

Liverpool                               8

Watford                               -3

Stoke City                            -2

Everton                                -3

Chelsea                                 1

Crystal Palace                    -11

West Brom                         -7

Bournemouth                   -9

Swansea City                     -7

Norwich City                      -15

Newcastle                           -17

Sunderland                         -15

Aston Villa                           -28