This is nuts. This is insane. This is crazy.
And, above all, this is so unpredictable.
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I am, of course, talking about the 2015-16 Premier League season and in Week 16 more hugely surprising results played out as -- just like we talked about in PL Playback last week -- this season has become one of, if not the most unpredictable campaigns in league history.
Defending champs Chelsea lost at Leicester City, which, alright, isn’t much of a shock anymore given the fact that the Foxes are flying and Jose Mourinho’s Blues have the, erm, Blues after losing nine times in their opening 16 games of the season. To put that slump into context -- and to somehow justify how myself and every member of the PL crew predicted Chelsea would win back-to-back titles in our picks before the season began -- Chelsea lost nine times in Mourinho’s first 118 games in charge and have lost nine in 16 this season.
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With Bournemouth beating Manchester United and Newcastle United winning away at Tottenham Hotspur, the topsy-tuvy nature of this season continues and was exemplified in Week 16 ahead of the busy festive period to come.
When will it end? Nobody knows. Can it continue? Nobody knows. So, this may be a poor time to try and predict the hugely unpredictable Premier League but here it goes.
Taking into account my preseason predictions, I have revised my picks almost a halfway through the season.
[ MORE: Mourinho - “Chelsea not in relegation battle” ]
Looking at the remaining schedule for each team and adding the points I believe they will win in the final 22 games of the season to their current points tally, here’s how the 2015-16 PL table should look on May 15 when the final game is played.
Hint: It is very tight at the top, for the final two Champions League berths and at the bottom as the unpredictably of the PL this season looks set to carry on until the final whistle is blown.
Premier League Playback comes out every week as PST’s Lead Writer and Editor takes an in-depth look at the action from the weekend. Read the full archive, here.
JPW’s Predictions for final 2015-16 PL table
| On Aug. 5, 2015 | On Dec. 15, 2015 |
|---|---|
| 1. Chelsea: 86 points | 1. Man City 77 points |
| 2. Man Utd: 82 | 2. Arsenal: 76 |
| 3. Man City: 80 | 3. Crystal Palace: 66 |
| 4. Arsenal: 78 | 4. Man Utd: 64 |
| ----------------- | ----------------- |
| 5. Liverpool: 71 | 5. Spurs: 63 |
| 6. Spurs: 68 | 6. Everton: 61 |
| 7. Saints: 61 | 7. Liverpool: 61 |
| 8. Palace: 59 | 8. Leicester: 60 |
| 9. Everton: 55 | 9. Saints: 57 |
| 10. Stoke: 52 | 10. Chelsea: 56 |
| 11. West Ham: 50 | 11. Stoke: 53 |
| 12. Swansea: 48 | 12. WBA: 46 |
| 13. Newcastle: 47 | 13. West Ham: 45 |
| 14. WBA: 45 | 14. Watford: 42 |
| 15. Villa: 43 | 15. Sunderland: 35 |
| 16. Bournemouth: 40 | 16. Norwich: 34 |
| 17. Sunderland: 39 | 17. Swansea: 34 |
| ----------------- | ----------------- |
| 18. Leicester: 36 | 18. Bournemouth: 33 |
| 19. Norwich: 35 | 19. Newcastle: 33 |
| 20. Watford: 32 | 20. Aston Villa: 25 |