Premier League predictions: Which BBC pundit was spot on – and how the others fared? – BBC
BBC
If you are thinking of making some football predictions anytime soon, it might be a good idea to find out what Stephen Warnock thinks first.
Out of the 27 BBC pundits who back in August had a go at picking who would finish in the Premier League's top four, and in which order, Warnock was the only one to get it exactly right.
Not many people reading this can truthfully say they knew much better, though.
More than 100,000 of you made your predictions for the way the table would finish on the BBC website and only 5% put Villa in any of the Champions League places. According to you, they were going to finish eighth, not fourth.
You can see the pundits' pre-season top-four predictions in full, below – and when it came to choosing who would end up as champions they all did pretty well.
Ellen White was the only pundit not to go with Manchester City to win the title but her pick, Arsenal, took the race to the final day, and she was also the only one other than Warnock to include Villa in their top four.
It was Manchester United's turbulent campaign that caught most people out, including our 'professional' predictor Chris Sutton.
Sutton – who picks Premier League scores for BBC Sport on a weekly basis – was one of 23 pundits to put United in their top four… but they were the team who actually finished eighth.
Predictor
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Ellen White
Arsenal
Man City
Man Utd
Aston Villa
Stephen Warnock
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Aston Villa
Fara Williams
Man City
Chelsea
Arsenal
Man Utd
Leon Osman
Man City
Man Utd
Arsenal
Liverpool
Steve Sidwell
Man City
Man Utd
Liverpool
Arsenal
Lindsay Johnson
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Newcastle
Chris Waddle
Man City
Arsenal
Newcastle
Man Utd
Rachel Brown-Finnis
Man City
Arsenal
Newcastle
Man Utd
Pat Nevin
Man City
Arsenal
Newcastle
Liverpool
Shay Given
Man City
Liverpool
Arsenal
Newcastle
Glenn Murray
Man City
Arsenal
Chelsea
Man Utd
Danny Gabbidon
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Chelsea
Chris Sutton
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Liverpool
Sue Smith
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Liverpool
Dion Dublin
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Liverpool
Michael Brown
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Liverpool
Karen Bardsley
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Liverpool
Jermaine Beckford
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Liverpool
Matt Upson
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Liverpool
Ashley Williams
Man City
Arsenal
Man Utd
Liverpool
Martin Keown
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Man Utd
Micah Richards
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Man Utd
Anita Asante
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Man Utd
Nedum Onuoha
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Man Utd
Danny Murphy
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Man Utd
Clinton Morrison
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Man Utd
Rob Green
Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Man Utd
Seven teams featured in the forecasted top fours, but only Manchester City and Arsenal featured in all 27.
Overall predicted ranking, using all 27 BBC predictions
1. Man City
2. Arsenal
3. Man Utd
4. Liverpool
5. Newcastle
6. Chelsea
7. Aston Villa
103 pts
74 pts
36 pts
33 pts
8 pts
6 pts
2 pts
(using system of 4 pts for a 1st place, 3 pts for 2nd, 2 pts for 3rd and 1 pt for 4th)
You also predominantly backed City to finish first – 66% of you correctly went with Pep Guardiola's side to win their fourth title in a row, followed by Arsenal who took 18% of the vote.
Mind you, maybe not everyone was being completely serious when they made their predictions – 70 of you bravely predicted Sheffield United would end up as champions, and they finished 75 points behind City.
Your overall top-four based on all the votes was still a pretty good effort, though.
City were top, followed by Arsenal and Liverpool, so you got the first three in the correct order – something only nine of our pundits managed – but Manchester United fooled you into thinking they would finish fourth too.
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