English Premier League: Predicting the Final Table and Point Totals for 2012-13

We're over halfway through the season and things are starting to take shape.

The English Premier League title race might appear to be a two-horse race but the race for fourth is fascinating. The relegation scrap, too, could come right down to the wire.

Who knows how it will end up? No one, but we're better placed to make educated guesses now than we were at the start of the season.

Here's an early attempt at predicting the final table standings, goal difference and points tallies.

Pos.	Team	GD	Points
1	Manchester United	52	96
2	Manchester City	50	91
3	Chelsea	39	75
4	Arsenal	34	69
5	Tottenham Hotspur	17	67
6	Everton	20	66
7	Liverpool	23	64
8	Swansea City	15	57
9	West Brom	-3	52
10	Stoke City	-7	45
11	Sunderland	-13	39
12	West Ham	-15	38
13	Wigan Athletic	-25	38
14	Fulham	-15	37
15	Newcastle	-20	37
16	Aston Villa	-36	37
17	Southampton	-19	35
18	Norwich City	-33	35
19	Reading	-32	28
20	Queens Park Rangers	-32	25

It's a bit of fun—so no bias—and was produced by predicting the remaining results and then emulating the standings.

A few things become apparent immediately.

Manchester United and Manchester City continue their march away from the rest of the pack and fight a title race of their own. Both are machines, but the red one goes the extra mile in this version.

Chelsea are quietly impressing and continue to do so, securing third, while Tottenham agonisingly miss out on UEFA Champions League football by two points. It really will be this close in reality, too.

The gap between 11th-placed Sunderland and 18th-placed (relegated) Norwich City is a measly four points—so much for that fabled 40-point magic mark.

There are results between the bottom seven clubs that turn this table on its head. If you back Paul Lambert's Aston Villa to win at Carrow Road again then Villa stay up. A conservative draw sees them relegated on goal difference.

Don't draw conclusive evidence from this, but use it to reinstate what we're all aware of: It's a two horse race at the top and a total whirlpool at the bottom—anyone could get sucked in.

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