S6M12: Cleft in 3

The first full matchday of Winter - at least as far as clocks go back, and the conclusion of the 1st trimester. What have we learnt so far?

We've learnt that Leicester really did something quite unique last year. We've learnt that the media really need to stop drawing zero-sum conclusions based on small datasets (this may not be an entirely new idea from this season). We've learnt that Klopp & Liverpool go together like Tom Cruise & Jerry Bruckheimer - you know it's box office even though you suspect there might be a little depth issue...

We've learnt that Wazza is a big fan of Farrell/Vaughan comedies from 2005 and that Sunderland are really really terrible (this too, may not be entirely novel). We've also learnt that whilst Friday night football is awful, the little Sky Sports highlights clips provided live (or slightly delayed on Saturdays) are invaluable in freeing up useful TV memory space when MOTD no longer needs recording. This is probably the singlest most beneficial thing so far this season.

1 third of the way in and what I've learnt is that with the exception of Sunderland, there really are no standout teams and very few awful ones. The PL is going to cluster around a top 6, whose lower margins may blur with another 3 or 4. The remaining 9 are but a short Pardewesque streak away from a fantastic season or relegation. This of course makes predictions very tough, because lots of teams are quite equally matched, and even when a disparity exists, the tactics and occasional diamonds (funded by your TV money) mean that there exists a very real chance of the underdog leaving with a little something in their goodie bag.

I have absolutely no intention of following this theory up, but I wonder whether El Impossibilitee or Die Impossibilitee would be any easier than our Anglocentric game. My suspicion is probably not - or at least not statistically so....but amigos & Kamerads....feel free to test this out for yourselves.

Let's get statty:

This week, 22 people played
Most popular predicted result: Man City WIN (22/22)
Most disputed result: Burnley vs Crystal Palace (8-6-8 split)

Highest odds: Me 11,267/1 (not sure how)
Lowest odds: Josh Daniels 451/1
Average odds: 3027/1

Best predictor: Will O'Doherty (6/10)
Worst predictors: David Silverman, Tarek & my mother (2/10)
Average score: 3.68/10 (season lowest)

Best predicted results: Chelsea & Liverpool WINS (20/22)
Worst predicted results: Sunderland, WBA, Hull WINS & Man City vs M'Boro DRAW (0/10 - I believe 4 0s is a new record)

Everyone's results:

Leaderboard (>2/3; 8/11)

To this week's predos:

Man Utd vs Arsenal - DRAW

Crystal Palace vs Man City - MAN CITY

Everton vs Swansea - EVERTON

Southampton vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL

Stoke vs Bournemouth - STOKE

Sunderland vs Hull City - HULL CITY

Watford vs Leicester - WATFORD

Spurs vs West Ham - DRAW

Middlesborough vs Chelsea - CHELSEA

WBA vs Burnley - WBA

Good luck guys!