Who will win the battle for 3rd place.

West Brom and Genoa, should both be in Division 1 and would probably win Division 2 at a canter. The only thin holding back Genoa is their keeper and for West Brom maybe there could be even more depth.

Zenit are the clear favourites for 3rd spot even if the A.I. sees it a bit different but with a good Keeper, Midfield and Attack that should be enough.  Then there is the usually closely matched pack with 8 teams more or less within 1 pt of each other.  Hoffenheim go for the midfield possession, the A.I sees them overhauling Zenit for that reason. My own Sevilla sit 5th maybe the last gasp of an ageing squad, Sampdoria are the 6th placed team in my stats but the A.I. sees the lack of depth as being more problematical than I do.  Lille are my 7th place team a strong attack and midfield, the A.I. is less bothered about the weaker keeper than I am.

If you assume 221.3 is survival in D2, probably no team lower than Lille would survive D2 , however the A.I. sees Sunderland as having a fighting chance with their strong midfield line.

There is much stronger agreement for the relegation teams, 6 of the lower 8 match with only 2 swapping 1 position.  218.1 was more or less the cut off last season, so River Plate much the weakest team look set to go down, Dnipro look to finish 19th but you pick them for relegation at your peril.  Galatasaray and Newcastle are well shy of the other teams with the possible exception of Partizan.

Who could be the outliers?  St Etienne a lack of depth could drop as low as 14th.  Spurs may get off to a good start but likely to prove inconsistent during the season could drop to 15th – 17th if they have injuries or suspensions.  Newcastle on the other hand have a good amount of depth and balance, they could finish as high as 12th to 14th and finally River Plate despite being weaker than anyone else they could reach 17th as no one position is likely to suffer due to losing a player or 2.

 GKDEFMIDATTTop18AveETOTPreA.I
West Bromwich Albion91.090.390.891.086.089.8225.2311
Genoa CFC88.089.389.692.088.089.4224.0022
Zenit Saint Petersburg89.088.589.091.086.088.7222.1534
Hoffenheim89.088.890.089.086.088.6221.8543
SEVILLA FC89.088.388.691.087.088.8221.7556
Sampdoria87.088.588.691.085.088.0221.47611
Lille OSC87.088.889.090.086.088.2221.4675
Tottenham Hotspur88.088.388.491.083.087.7220.99812
Sunderland88.088.389.689.085.088.0220.8997
Swansea City88.088.589.289.085.087.9220.77108
AS Saint-Etienne90.088.589.289.082.087.7220.65119
Southampton87.088.588.889.086.087.9220.451210
FC Basel88.088.088.490.085.087.9220.381313
AS Roma89.088.088.689.084.087.7219.891414
Montpellier HSC88.087.388.290.085.087.7219.621516
FK Partizan88.088.088.288.085.087.4218.921615
Newcastle United88.087.088.288.087.087.6218.361717
Galatasaray SK88.087.387.688.086.087.4217.961818
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk88.086.587.888.086.087.3217.521919
River Plate87.087.086.487.085.086.5215.912020
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