Who will win the battle for 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 5^th maybe the last gasp of an ageing squad, Sampdoria are the 6^th placed team in my stats but the A.I. sees the lack of depth as being more problematical than I do.  Lille are my 7^th 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 19^th 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 14^th.  Spurs may get off to a good start but likely to prove inconsistent during the season could drop to 15^th – 17^th 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 12^th to 14^th and finally River Plate despite being weaker than anyone else they could reach 17^th as no one position is likely to suffer due to losing a player or 2.