I asked AI to predict Championship promotion & relegation battle - how Sunderland, Leeds and Pompey fared

The final international break of the season is all but over and Sunderland are now fully focused on their bid for promotion into the Premier League.

A home clash with Alex Neil’s Millwall lies in wait on Saturday afternoon as the Black Cats look to bounce back from their defeat against fellow play-off contenders Coventry City earlier this month. Regis Le Bris’ side will then face a major test of their top six credentials as they turn their attention towards consecutive away days at West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City.

With Leeds United, Sheffield United and Burnley now set to see out the final stages of a three-horse race for the title and automatic promotion places, Sunderland are sat in fourth place in the Championship table and as many as nine other clubs will head into the final eight games of the season believing they can still force their way into the top six and land one of the four play-off places.

Elsewhere in the division, the relegation battle has also provided intrigue with the final weeks of the season now rapidly approaching. As it stands, Plymouth Argyle’s season of struggles appears set to end in relegation as they sit six points from safety and Luton Town appear to be on their way to consecutive relegations as they lie just two points ahead of the Pilgrims. Derby County sit third from bottom in the table but they are within striking distance of Cardiff City, Stoke City, Hull City, Oxford United and Portsmouth. Even Swansea City and Queens Park Rangers, who currently sit in sixteenth and fifteenth place respectively, may feel they still have work to do before they can confirm their place in next season’s Championship.

With just weeks of the season remaining, we wondered how the Championship table could look when the final whistle is blown on the regular campaign in May. So we turned to Artificial Intelligence and asked X’s tool, Grok, to predict the outcome of the final Championship table. Here are the results.

AI predicts the outcomes of the Championship promotion and relegation battles

Champions: Leeds United (94 points) Runners-up: Sheffield United (89 points) Play-offs: Burnley (84 points) Sunderland (82 points) West Bromwich Albion (80 points) Middlesbrough (78 points) Just missing out: Norwich City (74 points) Coventry City (70 points) Mid-table: Watford (68 points) Bristol City (66 points) Swansea City (64 points) Preston North End (60 points) Blackburn Rovers (59 points) Sheffield Wednesday (57 points) Millwall (56 points) Avoiding relegation: Queens Park Rangers (52 points) Stoke City (51 points) Oxford United (50 points) Portsmouth (49 points) Hull City (48 points) Cardiff City (47 points) Relegated: Derby County (46 points) Plymouth Argyle (45 points) Luton Town (42 points)

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