Premier League predicted table: Sunderland and Aston Villa's likely final positions after seven-goal thriller
Sunderland remain in the race for European places despite Sunday’s defeat at Premier League rivals Aston Villa.
There was bitter disappointment for Sunderland on Sunday as a brave fightback at Aston Villa failed to reap a reward as the hosts claimed a dramatic late win to boost their hopes of returning to the Champions League.
Unai Emery’s side made the perfect start as England striker Ollie Watkins fired Villa in front with just two minutes on the clock - but that early advantage was quickly cancelled out by Chris Rigg’s first ever Premier League goal. Yet it was Villa that reclaimed the upper hand when Watkins and Morgan Rogers netted either side of half-time.
That two-goal lead remained in tact until the final five minutes as the hosts appeared to be seeing out a fairly comfortable win on their home patch. However, Sunderland had other ideas as they restored parity with a quickfire double from Trai Hume and Wilson Isidor. Things could have got even better for the Black Cats when midfielder Habib Diarra broke in on goal and attempted to dink the ball over Villa keeper Emi Martinez - but saw the Argentina international stand firm to block his effort.
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That inspired piece of goalkeeping was rewarded less than two minutes later when Villa broke Black Cats hearts as Tammy Abraham flicked home a cross from the left to ensure his side tightened their grip on a Champions League spot and left Sunderland to rue what felt like a major missed opportunity to rack up yet another impressive result in an already exciting season.
The defeat leaves Regis Le Bris’ side sitting in eleventh place in the Premier League table - but their European ambitions remain very much alive as they are now just two points adrift of seventh placed Brentford as attention turns towards a Friday night home clash with a Nottingham Forest side that are unbeaten in their last five games. So could Sunderland make a late charge towards Europe and secure a spot in next season’s Europa League and Europa Conference League?
We take a look at the latest predicted final Premier League table that has been pieced together by the stats experts at Opta just hours after Sunderland’s dramatic late defeat at Villa Park and assess where they believe the Black Cats will finish in the table once the final whistle is blown on a thrilling season.
Opta’s updated predicted final Premier League table
1st: Arsenal - 80.74 points
2nd: Manchester City - 78.20 points
3rd: Manchester United - 65.87 points
4th: Aston Villa - 65.64 points
5th: Liverpool - 62.70 points
6th: AFC Bournemouth - 55.39 points
7th: Chelsea - 55.21 points
8th: Brighton and Hove Albion - 54.90 points
9th: Brentford - 54.27 points
10th: Everton - 53.86 points
11th: Sunderland - 52.27 points
12th: Fulham - 51.09 points
13th: Crystal Palace - 49.67 points
14th: Newcastle United - 48.64 points
15th: Leeds United - 45.53 points
16th: Nottingham Forest - 41.91 points
17th: West Ham United - 38.40 points
18th: Tottenham Hotspur - 36.85 points
19th: Burnley - 24.19 points
20th: Wolverhampton Wanderers - 22.91 points
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