Inkwell & Algorithm

Data-driven Premier League predictions, with the reasons. New every Thursday.

Match of the week · Mon 20:00

Nothing to split Tottenham and Coventry

We call Tottenham win, 1–0. If Coventry's defence were only average, this would swing to a draw (34%).

Tottenham 1–0 Coventry
Our call Home win Confidence: too close to call
Spurs 42%Draw 31%Coventry 27%

Why we're calling it

  1. 1Coventry's defenceCoventry concede 29% more than an average side. Worth +9 points to our call.
  2. 2Tottenham's results undersell them by 5 pointsTottenham have 10 points from their last 10 league games, but their chances were worth 15. We rate teams on their chances, so Tottenham get more credit than their results.
  3. 3The market agreesBookmakers make Tottenham 64% favourites. We have it at 42%.

Read the full breakdown: form, xG, team news and head to head

The rest of the round

9 more matches · kick-off times UK
Sat 12:30After kick-off · Final 0–2
Home win
Home 39% · Draw 27% · Away 34%

Nothing to split Everton and Chelsea.

Sat 15:00After kick-off · Final 1–2
Home win
Home 42% · Draw 26% · Away 32%

Nothing to split Brentford and Liverpool.

Sat 15:00After kick-off · Final 1–0
Home win
Home 38% · Draw 31% · Away 31%

Nothing to split Fulham and Hull.

Sat 15:00After kick-off · Final 3–2
Home win
Home 80% · Draw 13% · Away 7%

Ipswich's leaky defence hands Man City the edge.

Sat 17:30After kick-off · Final 0–1
Home win
Home 43% · Draw 26% · Away 31%

Nothing to split Newcastle and Aston Villa.

Sun 14:00After kick-off · Final 2–0
Home win
Home 52% · Draw 26% · Away 22%

Sunderland's leaky defence hands Bournemouth the edge.

Sun 14:00After kick-off · Final 5–0
Home win
Home 60% · Draw 22% · Away 18%

Crystal Palace's leaky defence hands Brighton the edge.

Sun 14:00After kick-off · Final 1–1
Home win
Home 39% · Draw 28% · Away 33%

Nothing to split Leeds and Man United.

Sun 16:30After kick-off · Final 0–1
Away win
Home 21% · Draw 28% · Away 50%

Arsenal's attack should be too much for Nott'm Forest.

The round in charts

Hover a mark for the numbers
Where we disagree with the bookies
Our chance for each call against the market's. The bigger the gap, the more our reasons are doing the work.
UsBookmakers
Everton v Chelsea
+9
B'mouth v Sunderland
+6
Man City v Ipswich
+4
Brentford v Liverpool
+2
Newcastle v Villa
+1
Brighton v Palace
-1
Leeds v Man Utd
-1
Forest v Arsenal
-9
Fulham v Hull
-17
Spurs v Coventry
-22
20%50%80%
Attack against defence
Expected goals created and allowed per game this season. Top right is where you want to be.
Better defence (xG allowed)
1.0Better attack (xG created)2.6
Our record, week by week
Correct results each week this season, against simply backing the bookmakers' favourite.
UsBookies' favourite
5
7
3
4
5
5
21 Aug28 Aug04 Sep12 Sep18 Sep10 Oct

We've beaten the favourite in 2 weeks out of 6, and fallen short in 1.

Last week's verdict

5 of 10

Games from 10 October, with 0 exact scores.

MatchOur callResultVerdict
Arsenal v LeedsHome win 1–02–1Right result
Aston Villa v BrentfordHome win 2–12–2Wrong
Chelsea v BournemouthHome win 2–15–1Right result
Ipswich v FulhamAway win 1–22–1Wrong
Man United v TottenhamHome win 2–01–1Wrong
Sunderland v BrightonAway win 1–20–2Right result
Crystal Palace v Nott'm ForestHome win 2–13–1Right result
Hull v EvertonHome win 1–02–2Wrong
Liverpool v Man CityAway win 1–20–3Right result
Coventry v NewcastleAway win 0–14–1Wrong
Owning the misses

What we got wrong

Verdict: Somewhere in between

Man United v Tottenham: we said Man United to win at 61%. It finished 1–1.

The chances pointed to neither our call nor the result (xG: Man United 0.9, Tottenham 2.0). A closer game than either the score or we suggested.

Each week we pick our most confident wrong call and check it against the chances both sides created. Unlucky means the chances backed us; our mistake means they didn't.

The table

Results up to 12 October
#ClubPGDPts
1Man City6+1118
2Arsenal6+515
3Brighton6+1313
4Brentford6+610
5Everton6+310
6Chelsea6+210
7Leeds6+39
8Hull6+29
9Liverpool6+09
10Ipswich6-39
11Newcastle6-38
12Crystal Palace6-37
13Man United6+06
14Coventry6-66
15Nott'm Forest6-35
16Aston Villa6-55
17Sunderland6-64
18Bournemouth6-63
19Tottenham6-63
20Fulham6-42

The table they deserved

The same season ranked by the points each side's chances were worth, from expected goals (xG). A plus means results have run ahead of the chances. This describes the season so far. It is not a forecast of where anyone will finish.

#ClubPPtsDeserved+/−Real place
1Arsenal61511.6+3.42
2Man City61811.3+6.71
3Brighton61311.0+2.03
4Nott'm Forest6510.9-5.915
5Everton6109.8+0.25
6Brentford6109.3+0.74
7Bournemouth639.2-6.218
8Man United668.9-2.913
9Liverpool698.6+0.49
10Sunderland648.5-4.517
11Leeds697.9+1.17
12Tottenham637.7-4.719
13Chelsea6107.3+2.76
14Fulham627.1-5.120
15Ipswich696.9+2.110
16Hull696.5+2.58
17Newcastle686.4+1.611
18Crystal Palace676.3+0.712
19Aston Villa656.1-1.116
20Coventry665.9+0.114