A Supercomputer has predicted that Northampton Saints will finish top of the Gallagher Premiership this season, with a narrow campaign only separated on points difference ahead of second placed Saracens. Bath and Leicester Tigers are predicted to make up the top-four ahead of the 2024/25 Premiership play-offs.
Under the leadership of new club captain, England fullback George Furbank, the Saints are expected to finish top of the pile yet again this season, according to the boffins at Grosvenor Sport.
The Saints are predicted to finish ahead of a revitalised Saracens, who finished fourth last season and were dumped out at the semi-final stage by the eventual champions. It means Bath will again finish in the semi-final places, with Leicester Tigers also grabbing a place in the top four. However, this means Sale Sharks will not make the cut by just two points.
The Supercomputer has predicted the relegation battle will be contested by Gloucester and Newcastle Falcons. Newcastle are projected to register just seven points across another difficult season, that the supercomputer predicts will be without a win.
A spokesperson for Grosvenor Sport said: “It promises to be a season of change in the Gallagher Premiership, with new faces throughout the division, a host of new captains taking charge of their teams and the reintroduction of promotion and relegation.
“Northampton Saints had an imperious season, largely thanks to the ferocious presence of Courtney Lawes in the pack, but his departure is set to not weaken the team too much according to the SuperComputer. Saracens are also missing a host of big names such as Owen Farrell, but they too are expected to have a big season.
“At the other end of the table, Newcastle’s time in the Premiership looks to finally come to an end after multiple seasons circling the proverbial plughole, with the reintroduced threat of relegation finally set to put pay on their stay in the top flight.”
How does the SuperComputer work?
The Grosvenor Sport SuperComputer is a probability model, not determined by human predictions or bias. What happens is the SuperComputer estimates the outcome of each remaining fixture based on a team’s current strength (based on factors such as league position and form) and betting market odds.
The machine then simulates the remaining games in a season 10,000 times and constructs an average league table from the ensuing simulations, to rule out anomalous results.
Unfortunately for Falcons fans, out of the 10,000 simulations which were run, Newcastle finished bottom of the table every single time.