Only Newcastle and Ipswich dodge point deductions as the supercomputer loses the plot.

Only Newcastle and Ipswich have avoided a completely random Premier League points deduction, despite everyone playing at least one additional game.

Supercomputer Chalmers
Mediawatch does not typically dive too far into the murky world of football supercomputers. Self-service checkouts are one thing, but when machines rise to make wildly incorrect Premier League table predictions, it is easy to dismiss.

Then along comes a supercomputer so arrogant, so ludicrous, and so unafraid of its own folly that it virtually begs to be mocked.

And this is not the fault of BettingExpert.com or their supercomputer BETSiE. No, this is on the outlets that are so eager to produce as much material as possible that they will notice those marketing emails arrive in their inbox and not instantly delete them.

The Sun website is not alone in generating a graphic to illustrate the anticipated Premier League standings, but it is one of the most dense. And now, have a look.

To be clear, no one team has played the appropriate number of games, and only Newcastle and Ipswich have not been arbitrarily punished points.

Arsenal failed to win the title despite having played one additional game than Manchester City. Spurs have as many wins and draws as Manchester United and Aston Villa while retaining a greater goal difference, yet they finish below both. Everton fall to 17th place because even the most inept algorithm cannot overcome their natural ability to be Everton.

Nottingham Forest’s three-point deduction is a lovely touch, but five other clubs are in the same situation. The whole thing is a sodding mess, but because The Sun wants to play the game, we are given tired cliches about how ‘it is set to be a closely run race’ for Champions League qualification and ‘the supercomputer thinks history will repeat itself’ in the title race, all while the copy at no point acknowledges why 90% of the division has had points deducted, or why every team has played one or two games more.

Rounding up figures is a straightforward issue, given the supercomputer employs decimal points (Arsenal won the title by 0.1 points last season). However, failing to fix it undermines the entire pretense.

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