The 2015/2016 Premier League season has been one of the most unpredictable in recent memory.
Reigning champions Chelsea look set for their worst finish in almost 20 years. At the other end, Leicester look set to make history by becoming champions, after surviving relegation at the end of last season.
Last August, with less than 24 hours to the start of the Premier League season, members of Off The Ball, Newstalk Sport and Team 33 were all asked to give their predictions for the season. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
From the 13 people that were asked, seven expected Chelsea to become champions at the end of the season. The other six split their vote between Arsenal and Manchester City.
When it came to who would be relegated, only Newstalk Sport's Adrian Collins had the foresight to predict that Leicester would not face the drop. Even he could not have imagined where they would have ended up in his wildest dreams.
Who would have predicted a Vardyccino would become popular in Leicester? Picture by: Joe Giddens / PA Wire/Press Association Images
Only for Leicester's improbable run, Tottenham would have been the story of the season as they look set to finish in second place. None of the 13 that were asked at the start of the season even expected Pochettino's side to finish in the Champions League positions.
Claudio Ranieri came into the Leicester job, on the back of an awful spell with the Greek national team. Many fans and pundits were unimpressed with the Italian's appointment and didn't expect him to last the season. The view was clearly held in Newstalk too, as he was the joint-most popular to leave his job with Quique Sanchez Flores with four votes each.
The Off the Ball duo of Colm Parkinson and Mick McCarthy, along with Collins predicted that Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers would be the first out the door. They were only a few hours off being correct as Dick Advocaat resigned from Sunderland, before Rodgers left Anfield.
Aston Villa are the worst team in the Premier League in recent memory, yet only Collins (once more) and Daniel Kelly expected the then-Tim Sherwood managed-side to head to The Championship. All 13 predicted Watford to head straight back to The Championship.
You can see all the great (and not so great) predictions here.
The moral of the story is surely to stay away from predictions. Maybe next year will return to the status quo?
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