In case you forgot, there’s still the small matter of deciding the Premier League table to deal with.
As the top-flight prepares for its eagerly-anticipated return on Wednesday, June 17, most of us are just relieved to have football back in our lives after a three-month hiatus.
But there’s no time to celebrate for the 20 clubs involved, with plenty still to play for in the remaining 92 matches.
Liverpool will run away with the title, we know that. However, that’s just about the only thing guaranteed.
There are eight clubs fighting relegation, and the race for Champions League football is wide open. Sheffield United could even sneak in there – they’ve been a revelation under Chris Wilder on their first season back in the Premier League after a 12-year absence.
Empty stadiums could impact home advantage and it remains to be seen how teams will react, but one thing we can analyse with certainty is the relative difficulty of each club’s remaining fixtures, especially now that the first few have been confirmed.
Sometimes all you need is a kind run of games to climb up the table. String together a couple of wins and suddenly everything looks a little rosier.
Confirmed Premier League fixtures for restart of 2019/20 season
With the help of Soccer Stats, we’ve looked at how difficult every Premier League club’s remaining matches are, which helps paint a clearer picture of the task at hand for each team.
So, who has the most difficult remaining fixtures? Here’s the table, with ’20’ being the easiest and ‘1’ the hardest.
Fantasy football players may also want to take note when deciding which players to pick for the run-in…
How is it calculated?
SoccerStats add up the points per game of all remaining opponents and averages it out to give a score.
The higher the number, the more difficult the remaining fixtures.
What’s more, it distinguishes between home and away points, to give a more accurate reflection on the remaining matches.
20. Man City
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.19
Fixtures: Arsenal (H), Burnley (H), Chelsea (A), Liverpool (H), Southampton (A), Newcastle (H), Brighton (A), Bournemouth (H), Watford (A), Norwich (H).
19. Wolves
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.21
Fixtures: West Ham (A), Bournemouth (H), Aston Villa (A), Arsenal (H), Sheffield United (A), Everton (H), Burnley (A), Crystal Palace (H), Chelsea (A).
18. Tottenham
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.25
Fixtures: Man United (H), West Ham (H), Sheffield United (A), Everton (H), Bournemouth (A), Arsenal (H), Newcastle (A), Leicester (H), Crystal Palace (A).
17. Norwich
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.30
Fixtures: Southampton (H), Everton (H), Arsenal (A), Brighton (H), Watford (A), West Ham (H), Chelsea (A), Burnley (H), Man City (A).
16. West Ham
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.32
Fixtures: Wolves (H), Tottenham (A), Chelsea (H), Newcastle (A), Burnley (H), NorwIch (A), Watford (H), Man United (A), Aston Villa (H).
15. Watford
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.36
Fixtures: Leicester (H), Burnley (A), Southampton (H), Chelsea (A), Norwich (H), Newcastle (H), West Ham (A), Man City (H), Arsenal (A).
11= Leicester
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.37
Fixtures: Watford (A), Brighton (H), Everton (A), Crystal Palace (H), Arsenal (A), Bournemouth (A), Sheffield United (H), Tottenham (A), Man United (H).
11= Manchester United
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.37
Fixtures: Tottenham (A), Sheffield United (H), Brighton (A), Bournemouth (H), Aston Villa (A), Southampton (H), Crystal Palace (A), West Ham (H), Leicester (A).
11= Southampton
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.37
Fixtures: Norwich (A), Arsenal (H), Watford (A), Man City (H), Everton (A), Man United (A), Brighton (H), Bournemouth (A), Sheffield United (H).
11= Newcastle
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.37
Fixtures: Sheffield United (H), Aston Villa (H), Bournemouth (A), West Ham (H), Man City (A), Watford (A), Tottenham (H), Brighton (A), Liverpool (H).
10. Sheffield United
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.42
Fixtures: Aston Villa (A), Newcastle (A), Man United (A), Tottenham (H), Burnley (A), Wolves (H), Chelsea (H), Leicester (A), Everton (H), Southampton (A).
8= Chelsea
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.43
Fixtures: Aston Villa (A), Man City (H), West Ham (A), Watford (H), Crystal Palace (A), Sheffield United (A), Norwich (H), Liverpool (A), Wolves (H).
8= Everton
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.43
Fixtures: Liverpool (H), Norwich (A), Leicester (H), Tottenham (A), Southampton (H), Wolves (A), Aston Villa (H), Sheffield United (A), Bournemouth (H).
7. Arsenal
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.44
Fixtures: Man City (A), Brighton (A), Southampton (A), Norwich (H), Wolves (A), Leicester (H), Tottenham (A), Liverpool (H), Aston Villa (A), Watford (H).
6. Liverpool
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.46
Fixtures: Everton (A), Crystal Palace (H), Man City (A), Aston Villa (H), Brighton (A), Burnley (H), Arsenal (A), Chelsea (H), Newcastle (A).
4= Burnley
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.47
Fixtures: Man City (A), Watford (H), Crystal Palace (A), Sheffield United (H), West Ham (A), Liverpool (A), Wolves (H), Norwich (A), Brighton (H).
4= Brighton
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.47
Fixtures: Arsenal (H), Leicester (A), Man United (H), Norwich (A), Liverpool (H), Man City (H), Southampton (A), Newcastle (H), Burnley (A).
3. Bournemouth
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.51
Fixtures: Crystal Palace (H), Wolves (A), Newcastle (H), Man United (A), Tottenham (H), Leicester (H), Man City (A), Southampton (H), Everton (A).
1= Crystal Palace
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.55
Fixtures: Bournemouth (A), Liverpool (A), Burnley (H), Leicester (A), Chelsea (H), Aston Villa (A), Man United (H), Wolves (A), Tottenham (H).
1= Aston Villa
Average points per game of remaining opponents = 1.55
Fixtures: Sheffield United (H), Chelsea (H), Newcastle (A), Wolves (H), Liverpool (A), Man United (H), Crystal Palace (H), Everton (A), Arsenal (H), West Ham (A).
