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Stuart Jamieson

Newcastle United's survival bid predicted to go right to the wire by supercomputer

Newcastle United fans could have to wait for a dramatic final-day encounter with Fulham before knowing their side's Premier League fate.

The statisticians at FiveThirtyEight have produced their latest predicted final Premier League table - and there is good news and bad news for United fans.

They've crunched the numbers based on a complex series of odds for the remaining games to produce a prediction of where each side will finish the season.

The positive is that they currently have the Magpies ending the season in 17th place, with Fulham joining West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United in the relegation zone.

However, they predict the final points difference between Newcastle and the Cottagers to be only two points - meaning the season will go down a final-day decider at Craven Cottage, or the Magpies being safe before then and losing to Fulham in the last game.

Either way, it's set to be a nervy few months for the Magpies - and of course they must navigate the coming weeks without Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron.

Anything can happen between now and the end of the season. A positive run of results in the forthcoming games against West Brom, Aston Villa and Brighton could see United move well away from the dangerzone.

How the Premier League table could finish according to FiveThirtyEight's analysis (fivethirtyeight.com)

And fans will note that they are predicted to pick up 12 more points from their remaining games.

Will that be enough? We'll soon find out.

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