Manchester United are set for a mouth-watering battle to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Having finished as runners-up to Manchester City in the Premier League, key figures in the Old Trafford boardroom issued a triple statement of intent by signing Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, their title hopes were left in tatters by the November international break and that, ultimately, resulted in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer losing his job at the United helm.
Ralf Rangnick has stepped into the breach as interim manager - initially until the end of this campaign.
After five games across two competitions, the innovative German remains unbeaten and has also brought stability to the defensive unit - although top-four is by no means a certainty with Arsenal and Tottenham among those who have underlined their own credentials over the festive period.
According to the FiveThirtyEight supercomputer, Rangnick and his side are only 21 per cent likely to seal their place in the marquee European competition for next term.
The same data has offered Arsenal a 36 per cent chance to finish in fourth, while north London rivals Tottenham are given a 30 per cent shot.
A long way behind those three, Brighton and Leicester City (both 3 per cent) are rank outsiders.
Where will United finish this season? Have your say in the comments section below.
Another challenge, though, is set to come from surprise package West Ham. Having slipped away from contention during the dying embers last season, David Moyes and his impressive Hammers are predicted to finish seventh - but they do hold a 14 per cent likelihood of Champions League qualification.
As things stand, United are tipped to finish sixth (on 62 points) and three points behind Arsenal in that respect.
How does the supercomputer work?
FiveThirtyEight uses SPI ratings, which have an attacking and defensive component in order to determine which team is going to win a specific game. This is then all built up to see how many points each side will accumulate for when the season ends.
We've teamed up with LiveScore to invite fans to vote for their favourite results - the games which were much more than a score. Vote for the match that mattered to you here .
