Credit: Getty Images

James Barker

Wed 27 May 2026 12:10, UK

Leeds United have made a mockery of Opta’s 2025-26 predicted table.

This past season was a hugely impressive one for Leeds, reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup and comfortably staying up in the Premier League.

Daniel Farke showcased his tactical flexibility to shift his Whites side from a back four to a back three during the second half of the season, which played a massive part in helping his team get the results they needed.

Elland Road transfer chiefs also performed some excellent work on the recruitment side of things, finding a perfect blend of experience, potential and shrewd business deals.

Leeds won 47 points this past term, which is considerably more than what the Opta supercomputer expected them to register.

Where Opta’s supercomputer predicted Leeds to finish in 2025-26

Leeds were being tipped for Premier League relegation before they’d even wrapped up their 2024-25 Championship campaign.

Indeed, promoted sides have largely been dropping straight back into the second tier in recent years, but the Whites were hopeful of bucking that trend.

Opta’s supercomputer, on the other hand, wasn’t confident that Farke’s team would have what it takes to avoid the drop in their first campaign back at the level.

It predicted Leeds to finish 19th in the Premier League, with an even worse prediction of Sunderland finishing rock-bottom.

The Whites were given an expected points tally of 36.72, which is just over 10 points less than what they actually picked up, as well as finishing six places below their actual placing.

Why might the supercomputer have had Leeds in 19th?

It just goes to show then, that these robots and supercomputers don’t always know what they’re talking about!

But why did Opta’s supercomputer have Leeds finishing 19th in 2025-26, and was it a reasonable prediction before the campaign started?

Well, looking at Leeds’ summer transfer business, there was some serious scepticism over the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lukas Nmecha, James Justin and Sean Longstaff etc.

The Whites had either signed unproven Premier League talent, or players that had played in the top flight before, but either had mixed success or dealt with significant injury troubles in the case of Calvert-Lewin.

Farke had also been relegated from the Premier League with Norwich City in 2020-21, and so there was question marks over whether he would be good enough to keep the Whites in the division this time around.

So, having Leeds down to finish 19th before the season started wasn’t the most outlandish prediction from the supercomputer, as plenty others had them going down too, but it’s definitely one that Whites fans will have a good chuckle at now.