The likes of Newcastle, Leeds United and Aston Villa have all been active in the transfer market so far as they look to build on last season’s finishes.
With the transfer window still open until September 1st, some sides still have the chance to become significantly stronger, or weaker for the new season.
A mid-season break for the World Cup provides an added twist to the campaign, and there’s no real way of knowing how it will all turn out come May.
Few would have predicted that a Newcastle side who had won just one of their opening 20 league matches last season would go on to win 12 of their final 18 games to finish 11th in the table.
But data experts at FiveThirtyEight have done the calculations in an attempt to provide a supercomputer prediction of the final Premier League standings before a ball has even been kicked.
17. Southampton - 40 points, -21 GD
The Saints endured a difficult end to the 2021-22 campaign but have been tipped to just avoid the drop by the supercomputer. Photo: Clive Rose
18. Fulham - 36 points, -26 GD
Fulham have a 41% chance of being relegated once again, according to the supercomputer.
19. AFC Bournemouth - 36 points, -27 GD
The Cherries secured automatic promotion last season but are one of the favourites to be relegated. Photo: Getty Images
20. Nottingham Forest - 35 points, -28 GD
The newly promoted side are bottom of the supercomputer’s predicted table with a 45% chance of being relegated back to the Championship. Photo: Nathan Stirk