Gameweek 1: Divided calls and a few bruised egos
Nottingham Forest v Leeds United summed up a crowd without a clear consensus. The draw led with 45%, Nottingham Forest took 37% and Leeds United had 18%. Then came the 0-1 result. The most divided match of Gameweek 1 rewarded the least popular outcome, a useful reminder that the biggest share of support is not the same thing as agreement. Plenty there to get the group chat going.
Results called right
42%
Up 1 points on the season (41%)
Exact scores nailed
9%
Up 1 points on the season (8%)
When confidence came good
There were happier returns for the crowd in Arsenal FC v Coventry City FC. With 94% backing Arsenal FC, the 3-0 win over Coventry City FC delivered the expected outcome. That is the sort of call you can enjoy without pretending you saw something nobody else did.
Manchester City FC v AFC Bournemouth also went the crowd’s way: 85% backed Manchester City FC, who beat AFC Bournemouth 2-1. In Fulham v Chelsea FC, Chelsea FC justified 80% support with a 2-3 win at Fulham. Those strong pockets of agreement proved well placed.
Crowd vs reality
Arsenal FC 3-0 Coventry City FC
Manchester City FC 2-1 AFC Bournemouth
Fulham 2-3 Chelsea FC
Hull City AFC 2-0 Manchester United
Ipswich Town FC 2-1 Sunderland
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Leeds United
The results that spoiled the script
Hull City AFC v Manchester United supplied the sharpest reminder that confidence can come unstuck. Just 5% backed Hull City AFC, yet they beat Manchester United 2-0. Not much room for the crowd to claim it had that covered.
There was another surprise in Ipswich Town FC v Sunderland. Ipswich Town FC had 14% support and beat Sunderland 2-1. Alongside Leeds United’s win, these results showed why a popular call and a correct call are very different things.
A different view in the crowd table
The crowd table offers another talking point, with Hull City AFC and Ipswich Town FC rated higher, while Aston Villa and Manchester United are rated lower.
It is worth keeping that separate from the weekend’s result calls. Hull City AFC and Ipswich Town FC may sit on the higher-rated side of those comparisons, but their wins still attracted only 5% and 14% support respectively. Broad expectations do not automatically make an individual fixture any easier to read.
Room for improvement, room for bragging
Across 10 completed games, crowd result accuracy finished at 42%, compared with the season figure of 41%. Exact-score accuracy was 9%, against 8% for the season. These figures include every player, so this is the whole crowd’s report card, not a hand-picked highlight reel.
Both weekly measures were above their season counterparts, though there was still plenty left on the table. Getting the outcome right brought its own satisfaction; getting the scoreline right remained a much tougher ask.
Over to Gameweek 2
Arsenal FC, Manchester City FC and Chelsea FC carried the strongest backing among this week’s best calls, but there is no most-backed list for Gameweek 2 here. No need to dress up last week’s confidence as next week’s consensus. Take the good calls, laugh off the misses and give your mates something fresh to argue about. Make your calls for Gameweek 2.