Newcastle United's return to the Champions League took plenty of people by surprise this season. Eddie Howe and his coaching staff have masterminded one of the best transformations in recent Premier League history, taking the Toon from the relegation zone to Europe's elite competition in just two seasons.
Very few would have predicted such an impressive campaign from the Magpies and you need just take one look at the BBC's pre-season predictions to see that. Out of the 23 pundits who had a go at picking who would finish in the Champions League places, not one picked Newcastle to finish in the top-four.
13 pundits were right in selecting Manchester City to finish top of the pile, while the other ten chose Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool to finish as champions. Eight pundits backed title challengers Arsenal to finish in the top-four, but nobody predicted a higher than fourth placed finish for the Gunners.
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Only three people backed Manchester United to finish in the Champions League spots while Tottenham and Chelsea were the other two highly selected sides. Rob Green who selected Man City in first and Manchester United in third was statically the best predictor, while the BBC's resident predictor, Chris Sutton, was right with just one team to finish in the top four - Manchester City - having picked Liverpool to win the title.
Six teams featured in the forecasted top-four, but only Manchester City and Liverpool featured in all 23 picks. Thousands of those who took part saw 54 per cent of votes pick Man City to win the title, with Liverpool, Leicester and Arsenal making up the most selected top-four.
The Foxes were relegated at the end of the season, which could pave the way for Newcastle to pounce on James Maddison when the transfer window opens in mid-June.
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