Preston North End, Sheffield United, Sunderland and Burnley points tallies predicted by data experts

Tyrese Campbell doubled Stoke’s lead after Will Smallbone had put Alex Neil’s side ahead, following on from PNE’s late defeat to Bristol City in the midweek.

Had the Lilywhites won they would have been in a play-off place, instead they currently sit 14th, still three points off the top six.

Although they are in the bottom half, they are still six points away from the relegation zone with a game against struggling Huddersfield Town on the horizon.

The Terriers are second bottom in the Championship and have already been beaten by PNE this season. Danny Schofield’s side were beaten 4-1 by North End in the first round of the Carabao Cup in August but since then there has been a change of leadership with Mark Fotheringham now the Huddersfield boss. His side were beaten 2-1 by Rotherham United at the weekend.

Coventry City remain bottom of the table despite claiming a 1-0 win against Cardiff City at the weekend, owing to their games in hand due to their pitch issues earlier in the season.

Both Huddersfield and Middlesbrough remain in the bottom three after costly defeats to Rotherham and Blackburn Rovers respectively at the weekend.

Managerless West Brom, who sit just behind the Seasiders, alleviated some pressure on themselves with a 2-0 away win at Reading.

Just three points separate Blackpool in 19th and Birmingham City in 12th, with a whole host of clubs still looking over their shoulder at this early juncture.

According to an updated predictions table from FiveThirtyEight, Blackpool are predicted to stay up this season.

The ‘supercomputer’ has them finishing 20th, one place lower than their current position, six points above the dropzone.

Appleton’s men are predicted to finish on 57 points, just four fewer than their tally under Neil Critchley last season.

According to statisticians and data experts, Blackpool have a 17 per cent chance of being relegated back to League One, a nine per chance of making the play-offs, four per cent chance of finishing second and one per cent chance of winning the league.

The Yorkshire trio of Hull City, Huddersfield and Rotherham are the three sides predicted to go down.

Following Saturday’s games, data experts at FiveThirtyEight have crunched the numbers and predicted how the final Championship table will look…FiveThirtyEight’s predicted Championship tableTeam Predicted Points1st – Norwich 802nd - Burnley 793rd – Sheffield United 784th – Watford 745th - QPR 686th - Luton Town 687th – West Brom 668th - Stoke City 669th - Millwall 6610th – Blackburn Rovers 6511th - Swansea City 6412th - Sunderland 6113th - Birmingham City 6114th - Preston 6015th - Middlesbrough 5916th - Cardiff City 5917th – Reading 5918th - Wigan Athletic 5819th – Coventry City 5720th – Blackpool 5721st - Bristol City 5622nd – Rotherham 5123rd – Huddersfield 4824th - Hull City 46