Supercomputer predicts where all 24 EFL League One teams will finish in the 2025/26 league table | OneFootball

Opta has had its say on how the third tier will end up looking come May

The third international window of the campaign is upon us, and three months into the League One season, the table is looking as tight as it's ever been.

Heading into the November international break, where the League One fixture list is disrupted, the 15-point gap, which separates Stockport County in first from Plymouth Argyle at the bottom, is the lowest it's been at this stage since the 2007/08 campaign.

And having come off a weekend where seven of the current top eight all lost, it just highlights how unpredictable the third tier is this season. There isn't a clear runaway leader like last year, and those expected to be dwelling at the bottom are putting up a huge fight to ensure that they avoid relegation.

Given all of that, predicting how the table will look come May, when all 46 games have been played, is looking nigh-on impossible, so let's see how a supercomputer fares.

According to Opta's predicted table going into the weekend of November 15th, this is how the League One season will finish when it's all said and done.

24 ? ? Port Vale

The underlying numbers look really positive for Port Vale through the opening months of their League One return. According to Opta's expected table, Darren Moore's side should be third.

Ultimately, you can only rely on those for so long, and the longer the season goes on, the less faith there perhaps is in these numbers.

With an expected points total of 49.52, they're on track to be the best 24th-placed team in League One history, which just goes to show how competitive the third tier truly is.

23 ? ? Peterborough United

Luke Williams has got Peterborough United playing some incredibly attractive football in the games he's been in charge at the club, but it turns out that Opta want to see that continue for a little while longer before it puts his side out of the bottom four.

Posh became just the second team ever to beat AFC Wimbledon by a 5+ goal margin in an EFL game in his first League One game in charge, and he beat Cardiff City in the FA Cup, so the signs are there for Williams to drag them out of the current situation they're in.

But this squad overall was expected to struggle pre-season, and Opta doesn't believe that a new manager will change that.

The current basement side in the third tier has been predicted to climb off the bottom, but ultimately not do enough to get their heads above the dreaded dotted line.

The Pilgrims are in free fall, it seems.

Tom Cleverley dropped to the third tier to perhaps earn some stock back after a disastrous second half of the season with a Watford side that he had in the Championship's top six this time last year — what a 12 months it's been for him, by the way — but it just hasn't worked out at all.

Many attributed Plymouth's relegation from the Championship to holding on to Wayne Rooney for too long, and the same may end up being said about his former Manchester United teammate come the end of this season.

21 ? ? Exeter City

Some silver lining for Plymouth fans here, though, as Opta predicts that their Devon derby rivals Exeter City will be going down to League Two with them.

A lot of people had Gary Caldwell's side to struggle at times this year, after fighting valiantly to stay in the division in the last three seasons.

They have actually started the season well, picking up wins here and there, and with the nature of this division, they're within touching distance of the top-half of the table.

But Opta are predicting that sides below them will get better, and the Grecians will ultimately end up returning to the fourth tier for next season.

Doncaster Rovers are currently in the midst of a huge hangover following their League Two winning campaign, which bled into the start of this season, winning four of their first six games back in the third tier alongside a 4-0 drubbing of Championship high-flyers Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup.

Since the win against Bradford City in early September, however, there have been a number of defeats for Grant McCann's side, and what was a very positive start now sees them flirting with the bottom three.

Nevertheless, Opta assumes that Doncaster will find their feet soon enough and do just about enough to remain in the third tier this season.

19 ? ? Burton Albion

Burton Albion are usually synonymous with an incredibly slow start, which kicks into gear around the new year, so to say that they're currently closer to eighth than they are 21st after 15 games is incredibly impressive.

The Brewers have beaten Cardiff, Bolton Wanderers and Bradford recently, three sides in the top six. But alongside that, they've lost against the likes of Plymouth and Peterborough.

Gary Bowyer's side are inconsistent, but they've shown that they can pick up enough points and cause enough upsets to get by, and Opta feels that they'll be finishing just above the bottom four this season.

Before a ball was kicked this season, there were plenty of critics who believed that this season may be the one where Northampton Town would slip into the bottom four after finishing five points above the drop last year.

And after they were well beaten 3-1 on opening day against Wigan Athletic, people had written off Kevin Nolan's side already.

Since then, though, the Cobblers have been robust, conceding just 11 times in the subsequent 14 matches. They may not score many, but their goals against tally has been the second-best in the league behind Stevenage.

Purely based on that, Opta feels that Northampton will have done enough to finish in the lower mid-table.

17 ? ? Blackpool

Given the closeness of the division currently, there's still plenty of scope for a Blackpool squad which has the quality of a play-off contender to make a surge up the table under Ian Evatt.

However, like with Luke Williams before him, Opta arguably needs more signs of the two League One wins that the Tangerines have had under the former Bolton Wanderers boss to really shoot them up the table.

Regardless, unlike Peterborough, the supercomputer still believes that Blackpool will be safe from a shock relegation to League Two this season.

Another side that is currently underperforming its underlying numbers. Opta currently have Ryan Lowe's Tics seventh in League One per their expected numbers, but several missed chances currently have them 16th, where the supercomputer predicts they'll end the campaign.

Wigan have been solid enough at home so far this season, but they have struggled on the road.

They'll have to improve that if they are to climb into the top half, but for this year, it's another campaign in the bottom half for the former four-time third-tier champions.

From Leam Richardson's old side to his current side, and the other team, alongside the Latics, who are yet to win away from home this season, Opta have Reading finishing comfortably in 15th.

Reading weren't anything special under Noel Hunt for the opening months of the campaign, yet the Royals didn't have many fears of ending up in that bottom four, not compared to the likes of Peterborough and Blackpool, who both sacked their managers at a similar time.

Evidently, Opta doesn't believe that Richardson has much to turn around in the short term at his new club, but nevertheless, a predicted finish in the bottom half for the side that came close to finishing in the play-offs last season.