Where AI thinks Preston North End, Millwall and Watford would finish in the Premier League next season | OneFootball

Preston, Watford and Millwall are mounting an unlikely promotion charge this season

The Championship has been full of surprises so far this season, with the most surprising of all being the legitimacy of some of the promotion-challenging sides.

Both Preston North End and Millwall have been there or thereabouts when it comes to a place in the top six all season, and Watford under Javi Gracia have been a side on the rise. As a result, all three occupy play-off places heading into the FA Cup third round weekend.

And with Middlesbrough stumbling over the Christmas period, picking up four points in four games, these three sides may also have one eye on a place in the top two.

Both Millwall and Preston are just three points behind Kim Hellberg's side in second, while Watford sits five points behind, but with a game in hand.

The Hornets have been associated with the Premier League recently, but Preston and Millwall haven't tasted top-flight football since 1961 and 1989, respectively. Nevertheless, if any of those three go up this season, it'll be one of the stories of the campaign.

Given the low expectations at the start of this season, many wouldn't back the underdog trio to fare well in the top flight if they were to get promoted.

Football League World has turned to the popular AI-based chat website, ChatGPT, to see how they believe Preston, Millwall or Watford would get on in the Premier League next season if promotion did materialise.

Where AI believes Preston North End would finish in the Premier League

Unfortunately for Preston, ChatGPT hasn't given them much of a chance in the Premier League, predicting the Lilywhites to finish in the relegation zone.

However, it does like the scrappy nature of the Deepdale-based side, with it predicting that Paul Heckingbottom could oversee a 25-35 point campaign.

Given the amount of time that Preston has spent outside the top flight, and having never played in the Premier League, AI feels that a promotion this season would expose quality gaps in the Lilywhites' side in comparison to some of the more established clubs.

And while the top flight delivers plenty of added revenue to the club, it'd be difficult for a Preston side who are rather limited when it comes to a transfer budget currently to plug those gaps ahead of a difficult Premier League campaign.

Where AI believes Millwall would finish in the Premier League

The prospect of Millwall being in the Premier League is a tasty one for the neutral, given the reputation that the East London side has for being a gritty outfit with a hostile ground that not many teams would like to go to.

However, AI doesn't believe that the Lions would stand a chance in the top flight, ranking them the least likely of the three to stay up.

ChatGPT feels that Alex Neil's side would finish either 19th or 20th, with a points total between 20 and 30.

This is despite their squad being more competitive in the Championship than Preston's, but according to AI's admission, the Lilywhites are more likely to receive more investment in the squad than their Championship rivals would if they went up.

Therefore, survival would be a tough task, and one that would be too tall an order for Millwall.

Where AI believes Watford would finish in the Premier League

It isn't all doom and gloom for the promotion outsiders in the Championship this season, however, as AI feels that Watford have a slim chance of making a prospective stay in the Premier League last more than one season.

Indeed, ChatGPT predicts that the Hornets would finish between 17th and 19th on a points total between 28 and 37, with the latter end seemingly enough to see them just above the dotted line.

Watford know how difficult the jump to the top flight is, with their recent foray into the Premier League lasting just one season in the 2021/22 campaign.

Since then, the Hornets have finished in mid-table in three consecutive Championship seasons, so AI believes that Javi Gracia's side will need to improve the squad to compete and battle firmly against the drop. However, there's a small hope that they could do just that.

The focus for all three sides currently is to maintain their play-off form and remain in the top six at least by May. But if either side does make that jump this season, a lot will need to be done to ensure that they stay there.