Interview: Research shows league position is unlikely to change significantly within the last ten matches, so why not end the season now?

There is a 94 per cent probability that clubs' current positions in the Premier League table will remain the same come season's end, according to research by Dr Alexander Bond from Leeds Beckett University.

In fact, the first ten games of a club's Premier League campaign will determine their final position with a 77 per cent probability.

By ending the season now, with the current table in favour of a series of play-offs, criticism of English football could be relieved due to the much lower number of matches that will have to be completed.