It wouldn't be a new season without a prediction from a 'supercomputer'.
But this is one Carlisle United fans might like - as they are tipped to survive in League One with a little to spare.
While many bookmakers and pundits have forecast a campaign of struggle for the newly-promoted Cumbrians, calculations by bookies BetVictor point to an 18th-placed finish for Paul Simpson's side.
They predict United will stay up by a five-point margin after their first season back in the third tier for a decade.
BetVictor's model expects last season's losing play-off finalists Barnsley to win the league with Derby County going up in second.
Peterborough United, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, and Wigan Athletic are tipped to finish in the play-off places.
At the other end of the table, the Blues and their fellow promoted sides Leyton Orient, Stevenage and Northampton Town are all expected to survive.
Instead, it's bad news for Cambridge United, Burton Albion, Shrewsbury Town and Port Vale who are rated most likely for the four relegation places, with Cambridge tipped for bottom spot.
The predicted League One table reckons 48 points will be enough for the Blues to survive in 18th position, with their expected relegation mark 43 points.
United are only given a 0.1 per cent chance of winning the title and 0.3 per cent chance of promotion.
They are given a 3.4 per cent chance of a play-off place and a 27.8 per cent chance of relegation.
Stevenage are tipped to finish the highest of the promoted quartet in 14th, with Orient 17th and Northampton 20th.
BetVictor says their "supercomputer" adopts "the Monte Carlo method" using a match simulator that uses two Poisson probability distributions – one for the home team and one for the away team – to anticipate the number of goals each team could score in a match.
The bookmaker added that their match simulator predicts the outcomes of a full season's fixtures, and is run 10,000 times, after which we average standings and probabilities are calculated.
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