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Newcastle United will win the Championship and come straight back up to the Premier League this season - according to Football Manager.

We asked the makers of the popular simulation game to complete the 2016-17 season on their upcoming Football Manager 2017 release and their simulator predicted that the Magpies will win the league, finishing nine points clear of second placed Norwich City.

The simulation was done with the current squads, allowing for transfers to take place naturally as the simulator thought they would.

And although Georginio Wijnaldum may have requested a move away from St James’ Park, it would seem Football Manager doesn’t believe Rafa Benitez will grant that.

The creators told us that the Dutch international put in a string of impressive performances to help his side seal the title.

Wijnaldum was the club’s leading top goalscorer during last season’s disappointing campaign that saw them relegated. However, despite missing the first four games through suspension, it will be Aleksandar Mitrovic who’ll top the goalscoring charts this time.

The Football Manager season ended with Mitrovic helping himself to 24 goals in total.

While it’s likely Toon fans will be happy with a season like that, they might also take some pleasure in predictions that would see Middlesbrough relegated from the Premier League after finishing bottom, while Aston Villa will fail to come back up next season - only managing to finish 9th.

There will be another Tyne-Wear and Wear-Tyne derby next season, however.

The simulator predicts that Sunderland will once again have a close call with the drop, but will again survive in 17th, two points ahead of 18th placed Hull City.

Predicting all the newcomers will go straight back down, Burnley are predicted to join Middlesbrough and Hull in the 2017-18 Championship.

While it is of course only a game, Football Manager’s simulator uses complex algorithms that take into account a number of factors to ultimately come up with results.

While it can’t be taken too seriously, it is at the very least reason for optimism.