In April, he and colleagues published a paper detailing the results of computer simulations that showed how a different oxygen-extracting process might be hindered by the moon’s relatively feeble gravitational pull.

Before this season's competition, Opta calculated each team's projected points tallies and likelihood of progressing based on 50,000 simulations of the league phase.

The docking was initially scheduled for 7 January, but Isro later delayed it by two days saying they "needed to carry out some more testing through simulations" before the actual docking.

"I keep telling people that I feel like I'm living in a simulation."

Opta's current projections - calculated using thousands of season simulations - give United a 0.1% chance of finishing 18th in the Premier League table, with a 0% chance of finishing in the bottom two.