Arsenal, aiming for their first Premier League title in 22 years, suffered a big blow on Sunday when they lost 2-1 to Manchester City, but they remain in control.
Arsenal have lost consecutive league games (Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside via Getty Images)
Despite their defeat to Manchester City, Arsenal remain the overwhelming favorites to win the Premier League title. After City’s 2-1 win on Sunday, statisticians Opta revised their predictions, which will make for good reading for hurt Arsenal fans.
Erling Haaland’s winning goal at the Etihad Stadium reduced the gap at the top of the table to three points and City can move ahead of the Gunners when they host Burnley on Wednesday. Arsenal have now lost four of their last six games in all competitions and are teetering at a crucial point in their bid to win their first Premier League title in 22 years.
Manager Mikel Arteta has seen his side suffer back-to-back defeats in the league in recent weeks, losing to City in the Carabao Cup final and being eliminated by Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup. However, they still hold a three-point lead over City and will look to bounce back when they host Newcastle on Saturday.
Arteta has called for calm after Sunday’s defeat and Opta’s statistics reflect his belief they can still get over the line. The Gunners were given an 85.2 per cent chance of lifting the trophy before kick-off, but that only dropped to 73 per cent in defeat, while City’s odds rose from 14.8 per cent to 27 per cent.
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Both teams have competitions to play in addition to the league, with Arsenal facing Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final and City facing Southampton in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday. But Opta believes Arsenal still have a big advantage given the difficulty of the remaining games.
All five of Arsenal’s league games are against lower-ranked teams: Newcastle, Fulham, West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace. Meanwhile, City will face Everton, Bournemouth, Brentford, Aston Villa, as well as Burnley and Palace, who are chasing Europe.
Asked about the title on Sunday, Arteta said: “I believe today and I believed a week ago on Wednesday, because I see them every day and I know our level. But if they needed more convincing today, I think they are more convinced now.”
Mikel Arteta has five league games left before he crosses the line (Image: Getty)
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“They were talking about it in the locker room. It’s a new league now. They have games coming up. We have a three-point advantage and we have five more games to play. So everything still needs to be played. So we know how much we want it and we’re not going to stop and we’re going to go again, that’s for sure.”
Asked if it would be decided on goal difference, with Arsenal at +37 and City at +36, he added: “We’ll see what happens. This is the Premier League. First of all, it’s very difficult to win games in this league.”
“So the games we have are going to be tough for both sides. Like any other season, we would already have 80 or 85 points, but that’s not the case. We will prepare for each game, learn from what happened today and try to do better.”
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