The title race is hotting upplaceholder image
The title race is hotting up | Getty Images
Arsenal saw their lead over Manchester City reduced during the mid-week fixtures.
Arsenal may now be getting a little nervy after seeing their lead at the top of the Premier League erode to four points. The Gunners led against Brentford but couldn’t hold on, having to settle for a draw just one day on from Manchester City’s comfortable win over Fulham.
A four-point lead is still a significant one, but City do feel as thoguh they are closing in, and it’s worth remembering that the two teams still need to face off, both in the Carabao Cup final and the Premier League.
Still, Mikel Arteta is remaining calm, saying after the Brentford clash: “That’s what we have to do. I mean, we’re going to be willing and preparing to win every single match, and the only thing we can do is focus on that. We need to raise the levels, collectively and individually, to be better than the opponent every week. That’s going to carry on like this until May. They’re the things we have to do, and that’s the most important thing.”
He added: “I understand [the points gap could be bigger], but that’s ‘if, if, if’. If we’d lost at Newcastle, we’d have been eight points behind Liverpool in October. So, ‘if, if’, there are a lot of ‘ifs’ over 10 months in this competition. You can only focus on what you have to do, and try to do that in the best possible way.”
Given the advantage Arsenal already have, while they face bottom club Wolves next up, there is no need for panic, and City’s tough games will come, just later in the season,. In their last six games of the season, Pep Guardiola’s men face Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Brentford, Bournemouth and Aston Villa.
Arsenal’s run-in is comparitively easier. and they face strugglers West Ham, Crystal Palace and Burnley in their last three games of the season.
But with all that factored in, how does the OPTA predicted final table look following the mid-week results?
Predicted final Premier League table
The good news for Arsenal is that the latest Premier League predicted table, calculated by OPTA’s supercomputers, still votes firmly in favour of Arsenal, with thousands of simulations averaging out to title dominance.
The latest predicted table sees Arsenal rack up 81.93 points, safely ahead of Manchester City, who are tipped for 74.56 points. According to the prediction, Arsenal need not worry. still carrying a likely title win percentage of 85.81% compared to City’s 12.07%.
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