Arsenal ‘bad news’ as Premier League title chances remain largely stable

‘Bad news’ for Arsenal as their chances of winning the Premier League are basically exactly the same as they were three months ago…

From bad to very bad for Arsenal
What’s the biggest story in football right now?

If you guessed ‘A team that has not won the Premier League team in over 20 years probably not winning it again’ then congratulations, you might be in charge of the Mirror football coverage that believes that none one but TWO Premier League supercomputers predicting Arsenal woe is literally the biggest story in football.

‘GUNNER FALL DOWN! TWO Premier League supercomputers predict final table – and both reckon it’s bad news for Arteta’s Arsenal in title race’

Now Mediawatch only has a normal computer but we also reckon that Arsenal will probably fail to win the Premier League for the first time since 2004, largely because they are up against an unbeaten team that has won six of the last seven titles.

The ground-breaking story begins:

Arsenal’s Premier Leagu e title pain is set to carry on this season according to TWO supercomputers.

Mikel Arteta ’s side looked to be firmly among the contenders to challenge for the crown once again. And they got off to a quick start but have stuttered over recent weeks.

Ignoring the curious space bar activity, Arsenal were said to be ‘firmly among the contenders’ but – and this seems crucial – their chances of actually winning the Premier League were calculated at 12.2% by Opta in pre-season. They are now, after a ‘stutter’ in recent weeks, given an 11.8% chance.

So basically nothing has changed; they are pretty much exactly as likely to win the Premier League after eight matches as they were in August before a ball had been kicked.

But that sort of logic simply will not do.

It sees the North London side third and already four points off the pace behind leaders Liverpool. And Arsenal will be unable to force themselves back into contention, according to two prediction models.

Pretty sure four points adrift of Liverpool – who they face at home on Sunday – still counts as ‘in contention’, fellas.

The Mirror use the ever-reliable Opta for one of their supercomputer predictions but then throw in CSDB for extra ballast. And of course we always consult a Counter-Strike gambling site when we want the inside track on the Premier League.

While it is bad news for Arsenal, City are certainly fancied to claim a fifth consecutive title. They currently have a huge 75.5% chance of winning the league once again with Opta following their win against Wolves – CSDB concurring with that prediction.

Current table toppers Liverpool are predicted to finish as runners up by Opta, who suggest that the Reds have a 13% chance of glory in Arne Slot ’s first season, while CSDB predict they will win the title by a single point.

So that’s Man City and Liverpool both predicted to win the Premier League by a fence-sitting CSDB (who ‘provide users with everything CS2/CSGO-related, putting you at the heart of the action’), but more importantly not Arsenal.

And that really is ‘bad news’ for the Gunners, coming so soon on the back of the actual bad news of having a third man sent off in eight games.

MORE ON ARSENAL FROM F365
👉 Arsenal one-in-five title chances destroyed thanks to ‘record’ red cards
👉 Arsenal praise for ‘doing OK’ is ‘massively disingenuous to Liverpool’
👉 Ramsey calls out one Arsenal star for costly mistake in damaging defeat at Bournemouth

You are (not) the ref!
The Sun shovel a not-insignificant amount of money in the direction of former referee Mark Halsey for his views on all things official.

But the problem with referees and former referees is that they tend to be really quite sensible. For example, when asked about Manchester City’s perfectly legitimate goal v Wolves, they say that the goal was perfectly legitimate:

“I think the VAR was absolutely spot on to recommend a review for Chris Kavanagh to go and have a look because when you do see the replay, you know straight away that Silva hasn’t impacted on the goalkeeper with being in his line of vision.

“He just moves out of the way straight away. So, for me, I think the correct decision was made and that’s what we want to see and that is what VAR is there for.”

Now that simply won’t do. Not when you can allow your Chief Sports Writer Dave Kidd (not a referee) to crash through the doors of rational thought and write that ‘Man City’s winner is another kick in the teeth for the Prem’s sole voice of reason – they’ve every right to be paranoid’.

Apparently, ‘O’Neil’s rock-bottom side were kicked in the teeth again when VAR awarded Manchester City’s John Stones an injury-time winner, despite Bernardo Silva being in an offside position and jostling with keeper Jose Sa.’

Never mind the laws about ‘line of vision’, Kidd is of the old school (check out his hilarious joke about ‘QPR codes’) and believes everybody on the pitch should be interfering with play.

He also apparently believes that ‘VAR simply seems to have it in for Wolves’ after a decision which was deemed to be correct by Halsey, Dermot Gallagher, Keith Hackett and indeed everybody who has ever refereed a game of football.

Slot of obstacles in the way
Over at the Mail:

‘Bayer Leverkusen ‘resigned to losing Xabi Alonso next summer’ with two European heavyweights ‘keen’ on him… but one club who wanted him last summer are now RULED OUT’

Have Liverpool been RULED OUT because they have a new manager and are top of the Premier League?

Yes. Yes, they have.

Hoj many could he score?
From the Manchester Evening News:

What happens next with Rasmus Hojlund will frighten Manchester United’s biggest rivals

Bournemouth, Brentford and Fulham will be quaking.