- Arsenal’s new title chances have been revealed after a shock weekend defeat
- The Gunners dropped to third in the table and are four points adrift of Liverpool
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Arsenal’s Premier League title chances were dealt a heavy blow on Saturday after losing to Bournemouth, with a supercomputer revealing the big impact the defeat has had on their Premier League ambitions.
The Gunners have twice finished runners-up behind reigning champions Man City in successive years and are attempting to finally go one better by clinching the title this season, but also face a serious threat from Liverpool.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool are the surprise leaders at the top of the table with the Dutchman enjoying a stellar start to managerial life in his debut Premier League season.
A 2-1 victory over Chelsea kept the Reds’ one point lead over City intact, while also increasing their gap over third-place Arsenal to four points – which could be made seven when the two rivals meet on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta is desperate to lead his Arsenal team to Premier League glory, but a first defeat of the season has cast doubt over their chances of success, with Opta’s supercomputer revealing their new odds of lifting the title come May.
Arsenal ‘s Premier League title chances were dealt a heavy blow on Saturday after losing to Bournemouth
Arsenal dropped to third in the Premier League table and are now four points adrift of Liverpool at the top
Man City boss Pep Guardiola (left) and Liverpool manager Arne Slot (right) both celebrated victories at the weekend
Pep Guardiola’s dominant City side remain favourites as they attempt to win five English top-flight titles in a row and a late win against Wolves showed their fighting spirit.
John Stones’ stoppage-time winner at Molineux was enough to seal three points and has seen City’s title hopes boosted by 6.1 per cent to make them 75.5 per cent favourites to win the league.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s impressive win over Chelsea was enough to keep them top of the pack and gave them an extra 2.2 per cent chance of ending the season as champions.
Should Slot guide the Reds all the way to the English crown then it would be one of the league’s greatest success stories and Opta has predicted they have a 13 per cent chance of doing exactly that.
Liverpool will travel to face Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday knowing they can extend their lead over the Gunners
Manchester City are heavy favourites as they attempt to win a fifth consecutive league title
However, Arsenal’s loss on the south coast has seen predictors drop them below Liverpool with the Gunners now backed just 11.3 per cent to become champions.
Pre-Bournemouth, Arsenal were City’s closest challengers with a 20 per cent backing, but have now dropped 8.3 per cent as teams around them picked up points on a weekend where they failed to do so.
Arteta and his squad can go someway to proving those predictions wrong when the Gunners host Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday in a mouth-watering clash.
But, they will have to do so without key centre-back William Saliba who will serve a one-match ban and captain Martin Odegaard as he remains sidelined with a long-term injury.
