A Premier League supercomputer has predicted that this season's nail-biting title race will be decided by just one point.
The news follows Arsenal's second-consecutive two-goal meltdown over the weekend, with Mikel Arteta's side seeing a commanding lead slip in their 2-2 draw with West Ham. That followed an identical collapse against Liverpool at Anfield a week earlier. Challengers Manchester City, meanwhile, have been in relentless winning form.
Pep Guardiola's reigning champions, who have a game in hand over their rivals, won 3-1 at home to Leicester City on Saturday, closing the gap to Arsenal to just four points. The Premier League's top two will face off at the Etihad on May 26. That game could very well decide the title race, with the supercomputer expecting the closest of finishes after 38 games.
The data cruncher, provided by LegalSportsBooks, has predicted the final standings by formulating each team’s average wins, draws, losses, points earned, goals scored and goals conceded per game this season.
Surprisingly – given how bookies are now making Man City the the favourites for the title – the supercomputer predicts Arsenal to marginally hold onto their lead by one point and secure their first Premier League title since 2004, while City finish second on 89 points, their fourth-lowest tally under Pep Guardiola.
The news will come as a welcome surprise to Arsenal fans, who are starting to worry if their young team has the experience to topple City's unstoppable champions.
Meanwhile, the supercomputer predicted the outcome of the battle to qualify for the European places this season. Manchester United are predicted to follow in third place, with 75 points, beating Newcastle United who also secures Champions League football next season. The Magpies will miss out on third due to their tendencies to draw often.
Managerless Tottenham and Brighton will take the Europa League spots in fifth and sixth, accruing 66 and 63 points respectively. Unai Emery’s Aston Villa will make a late charge for the top seven and successfully play in the European Conference League next season.
Liverpool miss out of the closest European football spots by three points, the Reds will be 13 points off any chance of playing in the Champions League next year. Liverpool are followed by Fulham and Brentford to finish top half of the table.
Chelsea will stay in their 11th position, not even hitting the 50 point marker by the end of the season, leaving them closer to the relegation zone than the top six.
Down the bottom of the table, things are just as interesting. Everton and Nottingham Forest will have a tight fight until the end but they’ll go down to the Championship on goal difference, meaning Leicester City will survive by 10+ goal difference.. Southampton will stay rock bottom and will be back in the second division for the first time since 2012. Crystal Palace, Wolves, Bournemouth, West Ham and Leeds all join Leicester as survivors of the 2022/23 relegation battle.
