Arsenal Premier League title dream over as Man City have 'already won'
Arsenal have been told their Premier League title hopes are over - just five games into the new season.
The Gunners are fourth in the table after three wins and two draws from their opening five matches. They are just two points behind Manchester City, with Liverpool and Aston Villa in between them and the champions.
Arsenal came through an away game with City with a 2-2 draw last weekend, although they were so close to securing all three points and moving top of the league, with a 98th minute John Stones equaliser denying them.
They were the first points City had dropped this season, with Pep Guardiola's side already looking in imperious form this early in the campaign. And that early season form has led to the suggestion that the title race is already over.
Research by Sports Casting shows that City have always won the league having picked up 13 points from their opening five games of a season.
City have won each of the last four Premier League titles - the first team to win four in a row - and eight in total. But they have never not finished top of the pile having won four and drawn one of their opening five clashes.
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Sports Casting research shows that in the 2011/12 Premier League season, Roberto Mancini’s City had 13 points from five league games and went on to win their first ever Premier League title. They repeated that feat in both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons – going on to lift the title in both.
The fourth time they won four and drew one of their opening five league games was in the 2022/23 season, when they also went on to win the title. With City now in exactly the same situation, the omens are bad for Arsenal, who have finished second behind City in each of the last two seasons.
So, Arsenal, and the rest of us might as well pack up and go home...