Title hopes rise

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Head Start

Arsenal gain in league predictions

Matchday 37 is far from over…

… and neither is the title race. For the first time this season, only two teams can mathematically win the league: Arsenal and Manchester City. 

This weekend, both sides have done what they’ve done the whole season: win yet another game.

It’s a completely different story from last season, where The Gunners capitulated… 

Now, Arteta’s men are mentally prepared to take the title race to the wire. 

According to Opta, Arsenal’s chances of winning the league has increased by 7.2% after their win against Manchester United… 

… but City are still the favourites with a 58.7% chance of winning their fourth straight Premier League title - the first time in the competition’s history.

And now we find ourselves in an odd situation… where Arsenal’s hopes of a title rest in the hands of two of their bitter rivals: Tottenham and West Ham.

While unlikely, if City are going to slip up, it’s going to be against their bogey team… Spurs. We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again… 

• City have lost their previous four league trips to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium…

• … and they’ve failed to score in all those fixtures.

It’s going to take a lot for Arsenal fans to support Spurs on Tuesday… but it’s their only option.

Plus…

Bayer Leverkusen are offering fans free club tattoos to commemorate their title-winning season and record unbeaten run (More)

Manchester United have cancelled their end-of-season awards dinner after a disappointing campaign (More)

Burnley have been relegated from the Premier League after their loss to Tottenham (More)

Luton Town face impending relegation after their 3 - 1 loss to West Ham (More)

Matchday 37 Stats Zone

Fulham 0 - 4 Manchester City

→ Rodri has now gone 48 consecutive Premier League appearances without ending on a losing side for Manchester City (W39 D9). Only Sol Campbell between November 2002 and October 2004 has had a longer unbeaten run (56 games).

→ After not scoring in 32 appearances for Manchester City in all competitions, Josko Gvardiol has netted five goals in his last seven games.

Manchester United 0 - 1 Arsenal

→ Arsenal have won 27 Premier League games this season, their outright most ever in a campaign in the competition, and most in any league season since 1970-71 (29).

→ This is Manchester United's ninth defeat this season at Old Trafford in all competitions - they have never lost more at home in a single campaign in their history.

→ Arsenal have kept 11 away clean sheets in the Premier League this season.

Nottingham Forest 2 - 3 Chelsea

→ Since Boxing Day 2023, only three teams have picked up more points than Chelsea (35) in the Premier League (Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool). 

→ Cole Palmer is just the third Chelsea player to score 20+ goals and provide 10+ assists in a Premier League season (21 goals, 10 assists)

Matchday 37 results so far…

Saturday: Fulham 0 - 4 Manchester City | Bournemouth 1 - 2 Brentford | Everton 1 - 0 Sheffield United | Newcastle 1 - 1 Brighton | Spurs 2 - 1 Burnley | West Ham 3 - 1 Luton | Wolves 1 - 3 Crystal Palace | Nottingham Forest 2 - 3 Chelsea 

Sunday: Manchester United 0 - 1 Arsenal

Full list of remaining fixtures here.

What The Data Tells Us

Klopp’s legacy

Liverpool face a tough game away at Aston Villa tonight. 

But, whatever happens, the story of Klopp’s final season is already set in stone. 

With it being the German boss’ last season, the Financial Times have run the numbers to see just how good Klopp’s Liverpool have been.

(First, let’s address the elephant in the room).

The elephant being… Klopp has won just one league title and one Champions League in nine years. That’s what his critics point out.

Yet, the Financial Times data shows that The Reds - well - have been unlucky.

Why? Well, they’ve bettered every side in key stats since 2000/01 - except Pep’s Manchester City… 

The four highest points tallies in the competition’s history are posted by these two sides… and only one other team - Ferguson’s Manchester United - makes the top ten. 

But, we all knew this. Here’s where it gets really impressive… when looking at Liverpool’s wage bill.

Klopp achieved 11.7 points more per season than Liverpool’s wage bill predicted.

The FT’s data shows that only Mikel Arteta - who is yet to win a trophy - and Pep have better expected points per season compared to their wage bill than Klopp

It hasn’t been the dream ending that Klopp would have wanted.

But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it has been a fairytale for Liverpool fans.

Off The Pitch

🌄 Northern Lights seen in the UK for the second night amid solar storm (More)

🏆 Top Boy and Happy Valley among big BAFTA TV winners as The Crown misses out (More)

⚔️ Russia’s defence minister and long-time Putin ally Sergei Shoigu has been replaced by Putin (More)

🪩 Switzerland’s Nemo won the 68th Eurovision in Malmö, Sweden (Watch)

😳 The many faces of the fugitive who faked his own death (More)

💧World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was hit in the head with a water bottle following his second-round victory at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (More)

🚔 Miami Beach Police Department is using a customised Rolls-Royce to patrol (More)

🤖 OpenAI will be releasing new updates to ChatGPT and GPT-4 today - 10am PT/6pm BST (More)

Around The Football World

🇫🇷 France striker Kylian Mbappé has announced that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season (More) as he gets on the scoresheet in his final home game for the club in a 3 - 1 loss to Toulouse (Watch)

🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen beat Vfl Bochum 5 - 0 to take their their unbeaten record to 50 games (More) 

🇪🇸 Real Madrid celebrate winning the La Liga title with a bus parade through the streets of Madrid after their 4 - 0 win over Granada (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Celtic move closer to a third straight Scottish Premiership title after going six points clear with a 2 - 1 win over 10-man Rangers (More)

🇮🇹 Cesc Fabregas’ Como, who have received investment from Thierry Henry, have won promotion to Serie A - ending a 21-year absence from the top tier (More)

🇸🇦 Al-Hilal have become Saudi Pro League champions for the 19th time in their history. They’re still unbeaten in the league this season with a record of 29 wins from 31 matches (More)

Extra Time

Things got heated when debating John Lundstram’s Old Firm red card.

How Kai Havertz is transforming Arsenal like Roberto Firmino at Liverpool.

The worst dive we’ve seen in a long time.

A walk through the most goals conceded in Premier League history. 

Joe Cole proving he’s still got it at Sunday League level.

When Carlo Ancelotti was asked about the future of Everton’s Luke Garbutt.

Manchester United’s roof leak isn’t a pretty site.

Game Face On

Question: Who was the first player to score a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup hat trick?

Hint: He played for West Ham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and QPR.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL

Serie A: Lecce vs Udinese (17:30 BST, TNT Sports 1)

Serie A: Fiorentina vs Monza (19:45 BST, TNT Sports 1)

La Liga: Barcelona vs Real Sociedad (20:00 BST, LaLiga TV)

Premier League: Aston Villa vs Liverpool (20:00 BST, Sky Sports)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer: Yossi Benayoun

“It gives me… goose bubbles.”

-Jens Lehman on the atmosphere at Highbury