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Can Arsenal still snatch a top 4 place when football returns?

By mac14 on March 24, 2020

The Premier League are reportedly determined to finish the 2019/20 season when it’s safe to do so after seeing the campaign locked-down following the Coronavirus outbreak. Can Arsenal still snatch a top four place when football finally returns? Let’s take a look….

Arsenal have endured a tough season that saw Unai Emery sacked following a disastrous opening few months and results have hardly improved since Mikel Arteta was unveiled as the clubs new permanent coach in December.

We currently languish way down in ninth position in the Premier League table having won just 9 games this season so on the face of it Arsenal look to have virtually no chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

However, we hold a game in hand over the majority of our rivals and victory would see us climb level on points with sixth-placed Wolves – just two points behind Manchester United and five adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.

A five point swing is certainly not insurmountable over the final nine games of the season, particularly given how inconsistent all of our rivals have also been this campaign, so there is still hope Arsenal can get back in the mix for the top four.

Bookmaker odds

However, despite the quiet optimism in north London, the bookmakers don’t believe Arsenal are serious contenders for a top four finish as the sport bets experts have the Gunners priced as the 14/1 outsiders to snatch fourth place this season.

That’s behind Sheffield United [11/1] and Wolves [8/1], while Manchester United are priced at 11/8 with the bookies and Chelsea are understandably the 8/11 favourites as they currently sit in pole position.

So if the odds are anything to go by, Arsenal have virtually no chance of finishing in the top four, however, we could yet sneak into the Champions League by finishing fifth – all thanks to Manchester City.

The defending champions – who currently sit second in the table – are facing a ban from all European competition next season and if their appeal is rejected, City’s spot in the Champions League would go to the team who finishes fifth. Man Utd are just five points ahead of Arsenal but they’ve played a game more so it’s all still to play for.

Obviously we don’t know when football will eventually return but when it does, Arteta will be looking to hit the ground running as Arsenal have a decent run of games coming up against Brighton, Sheffield United, Norwich and Wolves.

If we can claim 9-10 points from those four games then I expect Arsenal to be right on the coat tails of Man Utd and possibly even Chelsea if they suffer a poor run of form. Then it would be an exciting finish to the season to see who finishes in the top four and who qualifies for the Champions League.