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The biggest game of the season is upon us as Arsenal take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The Gunners remain the favourites to win the Premier League title, but many feel the game between the two sides on Sunday will determine who goes all the way.
The general feeling is that a Manchester City win will hand them the English league crown for the fifth time in the last six years.
Opta’s supercomputer, however, doesn’t necessarily agree.
What do you think will happen when Arsenal take on Man City?
Credit: Getty Images/Michael Regan What happened in Opta supercomputer’s 10,000 Man City vs Arsenal simulations
The game between Arsenal and Manchester City on Sunday is expected to be a very tight affair.
The reverse fixture at the Emirates ended 1-1 after a late Gabriel Martinelli goal. Pep Guardiola’s side surprisingly parked the bus for large parts of that game.
Nobody is expecting a goal fest when the two sides meet at the Etihad, and although City are the favourites, the game could go either way.
To get a good idea of what could happen, Opta ran 10,000 pre-match simulations on their supercomputer, and the results are not surprising.
Manchester City won 37.7 per cent of the time and Arsenal 35.8 per cent. That means it was a draw 26.5 per cent of the time.
As expected, Manchester City will be slight favourites to win the game, but that will not make them more likely to win the Premier League than Arsenal.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty ImagesThe percentage chance of Manchester City winning the Premier League title if they beat Arsenal
Manchester City fans are absolutely adamant that the Premier League title is theirs if they beat Arsenal on Sunday, while Gooners know that any other result will put them in a good position.
However, if Opta’s supercomputer is to be believed, Arsenal will remain favourites to become champions irrespective of the result at the Etihad.
🏆👀 I am feeling __% confident that Arsenal will win the Premier League title this season…
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
It has been revealed that if Mikel Arteta’s side win the game on Sunday, their chances of winning the Premier League will shoot up to 98 per cent, while a draw would drop that number to 81 per cent.
In case of a Manchester City win, you would imagine that the graph would turn completely, but Arsenal would still be the favourites with a 69 per cent chance of winning the title.
That, Opta claims, is because “the average strength of Arsenal’s remaining opponents is lower than that of the opponents City face” this season.
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