The Premier League race is getting tighter and tighter, with table-toppers Arsenal losing points in two consecutive rounds after taking a 2-0 lead, almost evaporating their advantage at the top of the table, and only four points ahead of City, who have played one game less. However, considering the form and fixtures of the two teams, the analysis by authoritative data company Opta predicts that Arsenal's chances of winning the Cup are only 34.4%, and the consensus view is for City to defend the cup successfully.
Arsenal's last 7 league matches will be hard fought, and after hosting Southampton in the early hours of Saturday morning (22nd), they will face a hellish schedule with 4 tough opponents in a row, including Manchester City (away), Chelsea (home), Newcastle (away) and Brighton (home). According to Opta's sophisticated data prediction system, Arsenal's chances of winning the Cup before this round of EPL are 46.9%, slightly behind City (53.1%), but after losing another point against Westham, the chances of winning the Cup dropped to 34.4%, while City's chances of winning the Cup rose to 65.6%.
Arsenal striker Gabriel Jenksis said after the game: "We lost points again in a good situation, we played well for the first 20 minutes, but after taking a 2-goal lead, we just put the oil on the fire, which shouldn't happen to a team competing for the title. We don't have time to blame each other, we have to improve our standard, and we have to keep on winning to have a chance to be in the contenders' position in the next month.
