With 10 games left in the 2022–23 season, Arsenal can see the finish line, and it’s going to be a memorable one.
The Gunners have an eight-point lead over Manchester City in the Premier League standings after their 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace over the weekend, and even though the defending champions still have a game remaining, Mikel Arteta’s team currently has the upper hand.
Yet with trips to Anfield and the Etihad Stadium on the horizon, there is still a long way to go before Arsenal supporters can dream of seeing Martin Odegaard become the first captain to hold the Premier League trophy since Patrick Vieira in May 2004.
Nonetheless, the team from north London will defeat Man City to win the title with 94 points. This is due to the fact that Pep Guardiola’s team, who are presently in second place, can only attain the aforementioned points number by winning each and every one of their remaining 11 games.
There are still games involving teams competing for the championship or a spot in Europe, so only one team – however implausible it may be – has a chance of finishing the season with a perfect winning record. Of course, it would take an enormous collapse from the Gunners to finish below all seven teams.
Arsenal would need an additional 25 points to get to the necessary 94 points if City were to maintain their current perfect record through the end of May. As it stands, they have 69 points, so in a perfect world, they would need eight victories and one draw from their final 10 games to reach that goal.
But, with the top two set to square off at the Etihad Stadium in the next month, should the Arsenal triumph over City in the Premier League for the first time since December 2015, 91 points would be sufficient to repeat as English champions.
In the ideal case when Arteta’s team could withstand two losses, that translates to seven victories, including the Man City match, and a draw. Also, the likelihood of dropped points can only be advantageous to the Arsenal when the City citizens play Liverpool following the international break.
Having said that, it appears as though Arsenal will have a fantastic chance of winning if they can win six to eight of their remaining ten games.