“With 10 to play can Gunners outshoot the rest?”

The Premier League (PL) resumes this weekend with league leaders Arsenal 8 points clear of second placed Manchester City who have played one game less. Will The Gunners become PL Champions in May 2023. The table below based on points per game (pts./game) so far played may help our predictions for them and all Premier London Derbies (PLDs) Clubs.

Club                                                    pts./game                      predicted points/position

Arsenal                                                    2.46                                         94/1^st

Manchester City                                    2.26                                         86/2^nd

Manchester United                               1.92                                         73/3^rd

Tottenham Hotspur                              1.75                                         67/5^th

Newcastle United                                  1.81                                         69/4^th

Liverpool                                                 1.62                                         61/7^th

Brighton & Hove Albion                       1.68                                          64/6^th

Brentford                                                1.55                                          59/8^th

Fulham                                                    1.44                                          55/9^th

Chelsea                                                    1.41                                         53/10^th

Aston Villa                                               1.41                                         53/11th

Crystal Palace (12^th)                               0.96                                         37

West Ham United  (18^th)                       0.92                                         35

Southampton (20^th)                               0.82                                         31

The Clubs are listed in their current PL position down to Crystal Palace who are 12^th followed by West Ham United (18^th) and bottom Club Southampton (20^th). Chelsea (10^th) are the last to have a positive goal difference (GD +1) with Aston Villa also 1.41 pts/game but GD -4.

The PL Championship looks to be a two-horserace between Arsenal and last season’s Champions Manchester City. If they win their game in hand and beat The Gunners in the “6 pointer” to come it could be late heart ache for the brilliant young Arsenal team.

These points per game based predictions suggest Newcastle United will overtake Tottenham Hotspur into 4^th and the last Champions League place. Brighton and Hove Albion are also pushing to break into the “Big Six” hierarchy, but Liverpool are on a charge and may displace them. Chelsea, currently 10^th and predicted to stay there, may also get their act together and claim a European football place. Will Spurs, themselves in disarray, miss out?  

Crystal Palace are in their customary mid-table position but really in the relegation fight with the 9 bottom Clubs. None has taken more than 1.00 points per game (0.82 to 0.96), and none predicted to get the magic 38 points which usually avoids relegation. West Ham United’s dire position is only less so because they have 12 games still to play. They do however have to perform like Brentford (1.55 pts/game) and Fulham (1.44 pts/game), who may both miss out on European football, to turn things around. The Hammers play TheSaints on Sunday 2 April 2023 in a match worth 6 points and millions of pounds! 

Until next time, “keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.