The majority of BBC pundits tipped Arsenal to finish outside of the top four this season, as they made their predictions ahead of the opening weekend.
Arsenal got their new Premier League season off to a good start on Friday, with a 2-0 win away to Crystal Palace, but BBC pundits weren’t so confident about the Gunners ahead of that opening game.
Going into the campaign, Arsenal had a strong pre-season schedule, thrashing Premier League and Champions League clubs like Chelsea and Sevilla.
That had the fans full of confidence for the season, and an opening-day win will have done nothing to dull their spirits. Supporters can bet on Arsenal with bitcoin to put money on their club this year.
Yet the BBC’s punditry team aren’t so sure about Arsenal’s chances.
Of the 23 TV and radio pundits to give their top-four predictions, only eight of them believed Arsenal would make it in. None of them predicted Arsenal to finish any higher than fourth, nor to finish above Spurs.
The only big-six team to receive a more pessimistic prediction was Manchester United, who were only picked to finish in the top-four by three pundits.
Though even United had one pundit putting them higher than fourth, with Rob Green selecting them for third.
The BBC’s overall predicted ranking expects Arsenal to finish fifth this season, with Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea ahead of them – in that order.
It’s a similar story with the bookies after the opening weekend, with Manchester City obviously the favourites to finish in the top four, followed by Liverpool. Though most oddsmakers have Chelsea in third ahead of Spurs at this stage.
Arsenal come in at fifth, predicted to miss out on Champions League football once again.
From a Gunners perspective, it feels like the neutrals are being overly cynical about Arsenal’s chances.
Gabriel Jesus has given the team a big boost in attack, just as William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko have done in defence.
Arsenal still have Takehiro Tomiyasu and Fabio Vieira to return from injury, both of whom could have a significant chance of breaking into the starting lineup this season.
The club may not be done with their transfer business either, as David Ornstein reports they’d still like a winger and could perhaps look to bring in Youri Tielemans, depending on outgoings.
For a team that came so close to finishing in the top-four last season, a young squad with another year of experience under their belts, a top-four finish seems very possible.