Premier League title race: Why Arsenal will have to create history to pip Liverpool to first place

Prior to their meeting with West Ham United on February 22, second-placed Arsenal were sitting eight points adrift of Liverpool with a game in hand.

However, they have seen that gap extend to 13 points after taking just one point from their last two Premier League outings.

The Gunners fell to a narrow home defeat against West Ham United, before they were held to a goalless draw in Wednesday's away meeting with Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal's failure to sign a striker in the January transfer window appears to be costing them, with the Gunners currently operating without a natural number nine due to injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

Arsenal need to make history to clinch title

With 11 matches left to play, Arsenal now need to create Premier League history if they are to clinch their first title since the invincible season of 2003-04.

No team in the history of the competition has ever overturned a double-digit deficit after 27 games to win the Premier League title.

Arsenal do hold the current record after they chased down a nine-point gap to Manchester United in the final 11 games of the 1997-98 season to win their first title under Arsene Wenger.

The Gunners were actually behind 13 points Man United at one point of that campaign, but that sizeable margin was at an earlier stage of the season.

Arsenal left with minimal chance

Unfortunately for Arsenal, Statisticians Opta are only giving them a 1.3% chance of staging a sensational comeback to pip Liverpool to the title.

It is 98.7% likely that the Reds will win their first league title since 2019-20 when they were unable to celebrate in front of their own supporters due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, it now seems just a matter of time until Liverpool supporters can celebrate a second Premier League triumph and a 20th top-flight title.

Liverpool's next Premier League outing will take place against Southampton on March 8, while Arsenal will travel to Old Trafford for a meeting with Manchester United on March 9.

However, before those games, Liverpool and Arsenal will compete in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 against Paris Saint-Germain and PSV Eindhoven respectively.

Written by

Ben Sully