Mixed emotions among Nigeria EPL supporters, as Supercomputer predicts Elephant (Arsenal) will fall from the tree 

The biggest football shock of the 2022/20 football season, is Arsenal, a perennial underperformer in the English Premier League sitting on top of the table at week 31 in the 38 weeks league.

At the beginning of the season, many football aficionados posit that Arsenal will revert to its middle-table position and start struggling to finish in the top four, an ambition the club has even failed to achieve in recent years.

By midseason, Arsenal was still on top of the table and pessimists, especially EPL followers in Nigeria and supporters of rival clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool compared Arsenal lead to an elephant sitting on a tree branch that it will eventually fall.

But supporters of the London, especially those in Nigeria, daily quote the words of Bola Tinubu the president-elect in Nigeria who before the election told the world in Abeokuta that it was his turn to be elected president when he said, ‘Emilokan or Awaloka’.

Arsenal supporters believed the Elephant will remain till the end of the season and their slogan is ‘Awalokan or ‘Arsenal lokan’.

Now after spurning another two-goal lead on Sunday in a blow to their Premier League title hopes and supercomputer is predicting that Arsenal ‘ko lokan’.

The Gunners' 2-2 draw with West Ham means they now sit four points above Manchester City.

But Pep Guardiola's men have a game in hand and also host Arsenal at the Etihad on April 26.

As we head into the final run-in, back-to-back draws against Liverpool and West Ham have opened the door for the defending champions.

Meanwhile, Tottenham and Newcastle lost in the pursuit of a top-four place, while Leicester, Everton and Nottingham Forest were beaten as they fought to avoid the drop. So how does the supercomputer see the final Premier League table after the weekend's action?

Well, the algorithm produced by bettingexpert.com now has Man City as the narrow favourite to clinch the title.

 

But they can only separate the two title contenders on goal difference - with Guardiola's men projected to claim a fifth Premier League in six years as a result of scoring more and conceding fewer.

In the race for the top four, Manchester United and Newcastle are not expected to move positions between now and the end of May.

But Brighton is projected to leapfrog Tottenham into fifth place - guaranteeing Europa League football in the process.

Meanwhile, down the wrong end of the table, Leicester would appear to be doomed following their 3-1 defeat to Man City on Saturday.

However, the supercomputer is still predicting them to clamber out of the bottom three.

The projection is that Dean Smith will guide the Foxes to safety as Everton drops out of the top flight.

Sean Dyche's men would join Southampton and Nottingham Forest if the supercomputer's predictions are correct.

Just six points separate the bottom five ahead of Leeds' clash with Liverpool on Monday evening.

And there are some huge six-pointers this coming weekend as the Premier League edges towards its conclusion.

Among them include Arsenal vs Southampton, Crystal Palace vs Everton, Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest, Newcastle vs Tottenham and Bournemouth vs West Ham.

While Arsenal supporters are rejecting the computer prediction, their rivals in Nigeria are happy with it.