With 18 games to go, Arsenal are on course to win the 2022/23 Premier League title.
Arsenal had an incredible first half of the season in the Premier League, with the Gunners heading into the second half of the campaign with a five-point lead over Manchester City with a game in hand. A loss to Everton in their most recent outing has dampened the mood slightly, but with 16 wins from 20 games so far, there's nothing to be upset about.
The January transfer window saw Jorginho, Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior arrive at the Emirates Stadium as Mikel Arteta strengthened his squad depth. Despite Arsenal's current lead over City, the two are yet to face each other in the Premier League, so the title race could be blown wide open based on the outcome of those two clashes.
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So, could Arsenal maintain their lead throughout the remainder of the season and win the Premier League? Let's take a look.
We simulated the remainder of Arsenal's 2022/23 Premier League season
We used the Football Manager 2023 editor to update all teams, managers and playing squads of all Premier League teams, whilst also using the Football Manager 2023 editor to replicate the current Premier League table as it is in real life. We then simulated from February 9 until the end of the season in-game.
The most important fixtures in the second half of Arsenal's season look to be their clashes with Man City, and the Gunners won one and lost the other, with Bukayo Saka scoring twice in a 3-0 win at home. Despite dropping points a few more times over the course of the season, the Gunners continued to push on and won the Premier League.
In the final 18 games of the season, Arsenal drew four and lost two as they dropped more points than in the first half of the season, with Arteta's side ending the campaign on 90 points. Their title-winning tally was seven points more than Man City in second, whilst they finished 13 clear of Man United in third and 25 ahead of Newcastle in fourth.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Arsenal XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is how the best Gunners XI looked in 2022/23 according to FM23.
Full Arsenal best XI (4-3-3): Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Odegaard, Xhaka; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
The Arsenal best XI was pretty straightforward, with the only questionable difference being that Kieran Tierney beat Oleksandr Zinchenko to the left-back position. None of the January signings made the best XI with Trossard and Jorginho making most of their appearances from the bench or in the Europa League, whilst Eddie Nketiah missed out after Gabriel Jesus returned to the XI.
Arsenal were handed a tough test in the Europa League Round of 16 where they face Barcelona, but a 1-0 win over the two legs kicked off their fantastic Europa League run. Victories against Ajax and Sevilla sent the Gunners through to the final against Real Betis, and goals from Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah secured a 3-1 win as Arsenal won the double.
Overall, FM23 predicts that the Gunners could have a fantastic 2022/23 season, with Arteta's side winning the Premier League and Europa League in the simulation. The added depth in January allowed Arsenal to compete in both the Premier League and Europa League, with Trossard and Jorginho regulars in the latter.
Would you be happy with this outcome for Arsenal at the end of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign? Let us know in the comments below!
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