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Football London
Football London
Sport
Luke Thrower

Supercomputer predicts Arsenal's Europa League title chances amid Man Utd and PSV battle

Arsenal kickstart their Europa League campaign on Thursday when they travel to Switzerland to face FC Zurich in their first Group A clash. While they would have preferred playing on a Tuesday or Wednesday night in another European competition, the Gunners will be wanting to give a good account of themselves after a year without any continental involvement.

Mikel Arteta will also be hoping his side can register victory after defeat to Manchester United at the weekend, losing 3-1 despite a dominating performance. When asked whether the first loss of the season would linger, the Spaniard told the media: "It won’t happen.

"That won’t happen because the performance is there and we know what we lacked today - the details to lose the game. You are here and you have a very different performance with the same result and then it’s a hard one to take because you are questioning your level. I don’t think there’s any question about the level there."

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta maintains Pep Guardiola blueprint as Arsenal 'make £26m bid' for ex-Man City star

The early stages of the Europa League could provide a good testing ground as well as a place for rotation while weaker opposition remain in the competition. However, as it progresses, it could prove to be an ideal route back into the Champions League as well as a trophy up for grabs.

There could also be plenty of confidence going into the competition too, with a supercomputer backing Arsenal as favourites to win the whole thing. FiveThirtyEight currently give the Gunners the best chance of winning with 10% - double that of the nearest competitors.

Those are Arsenal's group rivals PSV Eindhoven, and Manchester United - both on 5%. The simulation also takes into account teams that drop from the Champions League, with the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich given a slimmer chance if they do happen to drop into the competition.

It could prove a promising early indication for Arteta as to where his side are ranked. However, it remains to be seen if the competition and their season pans out as predicted.

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