Opta predicts Man City's title chances fall by nearly 20% & Utd to finish 9th

Eight matches of data have altered figures predicting the final Premier League table as Manchester City's chances of a fourth consecutive title took a hit following defeats to Wolves and Arsenal.

The first two months of the season have thrown up plenty of suprises at the top of the table with Tottenham leading the way ahead of their north London rivals. Five teams have already finished the day at the top - two more than in the whole of the 2022-23 season.

Lower down the league lies the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea following their poor starts. While the newly-promoted sides have struggled to adapt to the step up in quality and occupy three of the bottom four spots.

In the updated analysis by Opta's supercomputer, which crunches 10,000 match simulations to forecast final standings, City have seen their chances of defending their crown fall by nearly 20 per cent.

The supercomputer gave them a 90.2 per cent chance of league success before the campaign but Pep Guardiola's side sit in third after suffering back-to-back league defeats and now have a 73.4 per cent chance of taking the title.

The biggest beneficiaries of this reduction are Arsenal and Liverpool, who have seen their chances rise by 7.3 and 8.7 per cent respectively.

Mikel Arteta's Gunners are unbeaten so far this term and secured a crucial confidence-boosting 1-0 win against the Cityzens before the international break. Their most likely finishing position remains second just ahead of Jurgen Klopp's side.

However, the early season pace-setters Tottenham have risen from a pre-season prediction of eighth into the top four. Ange Postecoglou has bagged successive Premier League Manager of the Month awards for his team's startling run which now has them tipped