Arsenal took a massive step towards Champions League qualification against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday night.
Having gobbled up all three points at Molineux just a matter of days ago, the pressure was on the Gunners to repeat their feat by getting the better of Bruno Lage's men in front of their own fans.
However, they didn't exactly make the most promising of starts with Gabriel playing an under-hit back pass to Aaron Ramsdale that allowed Hwang Hee-chan to round the Arsenal goalkeeper and open the scoring.
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves
As such, Arsenal had to dig deep if they were to maintain their momentum in the top four race, and they ended up doing exactly that by scoring one of their most dramatic Premier League goals of the season.
First, with less than 10 minutes left on the clock, Nicolas Pepe pulled the north London side back into the game with a delicious turn and finish in the penalty area.
Then, no less than five minutes deep into stoppage time, Arsenal sparked scenes of delirium at Emirates Stadium when Alexandre Lacazette's shot found the back of the net via Jose Sa's glove.
The top four race
It truly was a stunning comeback upon which great seasons can be made with Arsenal now sitting in fifth place just one point behind Manchester United with two games in hand over their rivals.
Marry that to Tottenham Hotspur sitting six points behind having lost four of their last five games as well as both Wolves and West Ham United trailing despite playing more matches and things are looking pretty rosy for Arsenal.
However, as any Gooner will know, it would be premature to get too excited about hearing that Champions League anthem after so long when there are still 14 'cup finals' left to play.
As such, Arsenal fans will have to forgive us for potentially tempting fate as we look at how the runners and riders for Champions League football are looking after such a seismic result in the race.
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Every top four contender's chances
And there's arguably no better way to assess how the contenders are lining up than by turning to the data analysts over at FiveThirtyEight.
The master mathematicians predict everything from politics and science with their in-depth algorithm, which you can read more about here, allowing them to make forecasts for the final Premier League table.
So, bearing that in mind, we couldn't resist seeing what they predicted for each top four contender's chances of qualifying for the Champions League - and you can check out the fascinating results down below:
5. West Ham United - 3% chance
4. Wolverhampton Wanderers - 3% chance
3. Tottenham Hotspur - 12% chance
2. Manchester United - 24% chance
- Arsenal - 61% chance
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - February 24, 2022 Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette celebrates with Eddie Nketiah and Aaron Ramsdale after the match REUTERS/Tony Obrien EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Arsenal leading the way
Naturally, we've made the assumption that Manchester City and Liverpool (<99%), as well as Chelsea (97%), will safely qualify while teams with a chance deemed lower than 1% have also been left off.
But either way, the data really does speak for itself because Arsenal are clear favourites to take the final Champions League qualification spot with a deemed likelihood well above a 50:50 chance.
Besides, if the Gunners can win their two games in hand and Chelsea don't win their 26th league game of the season, there's even a remarkable possibility where they could move into third position.
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves Match Reaction (Football Terrace)
Of course, it would be a very dangerous game for Arsenal fans to start dreaming of usurping Chelsea, but the simple fact of the matter is that they have it in their hands to return to the European big time.
And there's no escaping just how astonishing that really is when you consider that we're talking about a very young squad with limited depth being managed by a coach in their first role as number one.
So, loath it as much as you like, but the data suggests that Arsenal's plucky underdogs are on course to beat Antonio Conte, Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the chasing pack to Champions League football.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - February 24, 2022 Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale celebrates after the match REUTERS/Tony Obrien EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
