The Opta supercomputer has confirmed that Arsenal remain the favourites to claim their maiden Champions League trophy after the final draw for the knockout stages of the competition took place on Friday morning.
Mikel Arteta’s side – who are still Premier League frontrunners after navigating a challenging winter spell – are in contention for an unprecedented quadruple this season after a run of consecutive near-misses in recent years.
While chasing the league remains a priority for many Gunners fans after successive second-place finishes, the chance to gain major European silverware for the first time is a tempting motivation for the squad as they enter the business end of the season.
And following Friday’s draw, chances of making the final in Budapest appear to have only intensified, after the north London team were drawn against Bayer Leverkusen.
Should they progress, their Blue pathway would see them then meet either Bodo/Glimt or Sporting Lisbon in the quarter-finals.
Their semi-final opponent could be one of the winners of either Newcastle versus Barcelona, or Atletico Madrid’s meeting with Tottenham.
Arsenal remain on-track to break new ground at Europe’s top table at the end of the season
Conveniently, the last 10 winners of the Champions League – Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid – are on the other ‘Silver’ pathway.
Despite being drawn amongst a pack with a stronger European pedigree however, Bayern Munich are the closest contenders to spoil Arsenal’s path, with Opta grading their 14.28 per cent chance of lifting the trophy second to the Gunners’ 27.40 per cent chance.
Fans of the English game will be pleased to note that four of the top six clubs with the highest chance of claiming glory in Hungary are from the Premier League with Liverpool and Manchester City – who play Galatasaray and Real Madrid in the round of 16 respectively – the third and fourth-likeliest to win the Champions League.
Liverpool, who would then play the winner of Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, have a 12.83 per cent chance, narrowly edging Man City, who have a 10.79 per cent chance.
Chelsea round out the cohort, with a significantly smaller 6.86 per cent chance, but the Blues will be confident heading into their match-up with the title-holders having beaten them roundly in the Club World Cup final last July.
Newcastle just miss out on making the top six with their 4.66 per cent chance of winning the trophy, having navigated their way through a one-sided play-off match-up with Azerbaijan side Qarabag.
The remaining Premier League team still in play in Europe’s top club competition, Tottenham, have a slender 1.22 per cent chance.
Igor Tudor’s injury-ravaged squad will likely throw full focus onto avoiding relegation one season on from winning the Europa League, with Atletico – who have a 2.00 per cent chance of winning the trophy – the favourites to make it into the quarter-finals.
Arsenal romped through the league phase to finish top of the table in the new-look model, with Liverpool, Man City, and Chelsea also qualifying automatically.
Of the favourites for the title, only PSG were forced to endure a more arduous route to the round of 16, sneaking a win over two legs against Ligue 1 rivals Monaco 5-4 on aggregate.
