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Arsenal backed to miss out on top 4 once again next season

By on August 19, 2020

Arsenal are being backed to miss out on the top four once again next season with bookmakers believing Man City, Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea will all finish above the Gunners.

The 2019/20 campaign was certainly a turbulent one for Arsenal. Following a disastrous opening few months, Unai Emery was sacked in late November and former winger Freddie Ljungberg was installed as caretaker until a permanent replacement was found.

Mikel Arteta was eventually announced as Emery’s successor just before Christmas but it was clear the Spaniard had a huge job on his hands to turn things around. He struggled to get consistent results in the Premier League and we crashed out of the Europa League at the hands of Olympiacos at the last-16 stage.

The enforced break between March and June obviously didn’t help matters and a poor run-in saw Arsenal end-up finishing eighth in the table – our worst Premier League finish in over 25 years.

However, thankfully we salvaged something from the season after Arteta led Arsenal to the FA Cup with impressive wins over Manchester City in the semi’s and Chelsea in the final. Victory at Wembley not only secured our fourth FA Cup in seven years but it also ensured we’ll be playing Europa League football next season.

The FA Cup win has given Arsenal fans hope ahead of the new campaign, however, Arteta has a huge task on his hands to get us competitive again as we finished 43 points behind champions Liverpool and 10 points off fourth-placed Chelsea.

Bookies back Arsenal to miss out

The majority of betting websites are backing Arsenal to miss out on Champions League football once again next season as the Gunners are currently 3/1 to finish in the top four. That’s the same odds as Tottenham but Chelsea [8/13], Man Utd [2/5], Liverpool [1/12] and Man City [1/20] are all expected to finish above Arsenal once again next season.

The bookmakers clearly feel we haven’t done enough yet this summer to bridge the gap on the teams above us so Arteta needs to work some magic in the transfer market if Arsenal are to get competitive again.

We’ve signed Willian on a free transfer and he should help add some creativity in the final third but Arsenal desperately need to strengthen in defence and midfield before the start of the 2019/20 campaign.

Gabriel is being strongly linked with a move amid reports Arsenal have agreed a £22m deal with Lille for the Brazilian centre-back. The 22-year-old would be a terrific signing and could line-up alongside William Saliba in a new-look partnership next season.

Thomas Partey continued to be touted as Arteta’s first choice midfield target but Arsenal will need to offload Matteo Guendouzi and/or Lucas Torreira to make room for the Atletico Madrid star – who has a £45m release clause.

If Arsenal can sign Gabriel and Partey this summer then we should see those 3/1 odds to finish in the top four come down significantly ahead of the new campaign.