Seen enough

Despite the English Premier League season only being around its halfway point, online sportsbook Stake has already decided to pay out on Arsenal to win the title. The operator announced the early payout on Monday, covering all single bets on the Gunners finishing the season as champions.

fans who had the faith at the start of term won’t have to wait any longer to be paid out”

Talking about why Stake is making the call so early, the operator’s head of sportsbook marketing Jarrod Febbraio said: “We’ve seen enough of the Gunners to make the decision to pay out on all bets for them to be crowned champions, so fans who had the faith at the start of term won’t have to wait any longer to be paid out.”

A surprise table topper

Arsenal is currently five points clear of second place Manchester City and has a game in hand. The Gunners still have 19 games left to play this season, so it is no certainty that they will hold onto their position at the top of the table over the coming months.

Arsenal has been a surprise this season, having not been on the radar as being potential champions when the season kicked off in August. Mikael Arteta’s men have been very impressive to date and the team is full of confidence.

They haven’t won the Premier League since 2004. when the team was dotted with global superstars like Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, and Robert Pires. At the start of the 2022-2023 season, Arsenal was 28/1 to win the EPL and was about fifth in the rankings. They still have some big games left to play this season, including home and away fixtures against defending champions Manchester City.

Still work to do

Over the years, other teams have had big leads in the Premier League only to see the title slip through their hands following a bad run. Perhaps the starkest example was when Newcastle United blew the title despite being 12 points clear at the top of the table in the 1995-1996 season with eight games left.

Arteta told the media that the team has a lot to work on?

Arsenal boss Arteta has been telling his players that the season is nowhere near over and warned of getting complacent. Following his side’s thrilling 3-2 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday, Arteta told the media that the team has a lot to work on and that improvement needs to happen on a daily basis.