Supercomputer Predicts Premier League Winner as Man City Go Top After 5-3 Thriller vs Sunderland
- Manchester City beat Sunderland 5-3 in an eight-goal thriller to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League
- Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick for Sunderland while Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo were on target for City
- Opta's supercomputer still gives Arsenal the highest chance of winning the Premier League title this season despite their defeat to Brighton
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Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League table with a hard-fought 5-3 victory over Sunderland on Sunday, September 20, going three points clear ahead of the international break with a perfect record.
Enzo Fernandez broke the deadlock just nine minutes in, whipping a free-kick into the near post for his first goal since his £125 million move from Chelsea.
Source: Getty Images
According to BBC Sport, Sunderland responded quickly, however, with Enzo le Fee threading a brilliant pass through to Brian Brobbey, who slotted past Gianluigi Donnarumma to level.
Man City restored their advantage through Rayan Cherki after catching Sunderland playing out from the back, only for Brobbey to score again, this time converting Thomas Meunier's unselfish square pass following another precise delivery from Le Fee.
Semenyo and Haaland seal win for Man City
Antoine Semenyo put Man City back in front two minutes before half-time with a sweetly struck finish, before adding a second shortly after the break when a misplaced pass from Marc Guehi fell kindly into his path and he drilled a left-footed effort into the far corner.
Brobbey completed his first senior hat-trick moments later, bundling home after Granit Xhaka's clever pass found Nilson Angulo, who laid the ball across goal.
Man City were made to work hard to hold on, with Donnarumma dropping a high ball and Ruben Dias forced to hook the loose touch off his own goalline.
Erling Haaland eventually settled the contest nine minutes from time, sliding in at the back post to convert Josko Gvardiol's cross.
The goal was initially flagged for offside before a VAR review confirmed Gvardiol had timed his run perfectly.
Haaland has now scored against every Premier League side he has faced.
Opta Supercomputer still backs Arsenal
Despite Man City's rise to the summit, Opta's supercomputer continues to favour Arsenal to retain the Premier League title.
The Gunners, who sit second with 12 points from five games after a shock defeat to Brighton, have been assigned a 43.5% probability of winning the league this season.
Man City are second in the probability standings at 40.9%, with Liverpool at 4.4%, Brighton at 3.9%, and Manchester United at 1.0%.
Previous Opta supercomputer prediction
Earlier, Legit.ng reported about Arsenal’s rising chances of retaining the Premier League title after their 2-0 win over Sunderland. Opta’s supercomputer now gives Mikel Arteta’s side a 58.94% chance of lifting the trophy.
The match changed after Sunderland’s Enzo Le Fee missed a crucial penalty that could have put the hosts ahead. Bruno Guimaraes and Bukayo Saka then struck to keep Arsenal’s perfect start alive and move them more than 30 percentage points ahead of Manchester City in the projections.
Source: Legit.ng
