"Five of the six English teams qualified automatically for the last 16 as Arsenal (first), Liverpool (third), Tottenham (fourth), Chelsea (sixth) and Manchester City (eighth) finished in the top-eight spots. Newcastle United were the only Premier League side not to qualify automatically with the Magpies' 12th-place finish seeing them enter a play-off spot to join the aforementioned quintet. The draw for the play-offs will take place at 11am (GMT) Friday morning with the first legs across February 17-18 and the return fixtures a week after on February 24-25."
"Arsenal finished top of the league phase with a flawless eight wins from eight and they are predicted to go on and win the competition for the first time in their history. Before the league phase started, Opta's supercomputer conducted 10,000 simulations and had Arsenal second-favourites to conquer Europe at 16 per cent. Fast-forward several months to now and that percentile has nearly doubled with Mikel Arteta's side at a staggering 29.8 per cent to win it all from the latest simulations taken on Thursday."
"This is not only based on their European form, but their domestic too with the north London outfit top of the Premier League table. Furthermore, the Gunners are backed at 47.1 per cent to reach the final - something they haven't done since losing the 2006 showpiece to Barcelona."
The league phase of the Champions League concluded with all 36 teams competing across 18 matches. Five of six English teams qualified automatically for the last 16: Arsenal (first), Liverpool (third), Tottenham (fourth), Chelsea (sixth) and Manchester City (eighth). Newcastle United finished 12th and entered a play-off spot, with the play-off draw scheduled for 11am (GMT) Friday and ties across February 17-25. Arsenal won all eight group matches and lead Opta simulations as favourites with a 29.8% probability to win the competition and 47.1% to reach the final. Bayern Munich are second-favourites at 14.9%.
Read at Mail Online
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