Arsenal's title-chasing side have been ranked as the sixth best team of all time in a controversial new ranking.
After finishing second three years in a row, the Gunners are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League and are hopeful of winning the title for the first time since 2004.
Mikel Arteta's men are also competing on all fronts, with a Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on the horizon as well as a Champions League round of 16 clash and a FA Cup quarter final.
According to ClubElo, Arsenal are currently the best team in the world ahead of fellow big-hitters Bayern Munich, City, Liverpool and Barcelona.
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But remarkably, the ranking system has Arsenal at sixth in a top 10 list alongside some of the greatest sides in history.
The legendary MTK Budapest 1955 side came in at tenth, with Fabio Capello's AC Milan from 1993 in the No.9 spot.
Real Madrid featured on two occasions with their sides from 1961 and 2014, with Jurgen Klopp's title-winning Liverpool crop from 2019/20 taking fifth place.
The list is dominated by Pep Guardiola sides, with his treble-winning City team in fourth and his Barcelona and Bayern Munich groups finishing in the top two.
Top 10 list with Elo in full:
1.Barcelona (2012) - 2110
2.Bayern Munich (2014) - 2106
3.Real Madrid (2014) - 2099
4.Manchester City (2023) - 2093
5.Liverpool (2020) - (2091)
6.Arsenal (2026) - 2070
7.Real Madrid (1961) - 2069
8.Bayern Munich (2020) - 2066
9.AC Milan (1993) - 2052
10.Hun
What are Elo rankings?
The rating system is a complex one and originally stemmed from rating chess players. It was then applied to a plethora of other sports which are zero-sum games, including football.
Teams begin with a rating and an expected result is calculated - with home advantage factoring into proceedings. Normally the home team is given +100 points to shift probabilities.
A new rating is determined by the old rating added to match importance (K factor) and multiplied by the actual score (where a win is 1, a draw is 0.5 and a loss is 0) subtracted by the expected result.
Goal difference also comes into play, with a bigger win bringing a higher rating.
In ClubElo's system, two-legged games are considered one long game and the aggregate result "determines the total number of exchanged points".
With this equation and formula done repeatedly, there is now resets and ratings continue to be updated after every game. All teams are also given a peak date.
It is considered to be a better way of working than the previous FIFA ranking system, which was considered to be flawed.
Arsenal could well climb up the overall rankings if they continue to perform at such a high level and finish with silverware.
Topics: Arsenal
Josh Lawless