Arsenal fans have revealed how hopeful they are for the remainder of the Premier League season as part of Sky Bet's Fan Hope Survey.

On a scale of 1-10 (1 being not optimistic at all, 10 being very optimistic) Arsenal fans ranked their hopes at 4.97 – placing them 17th in the overall Premier League rankings.

The results seem to support the turbulence which has become synonymous with being an Arsenal fan in recent seasons, with damning pessimism battling blind optimism and resulting somewhere in the middle.

Despite what appears to be another disappointing season at the Emirates Stadium, only 17% of Arsenal fans blame manager Mikel Arteta for their uninspiring league form, with 43% holding the players solely accountable.

Fans were asked what they believe to be the best-case outcome for the remainder of the season, with 33% of fans believing that qualifying for the Europa League should be the main target. A very pessimistic 27% believed that Arsenal should simply settle for a top half finish, whilst 37% were still hoping for a top 4 finish and return to Champions League football.

In terms of transfers, supporters see the centre of the team as the area in most urgent need of re-enforcements. Despite considerable investment this season in Thomas Partey, 30% of Arsenal fans want to see the acquisition of a new central midfielder prioritised ahead of next season.

The research was completed by Sky Bet and YouGov as part of The Fan Hope Survey Round 2.

The research asked fans of each Premier League club a series of questions about their expectations of the new season.