<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->Arsene Wenger has claimed that Chelsea will continue a trend this season of winning the Premier League without what he calls “big possession” and says football may need a radical rethink if teams are not rewarded for taking the initiative.

Chelsea can clinch the Premier League title on Friday night should they beat West Bromwich Albion but are only sixth this season in terms of possession, while Leicester City won last season’s title when they were 18th in that ranking with an average only of 42.43 per cent of the ball.

With Arsenal now facing a major struggle to qualify for the Champions League, Wenger also pointed out how clubs not involved in Europe’s elite competition were performing so strongly domestically. “It raises questions,” he said. “There are two kinds. The last two seasons, teams who have not had big possession won the league and, as well, the teams who were not involved in Europe at all won the league. We will see how Chelsea respond next season.”

Of the possession issue and whether it challenged whether Arsenal should change, Wenger said: “Over a longer period it is still the teams who have the most possession. I still think a sport has to encourage initiative and if it rewards too much teams who don’t take the initiative, then we have to rethink the whole process because people will not, for ever, come to watch teams who do not want to take the initiative.