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LONDON. — Sam Allardyce has told old enemy Arsene Wenger that he has missed his best chance of regaining the English Premier League soccer title. Big Sam’s relegation-threatened Sunderland side lost 0-2 to surprise leaders Leicester City yesterday at the Stadium of Light. And Allardyce says the Foxes are top due to the failings of the so-called elite – including Wenger’s Arsenal, who have not won the title for 12 years.

Allardyce, often at odds with Wenger in his days as Bolton boss, said: “Arsenal won’t have a better time to win the league than this season. “A normal season would have seen Leicester, with the season they have had, maybe finishing in the top four, which would been miraculous.

“But they have had an opportunity that, without any doubt, Arsenal have missed. “Leicester have taken it and Arsenal have lost it.

“We were all saying, ‘What a chance for Arsenal’. They were going to take advantage of the Man City, Chelsea and Man United slip-ups and win the league. But Leicester have shown everybody how to do it.’’

Allardyce insists former Leicester boss Nigel Pearson, who worked with him at Newcastle, deserves some credit for their success.

Pearson was sacked after masterminding the Foxes’ great escape last season.

But Allardyce said: “I know Nigel extremely well and it’s sad he lost that opportunity. It must be frustrating for him to be looking at his boys and thinking. ‘If only’.”

Big Sam’s own future rests on Sunderland beating the drop – and crunch end-of-season talks with owner Ellis Short.

He said: “It depends where we finish and what happens when me and Ellis talk. “I don’t want to be relegated from the Premier League for the first time in my career.’’

Arsenal manager Wenger, meanwhile, conceded it will be “difficult” to win the English Premier League title after his side squandered more points in an entertaining 3-3 draw at West Ham United.

The north Londoners are now 10 points behind leaders Leicester City after Saturday’s draw, in which Laurent Koscielny equalised after Andy Carroll’s hat-trick had seen West Ham come from 2-0 down to lead.

“Do we still have an opportunity to win the title? I don’t know,” said Wenger. “We made it more difficult today. We are third in the league with 59 points and it is not where we want to be.

“It is difficult now to be champions, but we have to keep going because you never know what can happen. There are also clubs chasing us, so it is important to finish as high as we can.

“But I’m not here after the game to blame the players. We are disappointed to concede three goals. Particularly after 2-1. Overall, it’s a shame.”

Arsenal were in control of the game as they led 2-0 after 35 minutes, with 19-year-old Nigerian starlet Alex Iwobi setting up goals for Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.

But then Carroll, making a rare start for West Ham, produced a hat-trick in the space of just eight minutes. — The Daily Star.