We’re in the home stretch of the Premier League season, and Arsenal have turned their catbird seat into a dog-eat-dog scrap for the title.
The Gunners now barely have an edge in the title race, with a six-point lead on the table but one further match played than City and a looming visit to the Etihad Stadium on April 19.
MORE — Premier League fixtures & results | Current table
Cup wins and losses have simplified the schedules of both title race leaders Arsenal and chasers Manchester City, as the Gunners are out of the FA Cup while Man City have exited the Champions League ahead of the aforementioned match between the Nos. 1 and 2 teams.
Oh, and Arsenal are in the thick of an almost unthinkable slump that’s given City the keys to the title fight.
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Arsenal have been on pace for 83-86 points this season and it may be possible that mid-80s is set to become the new norm for a champion of the deepest top division the football world’s seen in its celebrated history. Winners with 90+ point totals became more normal over the past decade, but the depth of competition is so strong that the three centurions (Chelsea once, Man City twice) of the past decade or so already feel like outliers.
Premier League title race — Fixtures list changes give hope to Man City
For much of the year, this part of the fixture list was going to be a nightmare for Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s men were set to return to the international break for an FA Cup quarterfinal and a pair of Champions League quarterfinal legs dropped around Premier League matches with Chelsea and Arsenal.
Yet City lost to Real Madrid in the Round of 16 and came back to England after the break with a thumping of Arsenal in the League Cup. Now Guardiola and assistant Pep Ljinders will gear up for a league rematch against the Gunners with a full week’s preparation between matches while Arsenal tangle with Sporting Lisbon away before their big meeting with City at the Etihad.
However, City will still have more league fixture congestion — at least in a sense — than Arsenal because of the Gunners’ FA Cup exit. Arsenal have already played a rescheduled FA Cup game while there are unannounced kickoff dates for City’s matches with Crystal Palace and a pushed forward match versus Burnley on April 22. There’s also the matter of City’s fixture with Bournemouth should they reach the FA Cup Final. Arsenal should not have any further Premier League fixture changes.
Arsenal remaining schedule
*if necessary
April 15 vs Sporting Lisbon, Champions League quarterfinal 2nd leg
April 19 at Manchester City
April 25 vs Newcastle United
*April 28-29 Champions League semifinal 1st leg
May 2 vs Fulham
*May 5-6 Champions League semifinal 2nd leg
May 10 at West Ham United
May 17 vs Burnley
May 24 at Crystal Palace
*May 30 Champions League Final
Man City remaining schedule
*if necessary
#will/could be rescheduled
#March 21 vs Crystal Palace — to be rescheduled
April 19 vs Arsenal
April 22 at Burnley
April 25 vs Southampton at Wembley Stadium, FA Cup semifinals
May 4 at Everton
May 9 vs Brentford
*May 16 FA Cup Final
May 17 at Bournemouth#
May 24 vs Aston Villa
Premier League title race projected point totals
- Arsenal — 85 points
- Man City — 85 points
This really will come down to April 18. The Gunners’ Week 32 loss to Bournemouth left them with a nine-point lead. City have two matches-in-hand including Sunday’s clash with Chelsea. City going on an 8-game heater is a big ask but they’ve won six-straight this season and Arsenal could also drop more points somewhere else (though they face a very-straightforward run-in aside from their potential Champions League semifinal legs. But here’s the thing — goal differential could very well matter here and Arsenal’s fixture list gives them more chances to do that. Maybe we’ll see the wide-open Gunners we’ve wanted for most of the season.
