Manchester City and Arsenal go head to head in a Premier League title showdown on Wednesday – one of the biggest games in the English top flight for a decade. The Gunners lead the table by five points, but have played two games more than Pep Guardiola’s defending champions. Both sides know a win at Etihad Stadium will see them take control of the title race with only a month until the finish line. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, who were eight points clear at the start of the month, last won the title in 2003-04. Chasing a fifth Premier League title in six years, City are also in contention for a Treble, including the FA Cup and Champions League.
Data analysts Nielsen Gracenote currently rate City as having a 79% chance of winning the title. An Arsenal victory, though, would see them become the favourites with a 55% chance, while that would drop to 11% with a City success. If Arsenal win, they would still need victories in their final five games to be sure of the title. If City triumph, they would need to win six of their last seven matches to become champions for a third successive season.
Ex-Gunners striker Kevin Campbell said on the Football News Show: “There has been a wobble, there has been a creak and there has been a shake, but they haven’t broken. Arsenal have a great chance. They’ve got the best away record so what should they fear?” Richards added: “There were always going to be bumps along the road so, for Arsenal fans, I don’t think anything’s changed. It’s just going to the Etihad right now is a difficult task.” The pressure is off Arsenal, for sure, because everyone’s expecting Man City to win that game.
One potential, and huge, factor behind Arsenal’s recent blip has been the loss of France defender William Saliba to a back injury. They have conceded twice as many goals per game without him (1.8 v 0.9) and won 40% of games without him, compared to 77.8% when he has played.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, their rivals this season have been Manchester City – who seem to turn into a machine at this stage of the season. City have won 12 and drawn one of their past 13 games in all competitions. They are 16 games unbeaten too. Since Guardiola took over in 2016, City have taken between 21 and 30 points in their final 10 games of a Premier League season – an average of 2.44 points per game (including this season so far). It’s really good to be here,” Guardiola said. “After the first round of the Premier League Arsenal did, it was difficult to think we would be here in that moment.”
Arsenal are bidding for a first title since going unbeaten in the 2003-04 Premier League season under Arsene Wenger. Arteta played for the club from 2011 to 2016 and has managed them since 2019 – and won three FA Cups with them. The Gunners were only sixth favourites to win the title at the start of the season at odds of 50-1, behind Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United. That would be the longest odds by far of any champion since Leicester, famously 5000-1, lifted the title in 2015-16. City have been favourites to win the league every year since then and it will be five in six years if they succeed this time – a run not seen since Manchester United around the turn of the century.
Manchester City and Arsenal go head to head in a Premier League title showdown on Wednesday – one of the biggest games in the English top flight for a decade. Data analysts Nielsen Gracenote currently rate City as having a 79% chance of winning the title, while an Arsenal victory would see them become favourites with a 55% chance. If Arsenal win, they would still need victories in their final five games to be sure of the title. If City triumph, they would need to win six of their last seven matches to become champions for a third successive season.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, their rivals this season have been Manchester City – who seem to turn into a machine at this stage of the season. City have won 12 and drawn one of their past 13 games in all competitions and are 16 games unbeaten too. Since Guardiola took over in 2016, City have taken between 21 and 30 points in their final 10 games of a Premier League season – an average of 2.44 points per game (including this season so far).
Arsenal are bidding for a first title since going unbeaten in the 2003-04 Premier League season under Arsene Wenger. Arteta played for the club from 2011 to 2016 and has managed them since 2019 – and won three FA Cups with them. The Gunners were only sixth favourites to win the title at the start of the season at odds of 50-1, behind Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United. That would be the longest odds by far of any champion since Leicester famously lifted the title in 2015-16 at 5000-1. City have been favourites to win the league every year since then and it will be five in six years if they succeed this time – a run not seen since Manchester United around the turn of the century.