Manchester City beat Brentford on Saturday evening to ensure the Premier League title race against Arsenal goes down to the wire
Manchester City picked up a crucial 3-0 victory against Brentford on Saturday to keep the Premier League title race against Arsenal alive. Goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush sealed the win to take Pep Guardiola’s side to within two points of the Gunners before they face West Ham United on Sunday.
Despite beating the Bees on the third last weekend of the Premier League season, City still have nine points to play for. Crystal Palace are the next visitors to Etihad Stadium with that clash – rearranged from Carabao Cup final weekend – taking place next Wednesday evening.
Their FA Cup final against Chelsea next Saturday means another midweek clash for City, six days on from taking on Palace with Bournemouth as their opponents. Andoni Iraola’s side are unbeaten since January and in a great position to finish sixth, which could mean Champions League football and thus presents City with quite the challenge.
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They end the season against Europa League finalists Aston Villa, with Unai Emery and his players heading north just a few days after facing Freiburg in Istanbul. As for Arsenal, the title race remains in their hands, and they can take one step closer to it with maximum points against the Hammers.
Arsenal then have an eight-day rest before hosting Burnley on Monday, May 18, in their final home match of the season. Winning the title in front of their own fans is a possibility if City drop points against Palace.
It is more than likely, however, that the Gunners will have to wait until the final day of the season against Crystal Palace to claim their first title in two decades.
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Similarly, to Villa, Oliver Glasner’s side are in a European final as they face Rayo Vallecano for the Conference League just three days after facing Arsenal.
Arteta’s side almost certainly have the easier remaining fixtures with the context of what their opponents are playing for also considered. A trip to Selhurst Park is far from straightforward but Glasner seems set to rest some key players.
Ahead of their clash with Everton, he was asked about exactly that. “To be honest, if somebody criticises for me, sorry, if I can say this, it would be nonsense,” he said.
“It’s just the last game but there were 37 games played before. That means if another team on matchday 25 rotated against City or Arsenal they affected the title race as well.
“I’m not responsible for Arsenal, I’m not responsible for Manchester City, I’m responsible for Crystal Palace and I get paid for doing the best things for Crystal Palace and not for City and not for Arsenal.
“Again, I don’t know what we’re doing yet. Maybe we’ll be playing with the same line-up that we’ll play against Vallecano but again, maybe it feels like the league title is decided on the last day but at the end, it’s a result of 38 matchdays and everybody gets what they deserve.”
Here are the remaining fixtures for both in all competitions:
Manchester City’s final fixtures
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace – Wednesday, May 13 at the Etihad Stadium
Chelsea vs Manchester City – Saturday, May 16 at Wembley Stadium (FA Cup final)
Bournemouth vs Manchester City – Tuesday, May 19 at the Vitality Stadium
Manchester City vs Aston Villa – Sunday, May 24 at the Etihad Stadium
Arsenal’s final fixtures
West Ham vs Arsenal – Sunday, May 10 at the London Stadium
Arsenal vs Burnley – Monday, May 18 at the Emirates Stadium
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal – Sunday, May 24 at Selhurst Park
PSG vs Arsenal – Saturday, May 30 at Puskas Arena (Champions League final)
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