Premier League tittle race: What are the key pinch points as Arsenal and Man City aim for ultimate glory?
Arsenal and Man City are effectively neck-and-neck in the Premier League title race with five weeks of the season left - so what will be the key factors to decide who finishes top?
They are now effectively neck-and-neck. And what a finale to this Premier League title race we have in store.
Arsenal and Manchester City have five weeks to prove why they should be Premier League champions after a scintillating top-of-the-table clash on the most Super of Sundays evened the stakes.
Now, City can overtake Arsenal on goal difference if they beat Burnley on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports. With so much on the line, what will be the factors that determine the run-in?
The looming T word
Forget Premier League title favourites, Manchester City are now on for a domestic treble. The significance of which seems difficult to comprehend after a campaign of inconsistency that was meandering towards nothingness merely a month ago. How fortuitous does this all feel?
Well, Man City are the perfect opportunists. Circumstances have converged kindly for Pep Guardiola from January onwards. It started with the low-cost, high-impact signings of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi and snowballed from there. Last month's Carabao Cup final beating of Arsenal then wrestled momentum at the perfect juncture and pocketed the first trophy on offer.
Now City close in. They are masters of the home stretch. April is Man City's best month under Guardiola in terms of points-per-game and win rate. No inhibitions from here, just freestyling football. Not to mention the kindest of FA Cup draws as they meet Championship side Southampton in the semi-finals this weekend.
Luck? Fate? Something else entirely? Whatever the reasoning or rationale another historic treble is remarkably in reach.
Gunners have favourable fixtures - but will Europe impact?
As these two titans go toe-to-toe towards the finish line, who has the better fixtures?
Arsenal do have the more favourable run-in, with all of their remaining games against teams in the bottom half of the table. City have some tricky away games coming up, with visits against Everton and Bournemouth being branded as opportunities for Arsenal to capitalise on dropped points.
However, Arsenal's Champions League campaign could have a big say. Mikel Arteta's side have failed to win seven out of the last 10 matches which have followed a European fixture. And London derbies with bogey team Fulham and an away trip to relegation-threatened West Ham follow the two semi-final matches with Atletico Madrid...
Calm heads make better decisions
As alluded to already, the opportunity to take a running jump at this title has rather fallen in City's lap. Guardiola might argue they were playing the long game. Analysts might believe Arsenal, as they have continually proven, were always going to stumble. The Gunners would have been temporarily 12 points clear if they had beaten Bournemouth last Saturday. Race over.
And it's because of the gap, the 207 days spent at the top, the depth of a superior squad and desire of a manager that has come so close, that it always felt like Arsenal's. Until it didn't. While Arsenal fans have spent all season whipping themselves into a frenzy over the prospect of a first title in 22 years, City's expectations have been modestly tempered.
Not even Guardiola believed this was possible until now. And so City have the fortune of going at this run-in with a devil-may-care attitude. Do not underestimate the power of clear and calm heads as the pressure mounts.
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