LONDON – For all the talk of Arsenal having blown their Premier League title hopes after being reeled in by Manchester City, the truth is that come Saturday they could have re-established a six-point lead to pile the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side.
City’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on April 29 meant that having trailed by 10 points a few weeks earlier, they knocked Mikel Arteta’s side off the summit for the first time since October.
On Saturday they host London rivals Fulham while City do not play again in the league until Monday when they face a tough-looking trip to European-chasing Everton.
While City would have two games in hand before they kick off at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the prospect of again having to make up a six-point gap with absolutely no margin for error would be a serious test of their resolve.
According to data analysts Opta, Arsenal are still favourites to end the season on top — but that could all change if they stumble against Marco Silva’s Fulham.
Sitting in 10th place with four games, Fulham are still very much in the hunt for European qualification and will be looking to exploit any Arsenal fatigue after Arteta’s side’s 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semis on Wednesday.
“We will go there with no fear, and play for the badge,” Fulham midfielder Josh King said.
History will be a considerable comfort, however, to Arsenal fans struggling to cope with the title-race tension.
Fulham have played 32 times away to Arsenal in all competitions and never won.
City’s record at Everton is equally impressive though, losing none of their last 18 in all competitions and winning 15 of them and drawing three.
Whatever the outcome of Arsenal’s derby with Fulham, a City win at Everton would then give them the chance to crank up the pressure as their next league game at home to Brentford comes the day before Arsenal’s trip to West Ham United, a fixture being described as Arsenal’s toughest in the run-in.
While in the words of former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, it is ‘squeaky bum’ time at the top, at the bottom things are equally twitchy as Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham appear to be in a two-horse race to avoid relegation.
West Ham travel to Brentford on Saturday with the chance to put a five-point gap between themselves and third-from-bottom Tottenham who would then be under enormous pressure to respond at fifth-placed Aston Villa on Sunday evening.
What Roberto De Zerbi’s side would give for a repeat of the 4-0 wins Tottenham enjoyed at Villa Park in 2022 and 2024 in their bid to avoid a first relegation since 1977.
Worryingly though, the Londoners have lost their last four against Villa in all competitions.
Leeds United begin the weekend’s action on Friday at home to relegated Burnley knowing that victory would all but guarantee they will be playing Premier League football next season.
Victory would put them on 43 points and the highest total a team has ever been relegated with in a 38-game Premier League season was West Ham’s 42 in 2003.
- Latest
- Trending
