Arsenal finished the weekend atop the table with another win on Sunday, but Manchester City’s accompanying victory means the title race is still very much in the latter’s hands with a game in hand.
Both Arsenal and City kept things tight in their Sunday wins — the Gunners nearly relinquished a 3-0 lead before winning 3-2 over Tottenham Hotspur, while City beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 despite the relegation-threatened team outshotting them. The title race is effectively a two-horse contest now after Liverpool’s draw with West Ham on Saturday, as the Reds now have just a 0.1% chance to win the title, per Opta. City remain in charge of things with a 67.4% chance, while Arsenal sit at 32.5%.
With not long to go, here’s a ranking of each team’s remaining schedule by easiest to hardest.
Premier League standings
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arsenal |
35 | 25 | 5 | 5 |
85 |
28 |
+57 |
80 |
|
Manchester City |
34 | 24 | 7 | 3 |
82 |
32 |
+50 |
79 |
|
Liverpool |
35 | 22 | 9 | 4 |
77 |
36 |
+41 |
75 |
3. Manchester City, 79 points
Remaining schedule
All times Eastern/U.S.
- April 3: Manchester City 4, Aston Villa 1
- April 6: Crystal Palace 2, Manchester City 4
- April 13: Manchester City 5, Luton Town 1
- April 25: Brighton and Hove Albion 0, Manchester City 4
- April 28: Nottingham Forest 0, Manchester City 2
- May 4, 10 a.m.: Wolverhampton Wanderers (home)
- May 11, 10 a.m.: Fulham (away)
- May 14, 3 p.m.: Tottenham Hotspur (away)
- May 19, 11 a.m.: West Ham (home)
All but one of City’s matches are against teams ranked eighth or lower, most of them solidly midtable and poised to offer little trouble to the defending champions as they make easy work of such games in this final stretch of the season. They survived one of their hardest remaining games with a win over Forest, and Tottenham may still pose a challenge after making things difficult for Arsenal as they fight for a top four spot. The North Londoners could still be in the midst of their battle for a Champions League berth and have a surprising ability to keep City at bay, even if it feels unwise to bet against City at this time of year.
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2. Arsenal, 80 points
Remaining schedule
All times Eastern/U.S.
- April 3: Arsenal 2, Luton Town 0
- April 6: Brighton and Hove Albion 0, Arsenal 3
- April 13: Arsenal 0, Aston Villa 2
- April 20: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0, Arsenal 2
- April 23: Arsenal 5, Chelsea 0
- April 28: Tottenham Hotspur 2, Arsenal 3
- May 4, 10 a.m.: Bournemouth (home)
- May 11, 10 a.m.: Manchester United (away)
- May 19, 11 a.m.: Everton (home)
Arsenal may have escaped with three points against rivals Tottenham, but the fact of the matter for them is that their hardest remaining game is officially out of the way. They now seem poised to pick up big wins over a Bournemouth team that’s competitive but has little to play for, a Manchester United side that cannot get out of their own way, and an Everton team that is safe from relegation barring a points deduction.
1. Liverpool, 75 points
Remaining schedule
All times Eastern/U.S.
- April 4: Liverpool 3, Sheffield United 1
- April 7: Manchester United 2, Liverpool 2
- April 14: Liverpool 0, Crystal Palace 1
- April 21: Fulham 1, Liverpool 3
- April 24: Everton 2, Liverpool 0
- April 27: West Ham 2, Liverpool 2
- May 4, 10 a.m.: Tottenham Hotspur (home)
- May 11, 10 a.m.: Aston Villa (away)
- May 19, 11 a.m.: Wolverhampton Wanderers (Home)
They have the two hardest teams not in the title race — Aston Villa and Tottenham — left on the calendar, but no one currently ranked lower than 12th left. Considering the string of poor results behind them, there’s a big question about how much gas Liverpool have left in the tank against anyone, not just the teams most in need of points.
KVSP