Manchester City have imposed a reign of terror on the Premier League, as they’ve won four of the past titles. However, things seemed different this year, as one of Pep Guardiola’s star pupils, Mikel Arteta, was able to build an Arsenal squad that seemed ready to contend for the trophy this season.

There’s been quite an exciting battle between Arsenal and Manchester City for the Premier League Title, but as the season begins to wind down, it seems that the race may already be over. Below I’ll provide an overview of the Premier League title race up to this point and why I think the race may already be over.

Exciting Title Race

The title race thus far has been quite exciting, as Man City stumbled early on which left a wide opening for Arsenal to power through to the top of the table as they began the season with an impressive 17-2-1 record. However, things have shifted as Arsenal have begun to regress, while Man City have been firing on all cylinders behind Erling Haaland’s record breaking season.

On March 11 Arsenal led Man City in the table by 5 points and had a clear path to the title, but after two very different recent stretches between the two teams, the gap has narrowed. Since March 11, Arsenal have dropped 6 points in seven matches as they’ve gone 3-3-1, while Man City have remained a perfect 5-0-0. Man City have now caught Arsenal on the Premier League table and sit only 2 points behind with two games in hand.

Deciding Match

Although every game down the stretch has been important, no other match this season has been more important than the match between Man City and Arsenal on Wednesday April 26. Heading into the match, Man City sat 5 points behind but had two games in hand, meaning that if Man City won both of the matches, they would win the title. With this in mind, the 2nd Premier League clash of the season between the two teams at the top of the table held quite a bit more gravity to it.

Although Arsenal knew how desperately they needed a win, they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the best and most in form team in the world at the moment. A consolation goal from Defender Rob Holding was all Arsenal came away with as they lost 4-1, in a match that was controlled by Erling Haaland, who broke the single Premier League 38-match season scoring record after he netted his 33rd domestic league goal of the season.

Rest of the Season

As Man City have only 7, and Arsenal only 5, remaining Premier League Games, it seems that the title may have already been awarded. Despite Arsenal’s terrific efforts in the first half of the season, their slide in recent months have seen their large title lead slowly slip away. After starting the season at +4500 odds to win the Premier League, Arsenal sat level with Man City at -105 odds on February 28, and became the favorites on March 21 when their odds were set at -167.

Their future chances have taken quite a hit over the past month, as Man City now sit firmly as favorites at -1200, while they sit down at +1000 odds. The title isn’t completely out of their grasp, but Arsenal will need Man City to take a few stumbles while remaining perfect themselves if they want any chance to reclaim the top spot. Time is running out, though, as Man City only have 7 remaining games, while they only have 5.

Neither team’s remaining Premier League schedule is too challenging, but Arsenal definitely have the more difficult task as they still have to face two teams in the top half of the table in Brighton and Newcastle. Man City don’t have any competitors that should be too difficult, but it is worth noting that they are still competing in both the Champions League and FA Cup. The only difficulty that I could see Man City facing is having to manage the busy schedule and tall workload, but even in that case, I still think they’ll fair just fine.

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