The Premier League title race is building up to a dramatic finale as we enter the final two months of the campaign. Arsenal extended their lead at the top to eight points by thrashing Crystal Palace 4-1 on Sunday and have 10 games left as they look to end their 19-year wait for a title.

Manchester City have a game in hand but are also still in the FA Cup and Champions League, meaning they could potentially play seven more fixtures than Arsenal.

The two teams meet in what is likely to be a pivotal match at Etihad Stadium on 26 April.

Arsenal's outlook is simple: they need 26 points from those 10 games to take the title, assuming City win all their remaining matches. Arsenal's final match is at home to Wolves on 28 May.

Pep Guardiola's City have 11 games remaining but also face a two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich and an FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United at Wembley.

Should City win both, the FA Cup final takes place on 3 June and the Champions League semi-finals are scheduled for 9/10 and 16/17 May, before the final in Istanbul on 10 June.

Data company Nielsen's Gracenote has worked out the percentage chance each side have of winning their remaining Premier League matches, according to its Euro Club Index formula.

According to Gracenote's simulations, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have a 53% chance of lifting the Premier League trophy, while City's chance of retaining their title is 47%.

"Despite Arsenal's eight-point lead, it is still close to a 50/50 race because the Gunners have played a game more than Manchester City and still have to play away at three of the top six: City, Newcastle United and Liverpool," said Simon Gleave, head of sports analysis at Gracenote.

"City's toughest remaining trip in the Premier League is to Brighton next month.

"If we use probabilities from our Euro Club Index for each remaining match to calculate the expected points for Arsenal and Manchester City at the end of the season, Arsenal finish on 87 points and City on 86.

"If we partially subjectively allocate a win, draw or loss to each of the remaining fixtures led by the Euro Club Index probabilities, both teams end on 88 points. Either way, this is a genuine title race which is very difficult to call.

"The match between the two on April 26 will clearly be a key fixture in deciding the destination of the Premier League trophy.

"On the basis of an estimated 66% win chance for City according to the Euro Club Index, we have given City three points. If Arsenal avoid defeat, or even win, this will have a major impact on the title race."

Nervy Arsenal fans dreaming of a first title since 2003-04 may take some comfort from the history books.

According to Opta, only three teams in the Premier League have held an eight-point lead or more after 28 games and not won the title.

In 1997-98 Manchester United led Arsenal by nine points after 30 games but the Gunners, who had three games in hand, closed the gap to seal their first Premier League title. Five years later Manchester United gained revenge by chasing down Arsenal's eight-point lead after 29 games.

But United were on the receiving end again in 2011-12 when City wiped out their eight-point advantage before taking the trophy on the final day thanks to that goal from Sergio Aguero.

Looking back further, of the 12 teams to have more than 69 points after 30 games in the First Division or Premier League (converting to three points for a win) only one team have failed to win the title - Liverpool in 2018-19.

Source: BBC

BDST: 1307 HRS, MAR 21, 2023
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