Preview: English Premier League final weekend; Manchester City, Arsenal | Football news

THE EXPLANATOR

The Premier League title goes on the final day for the first time since the 2019/2020 season.

The Premier League title race comes down to the final day with Manchester City and Arsenal separated by just two points.

We take a look at how the final matchday of the season is shaping up and what the permutations are.

Who do Manchester City and Arsenal play on the final day?

Table-topping Manchester City host West Ham at the Etihad Stadium as they bid to secure an unprecedented four Premier League titles in a row.

The Hammers will finish ninth in the league regardless of the result of the game at City, five points behind eighth-placed Manchester United, while they are four points clear of 10th-placed Bournemouth.

A dangling carrot for West Ham is to land former midfielder Declan Rice, who swapped the London Stadium for Arsenal last summer.

The Gunners entertain Everton at the Etihad Stadium where the pressure, similar to the Hammers, is on the Toffees.

The Merseyside club are 14 points clear of the relegation zone, which has been a battleground for a season, after points were deducted by an independent panel which found they breached the league’s profitability and sustainability rules.

What must the title rivals do to be crowned Premier League champions?

The equation for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City is simple: beat West Ham and they will retain their Premier League crown.

If City draw with West Ham, or worse, then the opportunity passes to Arsenal.

The Gunners know that, with a two-point lead over City, they simply have to beat Everton.

What Mikel Arteta’s north Londoners have in their favor is a superior goal difference. So, should City draw and Arsenal win, the teams will finish level on points but the trophy will head to the Emirates for the first time in 20 years.

who will follow @ManCity or @Arsenal? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/e9X0uFSjer

— Premier League (@premierleague) May 17, 2024

How much does this title mean to Manchester City and Arsenal?

It was hard to top Manchester City’s achievements in 2023 when they lifted five trophies.

A domestic treble is still on the cards for the Cityzens this season, who have already lifted the EFL Cup while an FA Cup final against rivals Manchester United awaits.

The history that City would love to make is that no team has ever won four consecutive Premier League titles.

If Guardiola’s side lose, then it is an unprecedented achievement that even they could dream of achieving in the future.

So many of the game’s best have won three consecutive league titles – including Manchester United and Arsenal – but failed to secure a four-year tenure as English champions.

For Arsenal, who won three in a row in the 1930s under Herbert Chapman, going top on Sunday would end a 20-year wait for a Premier League title.

They last lifted the trophy under Arsene Wenger. It was the Frenchman’s third league title with the Gunners, who created their own piece of history by going through the season unbeaten as they lifted the second of Wenger’s three trophies.

Has the Premier League gone down to the last day before?

There have been some thrilling final-day finishes in the title race, but the most famous example was Sergio Aguero’s late winner for Manchester City in 2011-12.

The Argentine scored a stoppage-time winner against bottom-placed Queens Park Rangers to give City their first league title since 1967-68.

It denied Sir Alex Ferguson back-to-back titles that season and delayed the Scot’s retirement plans as he had a year left to regain the trophy for a 13th and final time.

The bad news for Arsenal is that no team came from second place to win the Premier League on the final day of the season. To that extent, they would be making history themselves if they deny City an unprecedented fourth consecutive crown.