We're absolutely toothless up front. We're dropping more points through lack of a decent striker. Too late for Jota to help out. Arsenal will have one slip up, minimum. City's firepower will see them lift their fourth PL title.
A genuine 3-horse title race?
- Thread starter Fortitude
- Start date
Congratulation to Arsenal for winning the league with 7 games to go. Very impressive feat 
…
…oh wait false alarm their fans are just being annoying all over social media again. Nothing to see here.
……oh wait false alarm their fans are just being annoying all over social media again. Nothing to see here.
Manchester City have the easier run in on paper. They'll do it again. I can see them going unbeaten from now and winning all the games.
Liverpool have to go on a near perfect run from here.
Can't see them doing it.
Can't see them doing it.
Arsenals remaining fixtures are about as bad as they come. Wolves, Spurs, United and Liverpool away, Villa and Chelsea at home....
They don't have Liverpool away.
They should win all their homes. I reckon they beat us and Wolves away too. It comes down to the Spurs match then.
All three teams can lose point in the remaining fixtures (city probably less likely given the experience they have). Just enjoy the ride.
Imagine how motivated Spurs will be to be a dent in Arsenals title chances. The place will be rocking.
Yes Spurs away is the most difficult of that lot Mate.
Anyone but Arsenal.
As of now I think Sky Sports have it as 35% City, 33% Liverpool and 32% Arsenal. Incredibly close.
Suddenly goal difference becomes even more important. All three teams still in Europe too to make it more ‘fair’ I suppose.
Sounds about right to me.
Arsenal's to lose, and I have been adamant about it for a while.
That result was huge for City. If Liverpool won, they were 100% gone. City still need Liverpool AND Arsenal to drop points. The City and Arsenal Champions League matches will have a huge impact.
I still think Liverpool are slight favourites because they can win every game. I don't think Arsenal can. I think Villa vs Liverpool is the biggest match of the run in.
I still think Liverpool are slight favourites because they can win every game. I don't think Arsenal can. I think Villa vs Liverpool is the biggest match of the run in.
Unfortunately looking at the remaining fixtures of all 3 teams seems to me like Arsenal have toughest games left. Spurs away will be incredibly difficult for them, more than United away was for Liverpool. Wolves (A) and United (A) could be problematic as well. Villa (H), Chelsea (H) and Bournemouth (H) aren't a given win, though they should really be winning those if they want to be champions.
Liverpool's fixtures are okay. I'm not sure if I'm confident in Everton, West Ham or Villa taking points off them at this point of the season, maybe earlier. Spurs neither because it'll be at Anfield and they lose there even when they come back from 3-0 down.
City got Spurs away at some point and that's their most difficult game left. Perhaps Brighton away could be problematic too but other than that it looks good for them. If they were 1st they'd win it comfortably. They're not so have to wait for other 2 teams to drop points.
I still give biggest chances to Liverpool because 1) they've been great last 2 months of the season for 5-6 years now, even in 2021 and 2023 when they had off seasons 2) they're playing Europa which is obviously less difficult than Arsenal facing Bayern or City facing Real Madrid.
Liverpool's fixtures are okay. I'm not sure if I'm confident in Everton, West Ham or Villa taking points off them at this point of the season, maybe earlier. Spurs neither because it'll be at Anfield and they lose there even when they come back from 3-0 down.
City got Spurs away at some point and that's their most difficult game left. Perhaps Brighton away could be problematic too but other than that it looks good for them. If they were 1st they'd win it comfortably. They're not so have to wait for other 2 teams to drop points.
I still give biggest chances to Liverpool because 1) they've been great last 2 months of the season for 5-6 years now, even in 2021 and 2023 when they had off seasons 2) they're playing Europa which is obviously less difficult than Arsenal facing Bayern or City facing Real Madrid.
City still have FAC SF to play on that energy sapping pitch at Wembley together with the toughest potential path in CL so I'm far from confident that we'll close out the league season without stumbling once or twice.
You got 2 points out of possible 6 against a dreadful Chelsea side. That'll be one of those dropped points to look back onto in frustration.
ah you are right - I included a friendly
You can't just name some teams and say these would be difficult for Arsenal. Have you been watching Arsenal this season? They just thrashed Liverpool at home and shut out City away after beating them at home earlier this season.
I'm sure they're trembling at home games against Villa, Chelsea and Bournemouth and travelling to Wolves. And we have zero incentive to put a spanner in Arsenal's season, so we'll probably play for a painless 0-2. The NLD is the only banana skin they have. And even there, I'd back Arteta to get the job done.
Looking at the remaining fixtures. There may be some inconsistency in how we define a "difficult game on paper". You're mainly looking at top 10 sides being the difficult ones, with home vs away being an important factor. I'd consider West Ham away a tough one for example but West Ham at home not so much. Chelsea at home should be considered a tough one for Arsenal despite their league position as it's a big rivalry, London derby and Chelsea's underlying performance stats suggest they're a better side than people think.
City have 2 difficult games left, Brighton away and Spurs away. Brighton seem to be in free fall at this stage though, and Arsenal made easy work of it, so it may just be Spurs away that they'll be worried about.
Arsenal have Villa home, Spurs away, Chelsea home, United away.
Liverpool have Spurs home, West Ham away, Villa away. (we'll ignore Everton away, but maybe that is a potential banana skin because of the derby factor).
Ultimately I think City have the highest likelihood of winning all their games with the remaining fixtures.
Arsenal the most difficult fixtures in my opinion. Although it will help that United will have thrown the towel in on the entire season by the time they come to Old Trafford.
City have 2 difficult games left, Brighton away and Spurs away. Brighton seem to be in free fall at this stage though, and Arsenal made easy work of it, so it may just be Spurs away that they'll be worried about.
Arsenal have Villa home, Spurs away, Chelsea home, United away.
Liverpool have Spurs home, West Ham away, Villa away. (we'll ignore Everton away, but maybe that is a potential banana skin because of the derby factor).
Ultimately I think City have the highest likelihood of winning all their games with the remaining fixtures.
Arsenal the most difficult fixtures in my opinion. Although it will help that United will have thrown the towel in on the entire season by the time they come to Old Trafford.
If we just compare games vs the top 10 left.
Arsenal have Villa home, Chelsea home, Spurs away, United away
City have Spurs away, Brighton away, West Ham home.
It's undeniable Arsenal have more difficult fixtures.
If I was told by someone from the future that one team wins the rest of their games, I'd bet the house that it's City.
And then add in the bottle factor, who's more likely to suffer a mental collapse.
I expected Liverpool to win today and keep their 1 game buffer over City and remain favourites.
With Liverpool dropping points today I'd put City as slight favourites again over Liverpool/Arsenal.
On paper the fixture still looks tricky. But based on how we performed last few months you are right Spurs is our most tricky game. We have to win other 6 games if we want to be Champions. I likely we drop points at Spurs away especially they would play as if its a CL final to ensure we don't win the PL.
In any case I expect all 3 teams to drop points in atleast 1 more game (City the least likely).
City will win it .
Arsenal will win and draw one of the games against Chelsea, Spurs and us..
Liverpool have everton away
Arsenal will win and draw one of the games against Chelsea, Spurs and us..
Liverpool have everton away
I'm sorry, but if you say that having Chelsea at home and United away somehow contribute to Arsenal having the more difficult fixtures, it's difficult to to take the rest seriously.
Wait... Are you actually arguing that City have more difficult fixtures than Arsenal?
Are we looking at the same set of fixtures here?
If you're arguing that Chelsea home and United away are easy then fair enough, but that also means Brighton away and West Ham at home are easy for City. So I still don't know how that would mean Arsenal don't have the more difficult fixtures.
I suspect if you offered Arsenal to swap their fixtures against Chelsea/United with West Ham/Brighton instead they'd bite your hand off.
People grouped Brighton in with those teams and they dispatched them with relative ease.
The script is usually flipped in title races (aside from with City) and points are dropped in unusual/unexpected fashion. Wouldn’t surprise me if they win some of those away fixtures with relative ease but come unstuck at home to Aston Villa or Chelsea.
I can’t see them winning every game. Particularly if they progress past Bayern in the CL.
Nope. There's a third option -- the same difficulty.
I'm saying that Arsenal's fixtures except for NLD should see them comfortably winning all. Same for City except the visit to Spurs.
Spurs will go all out to kill off Arsenal's chances and they've often been a bogey team for City. So I don't think either team has it more difficult than the other.
I don't even know what you're trying to say here. We clearly have the hardest fixtures ha
City
Liverpool
Arsenal
Doesn't mean we can't win then all, but we're more likely to drop points.
And you don't know what I'm trying to say?
Quite correct.
Too many draws this season that should have been converted into wins. The 2-2 home game vs Palace particularly sticks in the throat.
It seems like you think the only games top teams drop points in are vs the top 3, or the top 5 away from home?
Would it shock you to hear Arsenal have dropped points against Fulham x2, West Ham, Newcastle, Chelsea this season - all games they were meant to comfortably win according to your criteria.
Despite Arsenal being in first, I think they will drop more points than either Liverpool or City will. I expect all three to drop points, but I think it will be either Liverpool or City winning the league. My money is on Liverpool. I think their fixtures are the easiest.
No it wouldn't shock me to hear that. But since that Fulham loss, they've dropped 2 points in 11 games and that's against City away. Out of those 11, they've scored 3 or more goals in 7 games. They've the best attack and defence plus incredible momentum right now.
I just said that neither team has the more difficult fixtures. If Arsenal can drop points against mid table teams, then this season's City can, too.
How many teams outside of the top 3 have Arsenal dropped points to after the winter break?
Yes I agree with this. I actually think the point today was a point gained. I’m getting a feeling we are winning out from here on in. We’ll keep “ truckin”.
You're confident about winning at Goodison? You don't have the best record there.
Put it this way, if this last match vs united was played with 1-3 games left we lose it. It just seems the worst is out of the way. We are due to give some teams a good hiding and now that the trip to hell is done I think we start banging these chances in.
So are Arsenal guaranteed to win every game vs the other 17 teams for the rest of eternity because they've had 3 months of good form?
The point being made to me was that the difficulty of games Arsenal have on paper (compared to City) is irrelevant because Spurs away is the only game they could realistically ever drop points in.
Which I find a bizarre stance. The fact Arsenal have Villa, Chelsea and United left to play is apparently irrelevant because they already have the 9 points in the bag for those games.
I'm not out here claiming City are guaranteed wins.
Your point was that both teams fixtures are the same because they're going to easily win every game with the exception of Spurs away. Which seems like a very big assumption just because they've had 3 months of good form.