The ebbs and flows of a Premier League title race: Arsenal vs. Manchester City

With a little over two months to go in the Premier League season, the title race between Arsenal and Manchester City is looking like it will come down to the wire.

Arsenal are without a league title in 22 seasons, whereas City are going for their seventh out of the last nine years. 

Arsenal currently hold a five point lead, but with Manchester City having a game in hand, the gap between the pair could be as little as two if both win all their games up to when the sides face off at the Etihad on April 19, in a game which many think could decide where the Premier League ends up at the end of May.

But with it being the Premier League, anything can and probably will happen between now and the end of the year.

DAZN News takes a look at whether it's better to be the hunter or the hunted.

Previous Seasons

In the past 25 seasons, the side that has been leading on this day of each season has gone on to win the league 19 out of 25 times.

Arsenal sat top of the league with a five-point lead three years ago but would eventually lose by the same margin after dropping 15 points across their last 12 games, whereas Manchester City would only drop five and go on a 12-game win streak between February 25 and May 21. 

Of the six sides who would go on to win the league without being top on this day, City have been responsible for half of them, in 13/14 they overturned a six-point deficit on Chelsea, 22/23 was a five-point swap with Arsenal, and the following year they overtook Liverpool after being a point behind.

Manchester City at one point in the 18/19 season were 10 points behind leaders Liverpool, before beating them by a single point to win the league, winning 18 of their last 19 games, in that time handing Liverpool their only loss of the season.

Carl Recine/Getty Images

Mentality

When you've been there and won it time and time again, it's always easier because, whether you're behind or ahead, you know how to deal with the situation you find yourself in.

If you're in Arsenal's boots, you're trying to win something you haven't in over two decades, and coming up against a side that has dominated this division and is regarded as one of the best in league history.

Although this City team doesn't have the likes of Kompany, Aguero, Silva, and de Bruyne, to name a few, it's still a Pep Guardiola-led team and is always hard to beat.

The biggest gap between the two sides this season has been seven points in November and January.

With every passing round of fixtures, Arteta and Arsenal can feel Pep and City getting closer to them.

Momentum

As stated previously, it feels like the side that wins the Premier League is the one that peaks at the perfect time.

With a cup final on the horizon between the two sides, the result of that could go a long way to determining who lifts the league title and gains a psychological advantage.

Especially how rare it is for the top two sides in the league to come up against each other in the first cup final of the season.

An instance similar to a close title race possibly swinging the way of the side who wins the cup final was in 98-99, where Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea all were fighting for the league title, United beat Arsenal in a semi-final replay, and then went on to win the domestic treble the same season.

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

The run-in

On paper, Arsenal have the easiest remaining fixtures of either team, only having to face City out of the sides currently in the top six, whereas Man City still has to travel to Chelsea on top of Arsenal.

Remaining fixtures: Arsenal - Brighton(a), Everton(h), Bournemouth(h), Manchester City(a), Newcastle(h), Fulham(h), West Ham(a), Burnley(h), Crystal Palace(a).

Manchester City - Nottingham Forest(h), West Ham(a), Chelsea(a), Arsenal(h), Burnley(a), Everton(a), Brentford(h), Bournemouth(a), Aston Villa(h), Crystal Palace at home, date to be decided

How to watch the Premier League in Canada

Soccer fans in Canada can watch every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season on DAZN.

With Fubo Sports on DAZN, Canadians can catch Premier League action as well as Serie A. Additionally, DAZN is the home of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Bundesliga and more.

For pricing information and to sign up to watch,  click here .