Who: Manchester City vs Arsenal
Content: English Premier League (EPL)
Location: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England
Date and time: Sunday, April 19th, 4:30pm (15:30 GMT)
How to follow: All content will be broadcast on Al Jazeera Sports from 12:30 GMT, ahead of a live text commentary stream.
The race for the Premier League title could see a unique end to the season, with Arsenal and Manchester City potentially heading into the play-offs for the title.
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It’s the latest twist in a trophy race that appeared to be over just over a month ago, as Arsenal look to end their 22-year wait to win the English title.
A string of poor results, including last weekend’s home defeat to Bournemouth, has left the door wide open for City to make a late breakthrough as they take advantage of the Gunners’ underperformance.
Sunday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium is being touted as the biggest Premier League game in years, with just six points separating the teams, but Pep Guardiola’s City still have a game in hand.
Here’s Al Jazeera’s everything you need to know about the match.
How has Arsenal played in recent weeks?
Arsenal lead the table with 70 points after 32 games, but head into the match against the Etihad in their worst form of the season. The north London club have won only one of their last five games in all competitions, defeating Sporting 1-0 in the Champions League quarter-final first leg in Lisbon.
Mikel Arteta’s side lost to City in the League Cup final, suffered a shocking defeat to second-tier Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals and suffered a heavy defeat to leaders Bournemouth.
Before last weekend’s round, statistics provider Opta gave Arsenal a 97% chance of winning, but following Arsenal’s defeat and City’s win last time out, that probability has dropped to 87%.
City’s chances of lifting the trophy have jumped from 3 per cent to 13 per cent.
How has City performed in recent weeks?
While the Gunners are stagnant, City are moving closer to top gear after defeating Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea in their last three competitive games.
City are second in the league with 64 points after 31 games and Josep Guardiola’s rejuvenated side know they can become favorites to regain the title if they beat Arsenal on Sunday.
City have not lost to Arsenal at home in the league for 11 years, while Arsenal are also unbeaten in their last five Premier League games against City.
What are the possible scenarios for Sunday’s showdown?
If City win against Arsenal, they will go from nine points to just three points within a week.
Furthermore, if City defeat relegation-placed Burnley three days later, they will go top of the table with five games remaining. If that happens, Arsenal will face the bleak prospect of finishing runners-up for the fourth year in a row.
However, if Arsenal win, they will regain a nine-point lead, and if they draw, City will take the title again.
How will the match between Man City and Arsenal go?
Arsenal have six games left: against title-chasing City, three mid-table teams (Newcastle, Fulham and Crystal Palace) and two teams in danger of being relegated (West Ham and Burnley).
City have seven games left: starting with Arsenal, three top-eight teams (Aston Villa, Brentford, Everton), two mid-table teams (Bournemouth, Palace) and one game against relegation-threatened Burnley.
On paper, Arsenal are more comfortable with run-ins than City, but history shows that the City Zens are often at their best, relentlessly spiking run-ins.
Since losing to Leeds United in April 2021, City have won 20 of their 22 league games played in April, drawing two.
What are the chances of the playoffs?
If Arsenal and City end in a 1-1 draw on Sunday, there is a slight chance that a play-off to decide the champion will take place.
If Arsenal and City are tied at the end of the season on points, goal difference, goals scored, points in head-to-head games and away goals in head-to-head games, the title will be decided by the winner of the play-off match.
Arsenal have a goal difference of +3 and have scored 62 goals to City’s 62, but a 1-1 draw would also eliminate the element of a head-to-head contest.
What happened the last time Arsenal played City?
In the first league match of the season in September, substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored an equalizer in stoppage time, canceling out Erling Haaland’s opener as Arsenal drew 1-1 with City.
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There will be no need to recall what happened three years ago, as Arsenal are still in the lead as far as the title is concerned and even a draw with City would be an acceptable result.
On that day in April, Arsenal arrived at the Etihad Stadium five points clear of City at the top of the league, despite having played two more games.
However, City tore apart Arsenal with a 4-1 victory, breaking Arsenal’s resolve and propelling Guardiola’s side to their third successive league title with a five-point lead.
direct confrontation
City and Arsenal have faced each other a whopping 215 times in all competitions since 1893.
Arsenal lead the table with 101 wins, while City have won 66. A total of 48 matches ended in draws.
Manchester City team news
Left-back Nico O’Reilly was doubtful to feature after picking up an injury in the last match, but Guardiola confirmed on Friday that he is fit. John Stones, Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias are all confirmed to be absent due to injury.
Manchester City’s expected starting lineup
Donnarumma (goalkeeper); Nunez, Kusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly. Silva, Rodri. Semenyo, Cherki, Doc. haaland
arsenal team news
Several Arsenal players are doubts, including Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Julian Timber and Mikel Merino.
Arsenal’s expected starting lineup
Raya (goalkeeper); White, Saliba, Gabriel, Louis Skelly. Zubimendi, rice. Dauman, Eze, and Martinelli. Gokeres
