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Man City vs Villa, Arsenal vs Newcastle and more: The fixtures that will decide the Premier League title race
Updated: 20 Apr 2026 10:13 CDT |
5 min read
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Manchester City successfully swung the title race back in their favour on Sunday when they emerged 2-1 victors over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola's side took the lead in the 16th minute thanks to a fabulous bit of work from Rayan Cherki, only to be pegged back quickly after Gianluigi Donnarumma slammed a clearance off the foot of Kai Havertz into the back of the net to make it 1-1.
Erling Haaland would emerge as the match winner, holding off the attentions of Gabriel inside the box to fire a clinical finish into the bottom corner as City retook the lead in the second-half.
As things stand, Arsenal are still top of the table on 70 points, while City's victory took them onto 67 points. However, Pep's men have a game in hand against Burnley on Wednesday and should they win that one, they'll go top of the Premier League table on goal difference, with both teams locked on 70 points.
After this midweek, it's back to five games remaining each, so who do both have to play and what could be the key matches?
Man City's remaining fixtures
| Match | Date |
|---|---|
| Burnley (a) | 22 April |
| Everton (a) | 4 May |
| Brentford (h) | 9 May |
| Bournemouth (a) | 17 May |
| Crystal Palace (h) | 22 May |
| Aston Villa (h) | 24 May |
Man City's next fixture comes on Wednesday against Burnley and the Clarets will soon lose the battle against the drop. Should they lose against City, they will be 12 points away from safety with four games remaining and with a significantly poorer goal difference than the teams above, they will be consigned to the Championship.
Even if Burnley still had a fighting chance of staying up, it's hard to see how they would keep City at bay anyway.
After that, the focus turns to the FA Cup as Man City face Southampton and thereafter they travel to Everton on Monday, 4 May.
Perhaps crucially, three out of Man City's last four Premier League games come at home - against Brentford, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Key game - Aston Villa
By the end of this week, Man City and Arsenal could find themselves on the same amount of points and an extremely similar goal difference (if not the exact same) so this could very well come down to the final day.
If it does, City have the tougher game, hosting Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa, while Arsenal are away to Crystal Palace, whose Premier League performance has been impacted by Europa Conference League duties this campaign.
The battle for Champions League places may go down to the final day, too, so City will come up against a Villa side with plenty to play for, even if they also have one eye on Europa League duties.
The Europa League final takes place two weeks before the end of the season, so if Villa get Champions League football via winning that competition, will they be on the beach by the final day?
Earlier this season, Villa beat City 1-0 thanks to a solitary goal from Matty Cash, so that will certainly be on Guardiola's mind, too.
In addition, Arsenal will be encouraged by City's recent record against Villa, with the Cityzens having lost each of their last three visits to Villa Park. They haven't won there in the league since 2021.
Arsenal's remaining fixtures
| Fixture | Date |
|---|---|
| Newcastle (h) | 25 April |
| Fulham (h) | 2 May |
| West Ham (a) | 10 May |
| Burnley (h) | 17 May |
| Crystal Palace (a) | 24 May |
As mentioned above, Arsenal have the more favourable fixture on the final day on paper but both games could be impacted by both the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.
What could end up being crucial in every scenario is the fact that Arsenal are still in the Champions League, while Man City are free from European duties.
The North London side have a two-legged affair with Atletico Madrid over the next couple of weeks and that is sure to be fiercely contested so Arteta will need to manage his squad accordingly. If they progress through that tie, how will Arteta sort out the team's priorities when it comes to the Premier League and the Champions League?
Arsenal's next Premier League game is a tough one at home to Newcastle and thereafter they face a Fulham side without much to play for and West Ham, who appear to be in a straight shoutout with Tottenham to avoid that final relegation spot.
Burnley at home should be a simple three points as the Clarets will be relegated by then, while Palace await on the final day.
Key game - Newcastle
Newcastle may not be the team they were last season, but this is Arsenal's most important game in the run-in for a number of reasons.
One would simply be Newcastle having the players and quality necessary to bloody the nose of Arsenal in this title race.
Second, and even more important, is the fact that the Gunners desperately need to bounce back and win a game after emerging victorious in just one of their last six across all competitions.
They have not won in the Premier League in over a month and have lost their last two - against Bournemouth and then City at the weekend.
Arteta needs to stop the rot, starting with Newcastle, as Arsenal could be in second place going into that game if Man City beat Burnley. If they don't beat Newcastle and Man City beat Everton, City will have an outright lead in the Premier League for the first time this year.
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