The 2023/24 Premier League title race has remained a three-way battle deep into the season. With two-thirds of the campaign in the books, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool are all still in the mix to grab the famous silverware at the end of the season.
The Citizens remain the front-runners at bookmakers to clinch the title. Football score predictions UK ClubSport point towards the Citizens seeing the season out successfully with Liverpool as second favourites.
But can Arsenal use their overwhelming disappointment from last season to pass both of them to reach the summit?
Current standings
At the end of February, with 26 rounds of Premier League Match Days in the bag, Liverpool led the way by a point ahead of Man City. The Gunners sat just a point further back. That’s how tight the three-way race has been, and surprisingly, out of the trio, Manchester City held the lowest goal difference.
End of season run in
A great way to try and gauge the outcome of the Premier League title race is to look at the end-of-season run-in. That’s the final six fixtures for each of the title contenders, a time when they really have to dig deep to keep putting points on the board.
Liverpool run in
- Crystal Palace (home)
- Fulham (away)
- West Ham (Away)
- Spurs (home)
- Aston Villa (away)
- Wolves (home)
The Reds don’t have a bad run-in at all. The trickiest of the final six fixtures could be their trip to Aston Villa in their penultimate match, with the Villains in the hunt for a spectacular top-four finish themselves. The home game against Spurs will be interesting, as the Londoners were the first team to beat Liverpool this season
Man City run in
- Luton (home)
- Tottenham (away)
- Nottingham Forest (away)
- Wolves (home)
- Fulham (away)
- West Ham (home)
The Citizens have a comfortable run-in, with only the visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looking like the biggest banana skin for them. Spurs can have a big say in where the title ends up with some important matches to come as they try and secure a top-four place. But the rest of City’s matches, especially if they are in title-hunting beast mode, all look winnable.
Arsenal run in
- Aston Villa (home)
- Wolves (away)
- Tottenham (away)
- Bournemouth (home)
- Man Utd (away)
- Everton (home)
The Gunners have the trickiest run-in out of the three. They can expect tough games from Aston Villa, Man Utd and Tottenham in that run. If Everton are in a desperate spot at the end of the season in the fight against relegation, that too could make their final fixture a hard one.
Top three clashes
But that may not be where the title is won or lost. It’s in the remaining top-four battles where things could be telling. The Liverpool vs Man City fixture on March 10th could be a defining fixture, with the winner of that match claiming a huge advantage.
Following the match with Liverpool, Man City will still have home games to come against Arsenal and Aston Villa, teams they lost 1-0 against earlier this season. Surprisingly, Manchester City remained winless in four matches against teams that were in the top five at the end of February (D2 L2).
The title motivators
Liverpool has been hit hard by injuries this season, in what will be Jurgen Klopp’s last in charge. They have admirably hung on, using youth players to prop up the ranks. Surely giving Klopp a big send-off by winning their second Premier League title is a huge incentive.
But the Reds had won only one of seven matches against top-seven sides by the end of February and another five such fixtures to come put pressure on them.
Arsenal had a slump in December but came black strongly with a six-match winning streak in January and February, scoring at least three goals in all but one of those matches. So they are on a tear and after throwing away last season’s title chance, redressing that is their motivator.
However, out of the three contenders, Arsenal’s away record comes into question. Of their six remaining away matches, all but one are against teams in the top half of the table.
Then there is City’s history-making bid, aiming to become the first club to win the title in four consecutive seasons. They had wobbles earlier in the campaign, and have been far from perfect, especially on the road against stronger opposition.
But with Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne back, they have been getting better and better. Their experience of pulling title chases and ominous form at this stage of the season still leaves them as many punters’ favourites.
Please play responsibly. For more information and advice visit https://www.begambleaware.org
