Premier League: How Man City Could Win Title Despite Arsenal’s Win Over West Ham
- The Premier League title race stays alive for another day after Arsenal and Manchester City won on matchday 36
- Manchester City defeated Brentford on Saturday to close the gap before Arsenal beat West Ham to reclaim their advantage
- Pep Guardiola’s side have one more game at hand, which puts them in a position to capitalise on any slip in the final weeks
Arsenal reclaimed their five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League table after their win over West Ham, but Manchester are still alive in the title race.
Manchester City defeated Brentford 3-0 on Saturday, May 9, 2026, with goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush to reduce the gap to two points behind Arsenal on the table.
Source: Getty Images
The Gunners moved back into position after a hard-fought, controversial 1-0 win over West Ham, thanks to a late strike from forward Leandro Trosaard.
City stay alive despite being five points behind Arsenal, simply because of the outstanding game they have, which gives them a chance if there is a slip-up from Arsenal.
Guardiola prioritises FA Cup?
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola appeared to have given priority to the FA Cup over winning the Premier League title after his comments post-Brentford.
Pep gave minutes to fringe players Omar Marmoush, Phil Foden and Savinho, all of whom influenced the match, and the manager promised more minutes.
“I know it’s not easy for them, but I am pretty sure the next games they are going to play. I’m going to rotate the team; otherwise, we cannot arrive at the final or Bournemouth how we want to,” he said as quoted by Mancity.com.
“Especially for Omar [Marmoush]. It’s not easy because we normally play with one striker, and Erling is so important for us. The rate for goals to minutes played is high, so it’s very good.”
Pep, mentioning the FA Cup final against Chelsea, suggested that he has shifted his priorities to the final realistic trophy of the season for the Citizens.
However, despite Guardiola’s cold tone, City remains mathematically in the title race, but needs teams facing Arsenal to do them a favour.
How City could still win the title
Manchester City are five points behind Arsenal on the table and have nine points left to fight for in their remaining matches, while Arsenal have a maximum of six points left.
Arsenal will play all their remaining matches in London, a home game against Burnley and an away trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace.
Manchester City have two games left at the Etihad Stadium this season, against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa and a trip to the South Coast to face Bournemouth.
As noted by Premier League, if Arsenal win their remaining matches, they will have nothing to worry about and will win their first title since the 2003/04 season.
Source: Getty Images
There are two scenarios where Manchester City can still win the title despite the five-point gap, both of which will require that they must win their remaining three matches.
The first scenario is if Arsenal loses one of their remaining matches, and Manchester City wins all, Pep Guardiola’s side will win the title by one point.
In the second scenario, if Arsenal draws one of their remaining matches and City wins all three of their matches with a good goal margin, both teams will be tied on points, and then the tiebreakers will apply.
Supercomputer predicts Premier League winner
Legit.ng previously reported that Opta's supercomputer predicted the Premier League winner after Arsenal reclaimed their five-point advantage.
The Gunners beat West Ham 1-0 at the London Stadium on Sunday to even it out with Manchester City, who beat Brentford 3-0 on Saturday.
Source: Legit.ng
