How the English Premier League title could be won... or lost
The English Premier League title race was thrown for a loop over the weekend when Liverpool and Arsenal lost unexpectedly to put Manchester City in the driver's seat. Liverpool fell 1-0 to Crystal Palace while Arsenal lost 2-0 to a polished Aston Villa.
With six games remaining in the Premier League season, Man City leads the league with 73 points, but Arsenal and Liverpool remain on its tail with 71 points each. One more fluke loss from any of the three sides could see the title pushed in a new direction.
But where could those flukes come from? Here are the places where the 2023-24 Premier League title could be won or lost:
Tottenham Spurs
Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool must face Ange Postecoglou's Spurs in the coming weeks, and history has shown us that facing them is no picnic. The North London team got good results against each of the top three in the first half of the season, beating Liverpool 2-1 (thanks to the VAR check heard around the world) and drawing with Arsenal and Man City.
Crucially, the Spurs still have plenty to play for. They are battling Aston Villa for fourth in the hopes of securing the last guaranteed Champions League slot. They'll take on Arsenal first on April 28.
Arsenal will also play Bayern Munich, Wolverhampton and Chelsea between now and then while the Spurs are not playing anyone. They will get two full weeks to rest and prepare for the clash. Tottenham would love nothing more than to spoil Arsenal's title challenge.
Wolverhampton Wolves
The irrepressible, unpredictable Wolves are the other team on everyone's fixture list before the season ends.
Arsenal and Liverpool beat the Wolves comfortably in the first half of the season, but Man City fell to them 2-1 for its first big loss of the campaign. If the Wolves can ride their erratic nature to another shock result against City, Liverpool and Arsenal may well find themselves back in the game.
Fixture pile-up
Liverpool isn't thrilled about losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League last week, but if the result has any silver lining, it's this: The Reds, barring a heroic second-leg turnaround, are free to focus exclusively on the Premier League title race.
Arsenal and Man City, meanwhile, are still in amid an exhausting Champions League season against some of the top teams in the world. Worse, if Arsenal beats Bayern Munich and City beats Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, they'll face each other in a two-legged semifinal.
Liverpool fans will be rubbing their hands together with glee at the prospect.
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