Premier League leaders Arsenal have 10 top-flight matches remaining while Manchester City have 11 games to squeeze in before the end of the season
12:16, 24 Feb 2026
Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta
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Arsenal and Man City are going head-to-head for the Premier League title
The temperature is rising in the Premier League title race as Arsenal returned to winning ways in the North London Derby at Tottenham on Sunday following two frustrating draws against Brentford and Wolves, respectively.
Manchester City took care of business against Newcastle on Saturday evening and it's now shaping up to be a grandstand finish, whatever way it goes.
Arsenal have just 10 matches remaining while second-place City have 11 as they still need to play their rearranged fixture against Crystal Palace which was due to take place the same weekend as the Carabao Cup final.
football.london has used a special fixture difficulty tool - the same one used by Fantasy Premier League - to compare the two challengers' remaining matches.
Fixtures are graded from one to five in difficulty with one being considered easy in comparison to five, which is regarded as the hardest possible type of fixture.
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The grade is processed by a number of different Opta variables which include both teams' home and away form over the course of the last six matches.
Statistically, it appears Arsenal just about have the easier run-in, though it must be noted that City do play one game more and they also host the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium on April 18.
Arsenal's average opponent rating is 2.8 and crucially, they also only leave London twice (Brighton and City) in their final 10 games.
This weekend's clash against Chelsea in graded a three and so is the trip to Brighton, home clash with Everton and home fixture against Andoni Iraola's much-improved Bournemouth.
City away is graded a five while Newcastle at home is a three, Fulham at home is a two and so is West Ham away.
Pep Guardiola
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Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are trying to hunt Arsenal down in the Premier League title race
Burnley at home is graded a one - the only one-rated fixture either side will play in their final 21 games combined - while Arsenal conclude their season at Crystal Palace, which is a three.
Their overall opponent difficulty rating is 28 while City, who play one game extra, have an overall opponent rating of 32 (an average of 2.9 per opponent).
This weekend's fixture against Leeds at Elland Road is graded a three while City then face Nottingham Forest at home, which is a two.
West Ham away is also graded a two while Pep Guardiola's men then face two tough fixtures in Chelsea away (four) and Arsenal at home (four).
Burnley away is graded a two while Everton away is graded a three. Brentford at home, Bournemouth away and Aston Villa at home on the final day are all graded a three. City still need to squeeze in a home fixture against Palace, which is also graded a three.
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