An interesting new study has revealed every Premier League fanbase's preference on whether they'd rather Arsenal or Manchester City lift the title in May. As things stand, it looks like the Gunners will ride the wave from now until the end of the 2025/26 campaign to win their first league title in over 20 years, having opened up a 10-point gap over their nearest rivals.
But after three consecutive runners-up finishes prior to this term, Mikel Arteta’s side will be well aware of the dangers of dropping points when Man City are chasing their tails. It means that, while it looks like a near foregone conclusion after Arsenal have won four of their last five league fixtures, the final stretch could still bring some unexpected twists and turns.
One look at social media would suggest that most Premier League fans are hoping for the Gunners to ‘bottle it’, with the north Londoners becoming notorious for their massive online presence. But The Athletic’s new research has revealed that isn’t the case for every fanbase, and the results make for a very interesting read.
MixCollage-25-Mar-2025-09-48-AM-7183 Related
Supercomputer Predicts 2025-26 Premier League Table in Full
The Premier League table could look very different in some key areas by the time May rolls around.
PL Fanbases Who'd Rather Man City Win the Title
Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland
Indeed, the hypothesis that more fanbases would rather see Manchester City win their sixth title in eight years than Arsenal end their 22-year drought proves true. That might come as a surprise, given AI suggests the Etihad Stadium faithful are among the most disliked fanbases in world football, but in the current landscape, another club’s misfortune is often more appealing to neutrals.
However, any initial feeling that City would be favoured by a landslide would be wrong. The results show that, while 11 out of 18 clubs prefer the Cityzens, most only hold a slight preference for Pep Guardiola’s side. Naturally, 91.8 per cent of Tottenham fans want to see their noisy neighbours miss out on glory, while 84.8 per cent of Chelsea fans agree.
But in the case of Wolves, West Ham United, Leeds United, Burnley, Bournemouth and others, there is only a fractional preference, suggesting Arsenal are not as universally disliked as social media might indicate. Perhaps the most interesting finding, however, is that after the two aforementioned London clubs, it is Liverpool fans who show the highest preference for City to win.
A whopping 70.3 per cent of the Anfield faithful surveyed would rather see their most recent biggest adversaries lift another crown, despite being in a similar position to Arsenal, having suffered from Guardiola’s relentless winning machine on numerous occasions themselves.
PL Fanbases Who'd Rather Arsenal Win the Title
Arsenal players
Curiously, Everton fans have the highest percentage backing Arsenal to win the league, with 71.7 per cent opting for Mikel Arteta’s side to go all the way. Meanwhile, 68.4 per cent of Sunderland fans share the same view, as do 65.6 per cent of Brentford supporters, who - interestingly - are the only other London club besides Fulham to back their local rivals by more than 60 per cent.
Many would have expected Manchester United fans to hold a stronger stance on the title race, yet only just above 58 per cent favour Arsenal. That relatively modest figure perhaps reflects the club’s long-standing rivalries with both sides, with lingering animosity from the Arsene Wenger era still shaping opinion among parts of the fanbase.
The other club to lean towards Arsenal over City is Crystal Palace. But while there appears to be a trend of stronger conviction among those backing Arsenal, Eagles supporters - having watched their side beat Man City in last season’s FA Cup - hold only a marginal 2.4 per cent preference for their London counterparts, highlighting just how finely balanced some allegiances remain. See the full results of the study below: