ARSENAL IN NEED OF HELP FROM THE WRONG PLACES
It seems inevitable Man City will win another EPL title, says Paul Chapman.
Does Arsenal have any hope?
The Gunners sit atop the English Premier League with two games to play. They have scored the most goals in the league. They have given up the fewest.
So why does it feel inevitable that Arsenal will finish second-best for the second year in a row?
The answer will come on Tuesday. Arsenal finishes the season with a trip to woeful Manchester United on Sunday, then a week later they get Everton, which will have nothing to play for.
But Manchester City, one point back of Arsenal, has the dreaded game in hand.
City plays Fulham on Saturday, then finishes next Sunday against West Ham, which has already announced its manager David Moyes won't be back. In between, City plays its one game in hand, in London on Tuesday against Spurs.
In the most ironic of twists, Arsenal needs its most bitter rival to do them a favour and take something off City.
The one salvation is Spurs are also desperate.
They are seven points out of the last Champions League spot with a game in hand. They need Villa to drop points against both Liverpool on Monday and against Crystal Palace on the last day of the season, May 19.
That's not an insurmountable quest for Spurs to hope for. Liverpool wants to see outgoing manager Jurgen Klopp off well and the new manager Arne Slot will be watching players to see who is going hard to the end. Palace hasn't lost in its last five, four wins and a draw.
But should Spurs not beat Burnley on Saturday, and should Villa beat Liverpool on Monday, Spurs will have nothing to play for come Thursday.
Arsenal lost to Villa in April and the damage was done. It has straightened out and looked brilliant the last four weeks, but we know City historically don't lose from the front. It is ruthless at finishing seasons. No team has won the Premier League four times in a row, but it looks all but inevitable that City will be the first to do it.
We can talk about the 115 financial charges facing the club, and we should, but however City has pieced together this team, until the verdict on those charges come down, it has too much quality all over the pitch. It won't help Arsenal's cause that Spurs look dreadful at the moment.
When you're counting on a team to beat the behemoth that is Manchester City, needing that help from your bitter rival is one thing, but needing help from a team that's lost four in a row, comprehensively, seems a lost cause.
Is it more likely that Fulham or West Ham can do you a favour? Probably at this point. But when teams have nothing to play for in mid-May and already have one foot on the beach, that's when City does its best work.
There's still enough intrigue left. And I would expect Arsenal to keep rolling to at least keep interest going into the last day of the season, but honestly this race will take some astonishing bottling by City to change anything other than what we've witnessed the last four seasons.
DOES LUTON HAVE ANY HOPE?
It's seemingly the only other race on the cards left, can Luton catch Nottingham Forest to escape relegation? However, the schedule makers have offered up some drama here.
Burnley has mathematical hope, but it is five points back of Forest with a vastly inferior goal difference. Burnley would have to beat Spurs and see Forest lose to Chelsea. OK, Chelsea has looked a lot better of late. Then on the last day of the season, we get Burnley hosting Forest.
Luton is three points back but has a significant deficit in goal difference, as well. So it is going to need Forest to lose both their games and Luton then has to beat West Ham and then Fulham.
HOW MANY MANAGERS JOBS ARE ON THE LINE?
There's not a lot of patience with managers in the EPL. With Klopp leaving, that will mean Pep Guardiola will be the most tenured manager.
Liverpool has found its replacement already.
Chelsea's rumour mill had Mauricio Pochettino's job security on thin ice for weeks, but despite the flaccid results and the exorbitant amount of money spent, its last few games have probably bought him some time.
There may be questions at Spurs, too. Ange Postecoglou is in his first season and will most likely get at least another season, but their late season collapse has to be raising eyebrows.
Manchester United simply can't give Erik ten Hag another season as the team looks an abject mess.
Even if they shocked Manchester City in the FA Cup final, it would be hard to see ten Hag hanging onto his job.