(Football news) Arsenal, however, is counting on Manchester City to lose against West Ham United, therefore some Gunners have already given up on their team finishing in second position.
While Gooners put their enmity aside and cheered the Lilywhites on against Manchester City, some Spurs supporters were only too glad to see their team come in second place. It was perhaps the most unusual set of circumstances for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur supporters in midweek.
The latter troupe got their wish – much to Ange Postecoglou’s chagrin – as City cruised to a 2-0 win in North London, thereby bumping Arsenal down to second place in the Premier League table with a two-point disadvantage heading into the final day, meaning that whatever Arteta’s men do on Sunday may not be enough to end their 20-year top-flight drought.
The North London troupe can at least cling onto their marginally superior goal difference, meaning that victory over Everton coupled with Man City drawing with West Ham would seal stardom, and the Gunners’ iconic 1988-89 team were the last side to win the top flight after starting the final day below first place.
Edging out Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford temporarily kept the Gunners at the head of the pack before Man City made full use of their match in hand, but unlike the capitulation of 2022-23, Arsenal have taken this title scrap right to the wire in another sign of serious progression – both technically and mentally – under Arteta’s watchful eye.
The beating of Man United represented a fifth Premier League success on the bounce for the North London giants, who have kept clean sheets in four of those matches and should at least end the campaign as the meanest defence in England, even if the top prize eludes them.
As Arsenal fans watch their beloved team and check their phones with bated breath on Sunday afternoon, there are no further obstacles blocking Everton’s amble to the finish line, and Sean Dyche’s men are certainly ending the season as they mean to go on.
The 1-0 survival-clinching win over Brentford on April 24 represents the third match in a five-game unbeaten sequence for the Toffees, who have accrued an impressive 13 points from 15 on offer in that time, most recently eking out a one-goal success over Sheffield United courtesy of Abdoulaye Doucoure’s header.
The visitors’ 15th-placed ranking is the highest that they can finish, while Brentford – who sit just one point worse off – can demote Dyche’s troops to 16th on the final day, not that the Goodison Park faithful will be losing any sleep with their perpetual Premier League status already assured.
Notwithstanding their remarkable exploits at Goodison, Everton’s poor away performance in 2024 may have given Toffees supporters some nightmares. The squad has lost 14 of its final-day games, more than any other Premier League team, and is currently on a 10-game losing streak in the top flight.
A few things about Sunday’s match apply to Everton as well. They went to Arsenal on the last day of the 2021–22 season, just after managing to survive. However, that day they were destroyed 5-1 and have now lost both of their previous meetings without scoring, giving Arteta and company the barest chance to win the title.
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