Eyes on the prize as the race for the Premier League title accelerates on Sunday. Manchester City smelling blood, Arsenal losing theirs. It could be one hell of a battle, it could be something that simply does not live up to the hype and there is a lot of hype. Issue 90. Go.

When the 2025/26 Premier League fixtures were released, any fan would have looked at what their team’s opposition was on the opening day, then the final day and also a quick look at the festive period.

Keep an eye out for a clash against your nearest rivals but also look out for those dates that could be filed under in the folder named ‘season defining’ - a file that had a document titled ‘Sunday April 19th: Manchester City vs Arsenal.

A day that was still 10 months on the horizon but a day anticipated all the same. A day that perhaps lost relevance and even importance after City were held to a 2-2 draw at the Etihad by Nottingham Forest a month ago.

A result that all but giftwrapped the Premier League title to Arsenal, even more so by the time Pep Guardiola’s men then dropped another two points at relegation-threatened West Ham in their next outing.

Nine points behind going into the international break but still a League Cup final to tackle before City’s legion of stars flew across the globe to represent their country. A League Cup final against Arsenal, a potentially pivotal afternoon in this season.

First blood to City after their 2-0 win at Wembley. The wound that Arsenal suffered in defeat still bleeding even a weekend ago. Their league defeat to Bournemouth certainly not in the script on Saturday, then again neither was their FA Cup reverse to Southampton.

Yes, Arsenal may be in the Champions League semi-finals, but they made incredibly hard work of Sporting over the course of 180 minutes. 180 dire minutes if I and many others are being brutally honest.

Then again, Mikel Arteta will surely be happy just to get over that particular line, now he and his players have to make sure that they cross this. The arid landscape of the Etihad awaits on Sunday, win here and the title race comes to a screeching halt.

Failure to land a knockout blow on their nearest challengers and it is a five-game sprint to the very end. A home win will make things all the more nervy in North London, a draw may come at considerable cost.

How much do Arsenal put into simply trying to wring every last drop out of this game. Stalemate may keep the gap at six points but if the performance is not convincing, the prospect of another performance like when at home to Bournemouth looms large.

Not only that, but both teams find themselves in a position where perceived benefits could also prove to be their perceived undoings by the end of Sunday afternoon. Will either team be caught out by their own trap?

For City, the freshness that has come with no midweek action means that manager Pep Guardiola could have too much time to think about the tactical setup for this game. He has overthought things in the past, the 2021 Champions League final springs to mind.

While for Arsenal, they arrive in Manchester knowing that they can play not to lose rather than to go all out for the win. Does that make them there for the taking knowing they will be happy to sit back. Can they find a sharp enough attack to go for the jugular?

City seem happy to give the first half to their opponents. Arsenal fell into the trap in the recent Carabao Cup final. Liverpool did not even get all 45 minutes in their recent destruction, Chelsea eventually swept aside after a toothless first half last Sunday.

It’s almost as if City are like the cat with the mouse, content to let it wander just far enough to believe it has escaped, before tightening their grip and ending the contest on their own terms.

This time though, the title race is on Arsenal’s terms. The Gunners still have a six-point lead, City still need to also win a game in hand. It’s not over yet, it might not even be over until the final day of the season.

The two best teams in the land, the model of consistency across the last 32 weeks of the Premier League season. One team has climbed this mountain many times before, the other edging closer to their own mountain top.

Close but not close enough, that has been the problem for Arsenal these past few years. A draw would provide some shelter from the prevailing wind of Manchester City, defeat on Sunday and they may have to call out mountain rescue. Sunday, 16:30. Be there.

Everyone was quick to celebrate the demise of English teams in the Champions League, maybe the viewpoint needs to be more holistic in its approach.

Two English clubs in the Europa League semi-finals

Crystal Palace flying the flag for the Premier League in the Conference League.

There could still be an English team winning all three European competitions.

Maybe the overall strength of the league is the thing we should be looking at, rather than the strength of teams in the Champions League.

Let’s see the lie of the land in May shall we.

A look at the main talking points as we head into the upcoming Premier League weekend schedule.

A West London derby on Saturday as Brentford play host to Fulham. The Bees keen to keep their bid for European football next season alive but they also need to kickstart their momentum in terms of results. Four successive draws for Keith Andrews’ men at present, the difference between an excellent season and an incredible one.

As for opponents Fulham, they find themselves hoping to gatecrash the European party. Their invite not quite ripped into pieces but even with it seeming as if the whole of the Premier League will be on the continent next season, the guestlist will not go down as far as the Cottagers’ current standing. Feels more of a must win game for Marco Silva’s men than it does Brentford.

After their surprise win at Old Trafford on Monday, Leeds could take a huge step towards safety on Saturday. In doing so, they could also play a part in relegating their opponents. Daniel Farke’s men play host to Wolves, a second successive league win would take them to 39 points.

One short of the magic 40-point marker but nobody has needed that many points since Watford in 2016/17, which means there could be high cause for celebration at Elland Road and potentially some delayed commiseration for Wolves. Defeat for them and a win for Tottenham just a few hours later would leave West Ham needing just a point on Monday to send them down.

The Eddie Howe derby is what nobody is calling this clash but Newcastle welcome Bournemouth on Saturday and if you cast your mind back to when he was manager of the Cherries, there are similar patterns to the end of that tenure to what is currently playing out at St James’ Park.

Newcastle have lost twice in succession to last minute goals and this leaves them 14th in the Premier League. European football not out of the question but the glamour of next season’s Champions League is. A competition that may have Andoni Iraola operating in it next season now that he has announced his own departure from Bournemouth, it will be interesting to see how his players react on Saturday.

Here we go then. After the false start at Sunderland last weekend. Roberto De Zerbi has his first game as Spurs manager at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Reports are that he took the players to dinner in the week for a team boding exercise. Will Saturday’s visit of Brighton be the equivalent of the last supper?

Especially as Brighton arrive in North London having won five of their last six league outings. 15 points from the last 18 on offer, the only blot on their copybook being the narrow defeat at home to Arsenal in March. Had they won that game, they would have started the weekend in sixth rather than ninth. Don’t exclude from the European conversaation either.

Another doomsday article on Chelsea’s finances was printed in the week, can their league form outrun their debt repayments? A fourth successive defeat will have their bank manager in a sweat as the Champions League drifts further off into the distance. Four points behind Liverpool before the weekend, how many will it be after?

They welcome a Manchester United side that will certainly feel bruised after suffering a defeat to Leeds on Monday. A result that livens up the race for third as both Aston Villa and Liverpool still think they can sneak in past the Red Devils. Was that defeat damaging enough for the United board to draw up another manager search?

Aston Villa’s Europa League bid moves to the last four after an emphatic aggregate win over Bologna and with that competition offering upward mobility into the Champions League, it would be a huge surprise for Unai Emery’s men to not have a ticket to Europe’s premier competition next season. What is the easiest route of the two? I’ll leave that to you to decide.

They welcome Sunderland on Sunday and with the Black Cats having got the better of both Newcastle and Tottenham in their last two league outings, Regis Le Bris’ men will fancy their chances of making it three in a row and boosting their own hopes of European action. Will their be a hangover at Villa Park this weekend?

It seems as if everyone from 14th upwards is in some form of European conversation, so apologies if everything sounds the same. That said, it sounds if Everton’s voice is starting to get louder by the week. Their share of the points at Brentford last Saturday, keeping David Moyes’ men in seventh before the weekend’s Merseyside derby.

As for opponents Liverpool, their attempt at winning any form of silverware this season was ended by Champions League holders PSG in midweek. Not only that, but Hugo Etikite has been ruled out for the next nine months. A blow for Arne Slot, whether they ever work together at Anfield remains to be seen. A win on Sunday would help the prospect considerably.

Every game seems to be hugely important for Nottingham Forest right now, simply because it is. Getting the better of Porto on Thursday in the Europa League sees them face Aston Villa in the semif-finals. They could also face them in the Premier League again next season with a win on Sunday.

They welcome Burnley to the City Ground and although they may be leggy from European exploits, there is no doubt that the fixture computer has been incredibly kind to Vitor Pereira this weekend. If Tottenham slip up the day before and Burnley are felled at Forest, it would mean a six-point cushion from the relegation zone. They surely cannot slip up here, can they?

After everything I have written above, watch it play out as a 0-0.

Crystal Palace are in that perfect position where they are on the Premier League beach and can now put all their eggs in a European basket. Does not really matter what they do between now and May, all eyes are now on winning the Conference League in May. How strong will they be in terms of line ups for their last six games, we shall soon find out.

Which may play massively into West Ham’s hands on Monday night, if Oliver Glasner did decide to play a second string after Palace’s European exploits on Thursday, the Hammers will look to take full advantage. Obviously some would argue about competition integrity but Palace have now earned the right to rest and rotate as they see fit, you may want to back an away win in this one.

As hinted at last week, Bernardo Silva is to leave Manchester City at the end of the season. A decision that is probably hastened by how quickly Antoine Semenyo has taken to life at the Etihad. The versatility and the talent of the former Bournemouth forward will lead City into their next cycle with ease.

Lionel Messi has joined the growing army of footballers who are buying clubs. The Argentine has purchased Spanish fifth-tier club UE Cornella in full and has seemingly started another arms race with nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo.

His Portuguese goalscoring counterpart purchased a 25% stake in Almeria at the start of the year, give it 10 years and the two sides will be playing each other in La Liga.

I mentioned in the previous article that West Brom have drawn the ire of the EFL for PSR breaches. There will be some form of punishment it seems, it will be handed out before the end of the season according to reports. The Championship relegation battle may undergo some form of adjustment soon.

There would be something rather sweet in Crystal Palace winning the Conference League and finally getting to the Europa League a season later than planned. I guess the only thing that would sour it, is Nottingham Forest winning that competition and then getting in the Champions League in 2026/27.

The deadline for this weekend is 11:00am (Saturday), don’t forget.

Right, that’s the end of issue 90 as word continues to spread around the football world.

This isn’t a newsletter that follows the crowd. It sets the lens through which you see the game and more than 210 subscribers are now viewing it through that lens.

If you’re serious about understanding football, staying ahead of the stories, and cutting through the noise, keep this in your inbox - send it to your friend’s inbox as well.

Issue 91 drops Tuesday, I’ll be back with another round of insight, analysis and trends that matter. Any feedback or comments on this issue, contact me below:

[email protected]

Follow me on Twitter (x) - https://x.com/dantracey1983

Follow me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dantracey/