Arsenal over the weekend wrestled back momentum from Man City after a dramatic win over Aston Villa, while United closed the gap on the top two.
The Premier League title race is slowly turning into a three-way battle.
A 3-0 victory against Leicester City means that Manchester United have firmly pushed themselves into the title conversation, despite being in phase one of Erik ten Hag’s revolution.
Just three points now separate the Red Devils from their local rivals Manchester City, who have slipped two points behind leaders Arsenal after a surprising stalemate with Nottingham Forest.
The Gunners regained their place at the summit after a dramatic 4-2 win over Aston Villa and have the added benefit of a game in hand on both City and United as the season heads into the business end.
Here’s how the title challengers are shaping up:
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have looked like the side to beat all season. Despite suffering a slump in performances and results of late, they showed great spirit in coming from behind twice against Aston Villa before scoring two goals in second half stoppage time.
The Gunners were unbeaten in the league from mid-September right up until the defeat against Everton earlier this month, achieving an impressive 50 points by the halfway stage.
That kind of consistency was always going to be difficult to keep up, even more so considering the injuries to key personnel such as Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey.
The addition of Jorginho late in the January window looks to be a masterstroke from Edu and Arteta. The Chelsea loanee was a big factor in their win against Villa and is likely to be an important player for the rest of the season.
Of Arsenal’s final 15 league fixtures of the campaign, nine are against teams currently in the bottom half of the table. Crucially, they play top-half opponents just six more times before the season ends.
The next three games include a visit to Leicester City and home ties against Everton and Bournemouth. Whilst Sean Dyche got the better of Arteta in the first bout, the Gunners boss will be looking for improvement in round two.
At the time of writing, the American data website FiveThirtyEight gives Arsenal a 49 per cent chance to win the league, more than any other side in the title race.
Positive results in these three fixtures could set them up nicely for the rest of the season in the league and if they can successfully manage their key players’ minutes in the Europa League, a first league title since 2004 is theirs to lose.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s side took a big step towards denting Arsenal’s title hopes when they beat the Gunners 3-1, however, they failed to carry on that momentum against Nottingham Forest, conceding a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at the City Ground.
Whilst there are issues on the horizon off the pitch, on the pitch, Guardiola and City look more together than ever, as if galvanised by the Premier League’s decision to charge the club over historic financial fair play breaches.
Pep Guardiola’s squad have encountered stuttering form since the World Cup, though. City have won six of their 10 matches since the restart, losing the Manchester derby and against Spurs and only managing 1-1 draws with Everton and Forest.
The upcoming run of fixtures offers a mixed bag of sides including away fixtures to struggling Bournemouth and Crystal Palace as well as a visit from Newcastle who are in a patchy spell of form themselves.
If City are to pounce on any further weaknesses shown from Arsenal, they have to go on a winning run, much akin to past seasons to put themselves in the best possible position.
They have a slightly trickier run-in than Arsenal, based upon their upcoming opponents’ positions in the league table. Of their final 14 opponents, half are currently in the top half.
FiveThirtyEight have given Guardiola’s side a 47 per cent chance to win the Premier League and it remains to be seen whether they have the capacity to defend their champion status and win a third consecutive title.
Manchester United
Perhaps against the expectation of many at the start of the season, Manchester United are now in the title conversation.
While fans are excited given their excellent form since the season restart, Ten Hag is exercising caution.
“It is February, it is not about the title race,” he said following the win against Leicester.
“We are playing a big game on Thursday [against Barcelona in the Europa League] and we are focusing on that. That is the only thing that matters.”
Despite being distinctly second best in the opening 45 minutes, United still triumphed over the Foxes. It was the kind of performance that a title challenger would produce at this point of the season.
Marcus Rashford’s imperious form combined with the exciting return from Jadon Sancho is giving United fans serious cause to believe they have a chance of winning a first title in a decade.
Ten Hag’s men are currently in a spell of form rivalling the best of sides across Europe and in their 2-2 draw against Barcelona, they showed how far they have come under the Dutchman this season.
They are still the only side in the Premier League who could technically win a quadruple of trophies and while managing their squad will be key to remaining competitive on all fronts, Ten Hag has managed to make it work thus far.
FiveThirtyEight have given United just a four per cent chance of winning the Premier League, so if they do end up as champions, it would be a miraculous achievement.
After facing Barcelona in Europe and Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, United’s next three league fixtures are against Liverpool (at Anfield), Brighton and Southampton.
When are these sides playing each other again?
Manchester United have already got their matches with City and Arsenal out of the way, recording a 50 per cent winning record against both.
The Red Devils were the first team to beat Arsenal this season, winning 3-1 against them at Old Trafford in September and also secured a home win over City in January. They lost both away games, however, suffering a 6-3 thrashing at the Etihad and a 3-2 reverse at the Emirates.
Arsenal and City have played just once; the 3-1 win for the latter earlier this month. Arteta will have the chance to get one over his mentor in late April, when his side travel to Manchester. Depending on those results leading up to that clash, it could be an actual title decider as the meeting happens in gameweek 33.
