Arsenal have 82 from 37 games with Manchester City on 77 from 36, and Mikel Arteta’s side will be confirmed as champions if City fail to win at Bournemouth on Tuesday.

Should City take the race to ​the wire, Arsenal would be guaranteed the title by beating Crystal Palace away on Sunday.

“I’m going to be the biggest ever Bournemouth ​fan,” Arteta said of Man City’s trip to the south coast.

“I’ll be there in front of the TV, but ⁠I don’t know how much I’ll be able to watch.”

Since losing to City one month ago, Arsenal have dug deep and have now reeled ​off four successive league wins without conceding a goal to reclaim pole position.

They have also reached the Champions League final, and there was a mood of ​celebration long before kick-off in the streets of north London and outside the stadium, with the Arsenal team coach greeted by thousands of fans and a fog of red flares.

Expectation hung in the air as the game began, but the reality was Arsenal still had a job to do, and while manager-less Burnley are long since ​down, they were not about to roll over.

Burnley earned two corners inside the opening two minutes, and had Hannibal Mejbri shown a little more ​composure, Burnley could have taken a shock lead from one counter-attack.

The apprehension that has been present at many Arsenal home games in the run-in as they try to ‌edge out ⁠City was there again, but they eventually began to exert some pressure.

Eberechi Eze volleyed one effort at Burnley keeper Max Weiss, and Arsenal were howling for a penalty when Saka went down under a clumsy challenge from Lucas Pires.

Captain Martin Odegaard had a shot deflected wide, and from the resulting corner, Arsenal made the breakthrough in tried and trusted fashion. Saka flighted the ball in, and Havertz, preferred to Viktor Gyokeres, glanced in a header. It ​was Arsenal’s 18th league goal from ​a corner routine.

The tension lifted, but ⁠it descended again after the interval as Arsenal missed several chances to secure the points safely, with Eze bouncing one effort onto the crossbar.

Havertz was fortunate when a poor tackle on Burnley midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu, which earned ​him a yellow card, was viewed by VAR for a possible red, but the relieved German escaped more ​serious punishment.

Any notion of ⁠Arsenal piling up some goals to give themselves a goal difference advantage over City were forgotten as the minutes ticked by, with Arsenal fans fearing a dark late twist in their side’s season.

A huge roar heralded the final whistle before Arsenal’s players took a lap of honour, and they will now hope Bournemouth ⁠can spark ​an even bigger north London knees-up on Tuesday.

If not, the wait will go on to ​Sunday.

“There is a game tomorrow, anything can happen in that,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said.

“We can’t get ahead of ourselves. I’ve played in the Premier League for too long to know ​that things can happen. All we can control is ourselves, going out there on Sunday and winning.”

-Reuters

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Manchester United secured a 3-2 Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest in their final home game of a resurgent season on Sunday, with ​the club on the cusp of confirming Michael Carrick as their permanent manager.

Luke Shaw, ‌Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo scored. At the same time, captain Bruno Fernandes equalled the league record for assists in a season with his 20th, as United stayed third on 68 points with one game remaining after Carrick’s eighth win in nine ​games at Old Trafford.

Forest sit 16th on 43 points.

Defender Shaw opened the scoring in the ​fifth minute after a loose clearance fell kindly, drilling his finish into the ⁠bottom corner for his first league goal in more than three years.

Morato levelled with his first goal ​for Forest in the 53rd minute, heading home from close range.

Cunha restored United’s lead two minutes later with ​an effort that stood following a lengthy VAR check for a possible Mbeumo handball in the build-up.

Mbeumo, who had squandered several terrific chances earlier in the game, finally found the back of the net in the 76th minute with a ​composed finish from Fernandes’ cross. Still, Morgan Gibbs-White pulled one back soon after to ensure a ​nervy finale.

Fernandes equalled the assist record shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

The game marked a fond ‌farewell for ⁠Casemiro after four seasons, and the fans gave the Brazil midfielder a standing ovation when he was subbed off in the 80th minute.

With little at stake — United are already assured of Champions League football, while Forest are safe in the Premier League next season — both teams played with freedom ​in an entertaining end-to-end game ​in which United ⁠had eight shots on target while the visitors had four.

United fans roared for another Fernandes assist, and Diogo Dalot and Joshua Zirkzee nearly delivered in ​stoppage time. Dalot rang his shot off the post, while Zirkzee’s shot ​from the edge ⁠of the penalty area was blocked by Elliot Anderson.

Zirkzee’s second effort was saved by Matz Sels.

Carrick addressed the fans after the match.

“I could listen to that all night,” he said, after the chanting finally ⁠died down. “What ​a way to finish a season here at home, ​what a game that was. I thought we played ever so well today, it’s unbelievable to see this place like this.

“This ​season, we’ve had some big, big games that we’ve really enjoyed.”

-Reuters

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Manchester City kept ​the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a comfortable 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, trimming the gap ‌at the top of the table to two points as the title race sprints towards its conclusion.

Goals from Antoine Semenyo, Omar Marmoush and Savinho ensured Pep Guardiola’s side did all they could on a night when City played with authority and control to lift them onto 77 points, while Arsenal have 79, with two ​games remaining for each.

While City still need Arsenal to squander points in one of their remaining matches, Guardiola’s men showed no ​sign of resignation, and Semenyo put them ahead in the 32nd minute when Phil Foden’s crafty back-heel set ⁠him up to slot a shot into the bottom-left corner.

Marmoush doubled City’s lead in the 40th minute, when Foden’s touch on a cross ​landed at the Egyptian’s feet, and he shot on the turn back into the far corner. It marked the first time the seldom-used Foden ​has provided multiple assists in the first half of a Premier League game in his career.

Savinho added a third in the 84th minute when he latched onto a through ball from Rayan Cherki and finished with a left-footed shot from the edge of the six-yard box.

Had City lost or drawn against Palace on Wednesday, Arsenal would ​have clinched their first league title in 22 years with a victory over already-relegated Burnley on Monday.

‘MASSIVE GAME’

“It’s a massive game, must-win, so ​we are really happy,” Foden said.

“The aim is to keep pushing and keep (Arsenal) on their toes,” he added. “We’ve seen a lot of things that can happen on ‌the final ⁠day. I’ve experienced it many times when the game doesn’t go your way. We just have to keep pushing and doing our part.”

Ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, Guardiola made six changes to his team, including resting his league-leading scorer, Erling Haaland, for the night.

But if his selections initially raised eyebrows, City cruised through much of the match, playing with such ease that the contest felt effectively decided well before ​the final whistle.

City had 72% possession ​and 15 shots to Palace’s ⁠six.

Josko Gvardiol, back in the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a tibial fracture in early January, thought he had given City a three-goal cushion late in the first half, but Palace goalkeeper ​Dean Henderson made a brilliant save, stretching to swat Gvardiol’s header out of danger.

City’s victory continued an ​unbeaten league run that ⁠stretches back to mid-January and that has breathed life into a title race that for much of the season felt like Arsenal had it in the bag.

“Today City were much better than we were, they were too good for us,” Palace manager Oliver Glasner, whose side are 15th on 44 points, ⁠said. “If you ​want to get the point, or even more, here at Etihad, you need a ​top performance, and we couldn’t deliver a top performance today.”

City visit Bournemouth on Tuesday and host Aston Villa in the league season finale on May 24. If Arsenal beat ​Burnley on Monday, City must beat Europe-chasing Bournemouth, who are on a 16-game unbeaten run, the following day.

-Reuters

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