Title-chasing Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points on Monday, thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Burnley, and Mikel Arteta’s men are just one step away from winning a long-awaited league title.
Not since 2004 have the Gunners been kings of England. But if they beat Crystal Palace on Sunday, or if Manchester City drop points from their final two games, they are home and dry.
The Clarets frustrated Arsenal for much of the first half, and when the goal came on 37 minutes, it was only the hosts’ second effort on target. And it came from a familiar source: a corner kick. Bukayo Saka sent over a perfect delivery that hung in the air for Kai Havertz to meet with an incredible leap and head home Arsenal’s 18th goal from a corner of the season.
Burnley kept Arsenal at bay for the rest of the game, and it was a nervy finish with seven minutes of injury time, but it could have been even tenser had a key moment gone against the Gunners. Arsenal haven’t had a player sent off this season, but Havertz was a very lucky boy on 67 minutes when he took down Lesley Ugochukwu with a horrible, studs-up challenge, and the VAR officials looked long and hard before letting the German star off. Arteta watched the video and immediately hooked Havertz before anybody changed their mind!
So, the Premier League 2026 betting odds have shifted back towards Arsenal, and now it’s over to Manchester City.
The Sky Blues visit Bournemouth on Tuesday and are expected to take all three points, but it won’t be easy against the in-form Cherries, who are on the European trail and still in with an outside chance of Champions League football.
Liverpool are still waiting
Manchester United confirmed their third-place finish on Sunday as they edged a five-goal thriller at home to Nottingham Forest, and that signals quite a success for Michael Carrick, who took over as head coach in January. On his appointment, the task was to secure Champions League football, and the former Middlesbrough boss did it with ease as the players who seemed to be treading water in winter have bounced into spring and are now looking forward to a well-earned summer break, either side of the World Cup.
Goals from Luke Shaw, Matheus Cunha, and Bryan Mbeumo were enough to seal the win for the Red Devils. Forest replied through Morato and Morgan Gibbs-White, who both converted crosses from the excellent Elliot Anderson. United’s chief provider Bruno Fernandes teed up Mbeumo to make it 20 assists for the campaign, equalling a Premier League record shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
But while Manchester United can look forward to a Champions League campaign, Northwest neighbours Liverpool lost 4-2 away to Aston Villa, a result which confirmed the Villans’ top-five place while Arne Slot’s Reds still have to wait, with just a four-point lead over Bournemouth, who have two games to play.
My SBOTOP colleague Jordan quite rightly pointed out that Villa had a distraction to deal with when they hosted Liverpool on Friday. With a Europa League final to look forward to, Unai Emery’s men kept their focus brilliantly to secure their slot in the Champions League, with the back-to-form Ollie Watkins scoring a second-half double. Morgan Rogers and John McGinn were also on target for the buzzing hosts, while Liverpool’s creative unit left it to centre-back Virgil van Dijk to score their two consolation goals.
Slot’s men may need to beat Brentford on the final day to stay in the top five, and that is not a situation Liverpool fans envisaged back in August.
Hammer blow for Nuno in Newcastle
After pushing Arsenal to the limit last week, losing to a late goal and then denied an equaliser by VAR, West Ham United looked shell-shocked when they turned up at Newcastle, and they left staring relegation in the face after falling to a 3-1 defeat. 17th-placed Tottenham, with a vastly superior goal difference, almost certainly need just a point from their final two matches to send the Hammers down.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were out of the game with just 20 minutes gone, 2-0 adrift after Nick Woltemade benefited from a poor pass out by Mads Hermansen before Will Osula doubled the lead with a cool finish after a slick passing move. And West Ham had themselves to blame for Newcastle’s third goal, losing possession from their own throw-in, to present Osula with his second.
Nuno had thrown on Taty Castellanos midway through the first half, and he provided a moment of quality with a first-time lob from 25 yards, which Nick Pope could only watch sail into the net, but that was all the visitors could muster.
When Tottenham line up against Chelsea on Tuesday night, they can consign West Ham to relegation, so the Hammers fans will be watching the Premier League 2026 updates through their fingers. It’s almost too much to bear.
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