Premier League play-off? Etihad draw opens door to Arsenal v Man City title decider in 39th game | OneFootball

While the vast majority of neutrals appear to be leaning towards a Manchester City victory on Sunday as the Gunners bottling the Premier League title would be objectively hilarious, we should actually all be rooting for a draw at the Etihad to give rise to the possibility of a bona fide title decider in a 39th game of the season.

Arsenal have plummeted in the Premier League mood rankings as their horrible displays in the top flight finally caught up them in a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth to put the title back into the hands of Manchester City, who flexed their muscles with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Chelsea.

Thierry Henry laughed at Arsenal’s chances of getting a result against Manchester City after what he saw from them against Sporting and Mikel Arteta and his players have somehow managed to plunge Ian Wright – a famously positive Gooner – into a pit of despair.

Wright told The Overlap: “Watching the games, it hurts. There’s a pain that’s hurting me. It’s killing me that I can’t feel it. I’ve put so much, invested so much into the manager, the team, the players, everything.

“And they’ve got to a place again and you are just seeing it falling away, you’re seeing players making mistakes.”

It sounds like another Arsenal game is the very last thing Wright wants and it would represent a significant blow to Arteta and his “shattered” players having led the way for much of the season.

We’re not entirely sure we want to see further Arsenal drudgery either, but would welcome the greatest Premier League spectacle of all time in the form of a first-ever title play-off with open arms.

If City beat Arsenal and then Burnley on Wednesday the pair will be level on points heading into their 34th games of the season, but victory at the Etihad on Sunday would put play-off hopes to bed.

With the third and fourth tie-breakers if they finish level on points being points won in head-to-head games and away goals scored in head-to-head games only a 1-1 draw would keep the dream alive.

We would then also require them to finish the season with the same goal difference having scored the same number of goals, but that’s perfectly possible albeit unlikely, with Arsenal three goals better off than City while Guardiola’s side have scored one more goal than their title rivals.

The Premier League has only ever finished with two teams level at the top once before, when Sergio Aguerooooo scored the dramatic injury time goal for City against QPR to break Manchester United hearts to clinch the title on goal difference.

A play-off game would take place at a neutral ground, with the format, date and time of the title clash of all title clashes to be decided by the Premier League.