Arsenal face arguably their most important game of the last few years as they take on Manchester City in a clash that has major Premier League title ramifications. The Gunners hold a five-point lead over City prior to their Etihad Stadium visit, but a defeat could be detrimental to their hopes of winning England's top flight for the first time since 2004.
Pep Guardiola's side have two games in hand over Mikel Arteta's team and a win against the current league leaders would hand City a massive title advantage. A draw would also be the better result for City as maximum points being secured in their rearranged fixtures against Brighton and West Ham would put them top.
In short, Arsenal's title destiny rests heavily on the Wednesday evening battle. However, there is another game after Arsenal take on City that could be huge in the title race, especially as Arteta watched his team get played off the park in that particular fixture last season.
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On May 7, Arsenal head to St James Park to face Newcastle nearly 365 days on from their 2-0 defeat on Tyneside in the race for a Champions League place in the 2021/22 campaign. Now, Arsenal head north with a vastly different goal in mind and a win could not only help the Gunners in their title pursuit, but also prove just how far Arteta's team have come in the last year.
In that weekend Man City also play first which will leave Arsenal knowing the result they need to get to either stay in the race or potentially leapfrog their rivals.
However, a victory will be very hard to come by as Newcastle have lost just once on home soil this season and a few weeks on from dominating Manchester United, the Magpies tore Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham to pieces on Sunday. After 21 minutes Newcastle were five goals in front against Spurs with the game ending 6-1 and Arsenal's recent defensive frailties could be further exposed in a fortnight.
With that game in mind, Kieron Dyer sent a huge warning to Arsenal about their eventual clash against Newcastle. "Well you see what they did to Arsenal this time last year, they gave them a right good hiding that day," he said on Sky Sports. "This is a difficult place to come to, they press from the front, in your faces. Arsenal will try and play out from the back, what a great game that will be if Arsenal need to win the game and Newcastle need some points."
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