The closest EPL title race in years: who comes out on top?

COYG: The Gunners celebrate big after a late Kai Havertz goal to seal the deal against Brentford. (Arsenal)

Enzo Candolo | Editor-in-Chief

March 12, 2024

The 2023/24 English Premier League season has been a thrilling roller-coaster. For the first time in ages, we’re witnessing a nail-biting three-way title race. As of Sunday, March 10, Arsenal leads the pack with 64 points and a +46 goal difference (GD). Liverpool is hot on their heels with the same points, but a +39 GD, and Manchester City is not far behind at 63 points and a +35 GD.

One mistake, one false step, or one too many goals conceded, and those hopes of your team winning the Premier League…well, you can kiss them goodbye.

All three teams are red-hot and firing.

All three sides can beat each other and are just as good as each other. 

Arsenal may have one of the best back lines in all of Europe right now, and it has definitely been proven in the EPL, holding the least number of goals scored against them in the whole competition. Liverpool has a young and absolutely electric squad that has proven all of the doubters wrong this season. And who are we to try to count out Pep Guardiola and Manchester City from giving anyone an easy road to some lovely silverware?

HEAD TO HEAD: Virgil Van Dijk (left) and Earling Haaland (right) battle out in their draw today. (The Telegraph)

However, yet another game between Man City, Arsenal, or Liverpool has not really taught us anything. A 1-1 draw between Man City and Liverpool reveals City’s ongoing issue of consistently failing to come out on top. Despite a City team full of the top players in the world, their lack of conviction in the final third is responsible for their draws this season. However, if they can turn their many opportunities into goals, they still strike a serious candidate for Prem champions this year.

As of now, the March 31 Manchester City Arsenal match will be the game of the season, and if Arsenal walks up to the Etihad and rocks City at home, defeating them again, it would be apparent to me they deserve to win the Prem this year. But we all remember what happened last year when the Gunners bottled it to City after leading the league for 85% of the season. Junior Blake Devanna said, “I called it last year at the start of the season. We were going to get complacent and lose to City, and look what happened: we lost to City. But this year, it feels  different; we’ve been fighting all year, and after we let go just at the end of last year, I think the boys want it even more now.” 

Arsenal and Liverpool have shown so much resilience against these big Man City fixtures. Senior Will Pico said, “As much as I hate Liverpool, coming back from 1-0 down to City just shows how their mentality has shifted from last year’s poor season. They want to send [manager Jürgen] Klopp off in style, and I can respect that.”

But it’s essential to look at the mentality of all three sides: Manchester City, which has just won a treble and is looking to continue its dominance across Europe. Liverpool and, as Will said, are having this transitional year of getting back to the top; and Arsenal, as Blake said, lost the campaign after 247 days of leading it, and they’ve come back stronger than ever. 

This is a generational title race, and we should take the time to sit back and watch the magic happen. 

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