To win a first championship in 20 years, Arsenal probably need a favour from bitter rivals Tottenham on Tuesday night but, whatever happens in Manchester City’s visit to the other end of the Seven Sisters Road, Mikel Arteta’s side have taken the title race to the wire.
It promises to be the strangest of atmospheres at Spurs, with the majority of the 60,000 home fans actively willing their side to a defeat which would end their hopes of a return to the Champions League next season.
The alternative — Arsenal with the title in their hands when they host Everton on the final day — is simply unthinkable for Spurs.
As the Arsenal fans filed out of Old Trafford in a biblical rain storm, there was the odd strain of ‘Come on you Spurs’, while Kai Havertz, who supplied the winning goal for Leandro Trossard, admitted afterwards he is “going to be the biggest Tottenham fan ever” on Tuesday night.
The game will be uncomfortable viewing for everyone associated with Arsenal, not least because Ange Postecoglou’s side have shown little of late to suggest they are capable of stunning City, even with a top-four finish still on the line.
But Arteta can reflect with satisfaction that his side have done their bit and City, so immune to pressure as they appear to be at this stage of the season, might just feel the heat on Tuesday, particularly given their dreadful record at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“My experience in this league is that any team can beat any team,” said Arteta on Sunday.
“The margin of respect that everybody puts in the games is phenomenal. We know we need a [Spurs] result. We need to do our own thing still in the last game.”
Arsenal were nervy and a long way from their fluent best against an abject United side, but they deserve enormous credit for taking the title race to the final day with a gritty 1-0 win.
When they were beaten by Aston Villa and Bayern Munich in the space of three days in mid-April, it was easy to imagine another Arsenal title push was about to unravel.
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But they have responded superbly, winning five straight matches and conceding just twice, both in a strange second half at Spurs, after they had led 3-0 at the interval.
Instead, it is Liverpool — the more experienced club in these positions — who have found the pace too much and fallen away.
Since the turn of the year, Arteta’s side have been outstanding in the league, dropping just five points in the shape of a 1-1 draw with City and the costly 2-0 home defeat by Villa.
It is the form of champions, whether or not Arsenal finish top of the pile, and a testament to the obscene standards set by Pep Guardiola’s City that it may not be enough.
In previous campaigns, title contenders could afford a slip-up in the run-in and still get over the line, but to overhaul City requires nothing short of perfection — a point Arteta has made repeatedly.
There is no longer any question that Arsenal are a superior side to last season — often less exhilarating, yes, but more durable, composed, balanced and ruthless.
Sunday’s win was a long way from their best display of the season, but at this stage of the campaign, performances matter not a jot, as Arsene Wenger emphasised to Arteta when advising the Spaniard on how to win a first championship.
Trossard’s close-range finish settled Arsenal’s early nerves and they were able to hold United at arm’s length for 70 minutes in a cagey, low-quality encounter.
It was their 27th win of the season — a club record in the Premier League era — while they have also scored more goals than in any previous campaign, with Trossard’s their 89th in the top flight this term.
Arsenal’s 86 points is the most in a season since the 2003-04 ‘Invincibles’ campaign and, if they beat Everton, they will be within one point of Wenger’s unbeaten side.
There is a compelling case that Arsenal have been comfortably the best team in the Premier League this season
“That’s not progress, it’s history,” said Arteta. Arsenal have also gone an entire campaign unbeaten against the so-called ‘big six’, with six wins and four draws — again a first in 20 years.
City, by contrast, have struggled against the sides around them, having not beaten Arsenal or Liverpool this season and drawn 3-3 with Spurs at the Etihad in December, a result which offers encouragement that Postecoglou’s attacking approach can unsettle the champions.
Really, there is a compelling case that Arsenal have been comfortably the best team in the Premier League this season, but when it comes to the crunch, there is only one statistic that matters: each club’s points total at 6pm on Sunday.
