This season’s English Premier League title race has been one of the most intriguing battles that we have ever seen with three teams all fighting tooth and nail to finish the season at the top of the table.
Even as the top three, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, move into their final 10 games of the season, there is still just one point separating the top spot and third place.
However, one of the biggest moments of this season is due to take place on Sunday as Manchester City host Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in a game that could give either side a huge advantage heading into the closing stages of the season.
With this being one of the biggest title race fixtures we have ever seen, we are going to take a look back at some of the other most significant fixtures between two title challengers in Premier League seasons gone by:
Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United – 30/04/2012
Manchester City win the EPL over Manchester United on goal difference
The most dramatic of all Premier League title races came in the 2011/12 season where Manchester City grabbed their first league title since 1968, beating rivals Manchester United on goal difference.
While this season became famous for its iconic ‘Aguero’ moment on the final day of the season, another hugely important moment came in late April when the two teams faced each other at the Etihad Stadium.
Vicent Kompany’s powerful header proved to be the only goal of the game, giving Manchester City the win and seeing them claw back from eight points behind to going top on goal difference after this game. These three points proved vital at the end of the season as both sides finished with 89 points, but City came out on top thanks to their superior goal difference.
Manchester United 1-2 Chelsea – 03/04/2010
Chelsea win the EPL over Manchester United by one point
Chelsea and Manchester United produced one of the highest-quality title races up until that point in the 2009/10 season when both teams got into the mid-80s for point tallies, which wasn’t normal for multiple sides to achieve at that time.
Manchester United were hunting their fourth consecutive Premier League title while Chelsea were looking to stop their domination over the league, with the game of the season happening when these two sides faced up in early April.
The game came so late in the season that many people knew that whoever won this match would likely go on to win the title, and Chelsea did just that as they beat Man United 2-1 thanks to goals from Joe Cole and a controversial goal from Didier Drogba, which was clearly offside. Chelsea didn’t care though as they went on from this game to win the title by just a single point, signing off the season by smashing Wigan 8-0 on the final day.
Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool – 03/01/2019
Manchester City win the EPL over Liverpool by one point
The 2018/19 Premier League title race may just be the highest points tally we will ever see two sides achieve, eclipsing that of Manchester United and Chelsea’s title race in 2009/10 as Liverpool finished second place with 97 points, while Manchester City won the title with 98.
While the game between these two sides came slightly earlier in the season than a normal title-deciding fixture, both sides dropped points so infrequently that this game meant a huge amount come the end of the season.
The match saw a brilliant back-and-forth tie between two Premier League greats, with Sergio Aguero opening the scoring in the 40th minute. Roberto Firmino equalised for Liverpool just after the hour mark, but the winning goal came in the 72nd minute from Leroy Sane.
Newcastle United 0-1 Manchester United – 04/03/1996
Manchester United win the EPL over Newcastle United by four points
Newcastle United looked destined to win the 1995/96 Premier League title, holding a 12-point lead with 15 games remaining of the season. However, the tide quickly turned when Manchester United’s talisman Eric Cantona returned from an eight-month suspension.
The key game in this title race was when Manchester United visited Newcastle United at St James’ Park, where Cantona scored the only goal of the game to give his side a vital 1-0 victory.
While Manchester United went on to win the title by four points, this victory at St James’ Park was crucial in demoralising the Newcastle United team going into the final games of the season.
Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal – 14/03/1998
Arsenal win the EPL over Manchester United by one point
This season was the first Premier League title Arsenal won, in new boss Arsene Wenger’s first season in charge of the side.
For the majority of the early stages of the season, it didn’t look as though Arsenal were going to find themselves as champions come the end of the campaign, but an 18-game unbeaten run from Boxing Day to 3 May saw the Gunners go on to become the title winners.
The key moment came during this unbeaten run when Arsenal travelled to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, who were right on their tails until the very end. Marc Overmars had been a constant thorn in United’s side throughout the game, and he scored the only goal of the match in the 79th minute that proved crucial at the end of the season with Arsenal claiming the title by just a single point.
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