After Manchester City’s MASSIVE slip, where do we stand in the Premier League?
The Premier League season is hurtling towards its conclusion and, true to form, it has saved its most dramatic weeks for last. Monday delivered two results that rewrote the picture entirely: Manchester City dropped points at Everton in stoppage-time chaos, Arsenal are now five points clear at the top, Nottingham Forest hammered a flailing Chelsea, and the ripples are being felt from the title race all the way down to the relegation zone. Here is where every major battle stands in the Premier League.
This season’s Premier League has been absolute cinema
Arsenal vs Man City: Doku’s rescue act still leaves City behind in the Premier League race
Arsenal sit at the summit of the Premier League with 76 points from 35 games. Manchester City, with 71 points from 34, trail by five but retain a single game in hand. Monday evening at the Hill Dickinson Stadium was supposed to be the night City took a firm grip on proceedings. Instead, it was the night that handed Arsenal effective control of the title race.
Pep Guardiola’s side led 1-0 at half-time, Jeremy Doku curling a stunning effort past Jordan Pickford late in the first half. City had all of the ball and looked entirely in control. What followed in the second half defied logic. A disastrous back pass from Marc Guehi was pounced upon by substitute Thierno Barry, who equalised. Then Jake O’Brien headed home from a corner to make it 2-1. Then Barry scored again.
Erling Haaland pulled one back immediately in the 83rd minute, and with the game appearing to end 3-2 to Everton, Doku cut inside from the right and lashed a right-footed shot into the far corner in the 97th minute to rescue a draw that kept City’s hopes alive. It was a moment of individual brilliance, but two dropped points at the home of a mid-table side is not the response of title-winning form.
The Gunners went on an alarming wobble in the weeks prior, losing 2-1 at the Etihad, and at home to Bournemouth, to hand City a brief spell at the top of the Premier League. Mikel Arteta’s side responded with back-to-back wins over Newcastle and then a commanding 3-0 dismantling of Fulham at the Emirates on Saturday, before watching Monday night unfold in their favour. Arsenal’s goal difference now stands at +41 against City’s +37. City, even if they win their remaining four games, will need Arsenal to slip at least once to claim the title.
There is still a sting in the tail. If the clubs finish level on points, goal difference and goals scored, City win on head-to-head record, having taken four points from the two fixtures between them this season. That scenario would represent the closest title race the Premier League has ever seen, so every margin counts going into the final weeks.
Arsenal’s remaining Premier League fixtures read: a trip to West Ham on 10 May, Burnley at home on 17 May and Crystal Palace away on 24 May. City face Brentford at home on 9 May, Bournemouth away on 19 May, and Crystal Palace to close. On top of all of this, Arsenal are in the Champions League semi-final, hosting Atletico Madrid on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw in Spain. The Gunners are performing on two fronts simultaneously. Their challenge now is simply to hold their nerve.
An unbelievable 3-3 thriller from Man City against Everton tonight.
— 365Scores (@365Scores) May 4, 2026
Jeremy Doku rescues a point in the 97th minute with a moment of absolute brilliance, proving this squad’s elite mentality. ⚡️🇧🇪
But the devastating reality? That draw puts Man City 5 points behind Arsenal with… pic.twitter.com/P7FfEyOsMh
Champions League Qualification: Carrick’s United are in, Liverpool and Villa are chasing
England’s coefficient points earned the country a fifth Champions League spot for this season, meaning the race for European football’s elite competition extends beyond the traditional top four. Three of those five places are now confirmed: Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United.
United’s path to Champions League football has been one of the genuinely unexpected stories of 2026. After Ruben Amorim was sacked in January following a damaging dispute with the club’s recruitment department, Michael Carrick returned to Old Trafford as interim manager.
What followed was a remarkable recovery. Carrick won his first four games in charge, including a 2-0 defeat of City in the derby and a 3-2 victory at Arsenal, and has since built a 32-point haul from 14 Premier League games. United beat Liverpool 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford, a breathless match that ended with Kobbie Mainoo’s decisive goal to seal Champions League qualification officially. Benjamin Sesko scored nine league goals post-Amorim; Bruno Fernandes now has 19, one short of the Premier League single-season record.
🇧🇷 CASEMIRO: THE UNLIKELY GOAL MACHINE. 🔴⚽
— 365Scores (@365Scores) April 28, 2026
9 Premier League goals this season — his best scoring campaign ever.
That’s more than:
❌ Bukayo Saka
❌ Phil Foden
❌ Florian Wirtz
❌ Anthony Gordon
❌ Mohamed Salah
The midfielder turned marksman. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/blVJt3zMrg
The question of who fills the fourth and fifth spots is considerably less settled. Liverpool sit in fourth with 58 points from 35 games. Arne Slot acknowledged after Sunday’s Old Trafford defeat that the margins remain small, and he was not wrong. Aston Villa are also locked on 58 points, though their loss to Tottenham on Sunday evening was a blow.
The European Scramble: Chelsea collapsing
Below the Champions League places, the race for Europa League football was already generating plenty of chaos. Monday evening’s result at Stamford Bridge made it considerably messier for some and considerably cleaner for others.
Nottingham Forest won 3-1 at Chelsea, with Taiwo Awoniyi scoring twice inside the opening hour and Igor Jesus converting a penalty before half-time. Chelsea’s Cole Palmer had the chance to pull one back from the spot before the break but saw his effort saved by Matz Sels. Joao Pedro eventually got a beautiful consolation in stoppage time, but it was too late.
The victory was Forest’s fourth in their last five games and moved them further from danger. For Chelsea, it was a sixth consecutive league defeat, a run that has seen them fail to score across more than nine hours of football in the league until Pedro’s goal. Under caretaker manager Calum McFarlane, the Blues are in Premier League freefall, and their hopes of qualifying through league position are now in serious jeopardy.
Before the game, Chelsea sat eighth on 48 points with Europe still in sight. That position looks considerably more precarious now. The FA Cup final on 16 May against Manchester City represents their clearest route into European competition. A Chelsea win at Wembley would secure Europa League football regardless of where they finish in the table, since City are already in the Champions League through their league position. The sixth-placed side would then pick up the remaining EL spot. For Brighton, Bournemouth and Fulham, Chelsea’s league collapse has removed one rival from the equation, but the FA Cup result will dictate the full picture.
Bournemouth sit seventh on 50 points and face a home finale against Manchester City on 19 May, which will be Andoni Iraola’s final game as manager of the club. The atmosphere at the Vitality Stadium is set to be emotional, though City’s title incentive makes them a difficult proposition regardless of the occasion.
Spurs vs West Ham: The relegation pendulum keeps swinging
The most dramatic 48 hours of the weekend unfolded at the bottom of the table. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley are already down. The third and final spot is still to be decided, and West Ham have replaced Tottenham in the Premier League drop zone.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Spurs had spent the best part of a month in the bottom three, suffering an extraordinary slump in league form during a winter and spring when they were simultaneously progressing through the Europa League. Their domestic record in 2026 had been woeful, going weeks without a league win while the relegation trapdoor opened wider beneath them. Then came the 1-0 win at already-relegated Wolves, followed by Sunday’s 2-1 victory at Aston Villa. Two consecutive wins. Two crucial sets of three points.
Meanwhile, West Ham were beaten 3-0 by Brentford on Saturday afternoon, a result that left them with no buffer at all. West Ham entered the weekend two points ahead of Spurs in the standings. They now find themselves below them, their fate effectively out of their own hands. Both clubs have three matches remaining, but West Ham’s run-in is brutal: a home match against title-chasing Arsenal on 10 May represents perhaps the worst possible fixture they could have drawn at this stage.
Nottingham Forest’s win at Chelsea on Monday puts them six points above the drop zone and has considerably eased the pressure on Roberto De Zerbi’s side, who had been uncomfortably close following a recent wobble. Leeds United, meanwhile, have made themselves safe with a 3-1 win over Burnley on Friday, moving seven points clear of the bottom three.
The injury to Xavi Simons has deprived Spurs of a key creative outlet at the worst possible moment. De Zerbi will need to find solutions without him as Tottenham prepare for what could be the most consequential final three matches in the club’s recent history.
FAQs
Who is leading the Premier League title race?
Arsenal lead with 76 points from 35 games, five points ahead of Manchester City who have played one fewer game.
Can Manchester City still win the Premier League title?
Yes, but they dropped two valuable points at Everton on Monday. City have one game in hand over Arsenal. If they win all four remaining games while Arsenal slip up somewhere, City could still take the title. If the clubs finish level on all criteria, City would win on head-to-head record.
How many Champions League spots does England have in 2025-26?
England have five Champions League spots this season after gaining an additional place from UEFA’s European Performance Spots, awarded to the two associations with the highest coefficient points.
Which teams are relegated from the Premier League in 2025-26?
Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley have been relegated. The third relegation place is still to be decided, with West Ham currently occupying that spot and Tottenham Hotspur just above them.
What happened in the Everton vs Manchester City Premier League match?
City led 1-0 at half-time through Jeremy Doku before Everton scored three second-half goals via Thierno Barry (two) and Jake O’Brien to lead 3-1. Erling Haaland pulled one back before Doku equalised in the 97th minute to make it 3-3. The draw left City five points behind Arsenal with one game in hand.
What is the Europa League picture in the Premier League?
Brighton and Bournemouth currently occupy the Europa League spots in sixth and seventh. Chelsea’s six-game losing streak has damaged their league position, though a win in the FA Cup final against Manchester City would secure European football regardless. The final result at Wembley will significantly affect which clubs qualify.
By Nicky Helfgott – NickyHelfgott1 on X (Twitter)
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