After 37 match weeks, it all comes down to this: Manchester City welcomes West Ham to the Etihad with a win, clinching the blue and white their fourth straight Premier League title.
Currently, Manchester City sits two points clear of second-place Arsenal.
Two scenarios would give the blue and white the Premier League title. The first is a Manchester City victory over West Ham. The second is any type of Gunners’ result that is not a victory.
With a Manchester City loss or draw and an Arsenal victory, the Gunners would capture their first league title since 2003-04.
Last Match’s Action
Manchester City continued to set the pace for the league title when they squared off against Tottenham on Tuesday.
Kevin De Bruyne made a beautiful run before serving a pass to Erling Haaland on a silver platter, and the 23-year-old tapped into an empty net to open the scoring in the 51st.
Haaland would ice the game after converting a penalty in the 91st minute. Despite walking away with three points, Manchester City didn’t leave Hotspur stadium unscathed, as Ederson was forced to leave the match after Cristian Romero collided with him.
The 30-year-old sustained a small fracture in his eye socket as a result of the collision and will miss the remainder of the season.
West Ham is coming off a 3-1 victory over Luton Town that all but guaranteed that the Hatters will be getting relegated.
Luton Town took an early 1-0 lead courtesy of a sixth-minute header from Albert Lokonga, but the Hammers would respond in the second half, as they equalized in the 54th minute thanks to an excellent run by James Ward-Prowse.
Tomas Soucek would give the Hammers the lead when he sent a magnificent first-time volley from about 25 yards out in the 65th minute.
Eleven minutes later, George Earthy would find the back of the net to give the Hammers some cushion, and they would hold on to capture three points.
The Matchup
After last week’s results, Manchester City improved to 27-7-3 (88 points), while West Ham sits at 14-10-13 (52 points). This is the 121st matchup between these sides dating back to 1924, with Manchester City leading in the all-time series, 63-19-38.
The most recent league match between these sides was a 3-1 Manchester City victory on September 16, 2023.
West Ham are looking to play spoiler, and while they should struggle against Manchester City’s excellent backline, if the Hammers can get some set-pieces, they will have a chance to dash the blue and white’s title hopes.
The X-Factor
Stefan Ortega is the x-factor of Sunday’s matchup.
The German international will replace the injured Ederson between the posts. He is making his ninth appearance of the season and has registered one clean sheet and 19 saves while conceding six goals.
Ortega made some massive saves in relief of Ederson versus Tottenham, but how he fares playing the full 90 minutes with the pressure of the league title being on the line is yet to be seen.
Kick-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. EST on Sunday.