{"id":2788,"date":"2026-04-19T10:38:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/?p=2788"},"modified":"2026-04-19T10:38:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:38:54","slug":"premier-league-final-england-holds-its-breath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/?p=2788","title":{"rendered":"Premier League final, England holds its breath"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>    Time will stop in England this Sunday (5:30 p.m.), time for the clash between Manchester City and Arsenal. The Gunners would be heading towards a long-awaited English championship title if they win.<\/p>\n<div data-agora-connect-urls=\"{&quot;baseUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/connect.lefigaro.fr&quot;}\" data-component=\"fig-content-body\" data-context=\"was @visible\" data-id=\"bGVmaWdhcm8uZnJfXzFmMTNhNWMyLWZiM2MtNjQyNC04ZWFlLTNmNGZlMmU3OTQ1Ml9fTmV3c0ZsYXNo\" data-module=\"fig-body\" data-premium=\"false\">\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\">It&#8217;s a <em>\u201cseismic shock\u201d<\/em> pour <em>Sky Sports<\/em>. <em>\u201cA real and extremely rare duel for the title\u201d<\/em> according to the <em>Times<\/em>. <em>\u201cThe title race reaches its climax\u201d<\/em>salivate <em>Daily Mail<\/em>. Nine-time English champion Manchester United legend Gary Neville called him a <em>\u201ctitanic shock\u201d<\/em> Who <em>&#8216;will determine the fate of the Premier League season&#8217;<\/em>. The match between Manchester City and Arsenal this Sunday (5:30 p.m.) is about to transcend the football world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\">The Gunners, who became leaders in mid-October, are six points ahead of the Citizens, who have a game in hand. If the latter win on Sunday and win this late match, they would return to the level of points. And would surely go ahead on goal difference. A Premier League final? <em>&#8220;Clearly&#8221;<\/em>replied Pep Guardiola, even if there will still be six matches to play for him and his troops. <em>\u201cIf we lose, it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/em>however, conceded the Skyblues coach.<\/p>\n<p>    Skip the ad<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"fig-body-heading\" id=\"subhead-cd65b59a-5a7f-4d93-8e97-0fd948474545\">Arsenal no longer responds<\/h2>\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\">The meeting is all the more anticipated as Arsenal are at their worst. There has been nothing conquering about his face for several weeks, and his moribund quality of play, dependent on set pieces, ended up being reflected in the results: defeat in the League Cup final against City (2-0 on March 22), elimination in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup by Southampton (2-1 on April 4) and a setback in the league against Bournemouth (1-2 on April 11). <em>\u201cIt\u2019s a slap in the face.\u201d<\/em>articulated Mikel Arteta in the hour that followed, apologizing to the supporters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\"><strong>SEE ALSO &#8211; <\/strong>City a \u00ab<em>a match ball<\/em>\u00bb against Arsenal, believes Pep Guardiola<\/p>\n<figure class=\"fig-media fig-media--type-vid\" data-media-type=\"VID\">\n<aside class=\"fig-embed fig-embed-vid fig-embed-vid--dugout\" data-module=\"lazy-component\" data-context=\"was @visible\" data-html=\"        &#10;&#10;&#10;&#10;&#10;&lt;flive-player  widget-type=&quot;dugout&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/embed.onefootball.com\/iframe\/?p=eyJrZXkiOiJaOVFqTGtESCIsInAiOiJsZWZpZ2FybyIsInBsIjoiIn0=&quot; resize-preset=&quot;704x&quot; orientation=&quot;HORIZONTAL&quot;&gt;&#10;    &lt;script type=&quot;module&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/static.lefigaro.fr\/widget-video\/widgets\/prod\/short-ttl\/index.js&quot;&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;&#10;        &lt;\/flive-player&gt;&#10;    \" data-error-class=\"fig-embed-vid--error\" data-loaded-class=\"fig-embed-vid--loaded\"\/>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\">The latter have been waiting for a championship title since 2004, the famous season of the \u201cInvincibles\u201d (zero defeats in 38 matches), era of Ars\u00e8ne Wenger, Thierry Henry and Robert Pir\u00e8s. Under Arteta, in office since 2019, Arsenal regained its place at the top table of the Premier League, but only won two Community Shields (2020, 2023) and an FA Cup (2020). Already in 2023, City had only gone ahead with four days remaining, after having corrected the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium (4-1) where the duel will take place this Sunday.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"fig-quote&#10;    \"><p>\n    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" viewbox=\"0 0 48 48\" class=\"fig-quote__svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\">\n        <use href=\"#fig-svg__quote\"\/>\n    <\/svg><\/p>\n<p class=\"fig-quote__text\">I have done so much to be in this position, because I know where this club comes from. I only see positives, opportunities. I have no fear.<\/p>\n<p>            <cite class=\"fig-quote__credit\">Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager<\/cite>\n    <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\"><em>&#8216;Manchester City smells of blood&#8217;<\/em>warned the <em>BBC<\/em>. Would Arsenal approach the end of the season with fear in their stomach? <em>\u201cNo fear, only fire, <\/em>replied Arteta at the start of the week. <em>This is what I want to see in the players, in everyone, in myself too.<\/em> And the Spanish coach continues with enthusiasm: <em>\u201cI have done so much to be in this position, because I know where this club comes from. I only see positives, opportunities. I have no fear.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\">The sad face displayed by his team, Tuesday in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League against Sporting Portugal (0-0, after a 0-1 victory in Lisbon), rather vindicated the harsh criticism of supporters and the media. <em>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what people think. All that matters is what this group thinks, what the coach thinks.&#8221;<\/em>rebuked vice-captain Declan Rice.<\/p>\n<figure role=\"figure\" aria-label=\"Declan Rice (Arsenal) et Rodri (Manchester City)\" class=\"fig-media fig-media--type-photo&#10;    \"><figcaption id=\"media-caption-28c6b15032e765353cedeca681ff52f6caf674d41a83c0af41737877185f1df6\" class=\"fig-media__legend\">Declan Rice (Arsenal) and Rodri (Manchester City)<span class=\"fig-media__credits\"><br \/>\n                Toby Melville \/ REUTERS<br \/>\n            <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>    Skip the ad<\/p>\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\"><em>\u201cThere are times with the ball where we need to do better, have more control, and complete our actions more often\u201d<\/em>recognized Arteta, while recalling that there is <em>\u201cvalue in what the players did\u201d<\/em>. For him, this qualification, the second in a row in the C1 semi-finals, unprecedented in the history of the club, is a <em>\u00abboost massif\u00bb<\/em> for this Sunday. <em>\u201cThis is the ultimate test\u201d<\/em>Rice said. <em>\u201cIt\u2019s for these moments that we play football\u201d<\/em>smiled the London midfielder, inviting his teammates to <em>\u201chave confidence with the ball, don\u2019t feel under pressure\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"fig-paragraph\">They will have to contain the Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, top scorer in the Premier League (22 goals), who intends to approach the match <em>\u201clike a finale\u201d<\/em>. Bukayo Saka, the Gunners&#8217; star striker but disappointing this season, has withdrawn with a nagging Achilles tendon injury. The return of Martin \u00d8degaard, captain and playing master of his team, is hoped for. It would be better, because after the two cup failures, and the feeling of being the least confident team in the last four of the Champions League, Arsenal finds itself faced with the risk of losing everything in the final sprint.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Time will stop in England this Sunday (5:30 p.m.), time for the clash between Manchester City and Arsenal. The Gunners would be heading towards a long-awaited English championship title if they win. It&#8217;s a \u201cseismic shock\u201d pour Sky Sports. \u201cA real and extremely rare duel for the title\u201d according to the Times. \u201cThe title race [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}