Wayne Rooney backs Arsenal as title favourites with more 'twists and turns' to come
Ciaran McCarthy
Wayne Rooney is still backing Arsenal as favourites for the Premier League title, as he expects more "twists and turns" before the season is over.
After spending every day since October at the summit of the league, Arsenal could drop to second on Wednesday night. They had a large gap over Manchester City at one point, but after dropping points of late while the Citizens charged, before losing to the Manchester outfit on Sunday, there's now just three points between the two sides.
Should City beat Burnley on Wednesday, which seems almost certain, then the points will be level and, if they win by more than one goal, Pep Guardiola's side will have a better goal difference than Arsenal.
The fact that City still have to win any extra game, though, is the reason Premier League legend Rooney feels Arsenal are slight favourites at this point.
He said: “This title race is not over yet, I still feel like there are some more twists and turns to come.
“It is is obviously going to be tight but City have got one more game to try to win, so I still have Arsenal down as slight favourites.
“I’ve been in this situation myself, where you need to win all your games for the title. You look at your games and you think well we should win this one, or that one, but it never pans out that way.
“From now until the end of the season it is just going to be down to which team keeps their composure the best – that’s who will win it.”
Arsenal and City's remaining games
On paper, Arsenal have a marginally easier run to the end of the season than City. They have yet to play: Newcastle, Fulham, West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace.
Every single one of those sides is in the bottom half of the Premier League. But so were Bournemouth when they beat the Gunners 2-1 on April 11, the game prior to City beating the Gunners.
Arsenal also have the Champions League to worry about between some of the crucial Premier League fixtures, with the two legs of their European semi-final either side of the visit of Fulham on May 2.
City, meanwhile, have an extra game to play, facing Burnley on Wednesday night, before playing Everton, Brentford, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
Brentford are vying for a European spot and Villa could be in a position to finish third when they face City on the final day of the season, so neither of those results are going to come easily for the Citizens.
