The two-horse Premier League title race between Arsenal and Manchester City has reached crunch time, as the 2025-26 season is set to enter its final week.

The two sides have two games left – Arsenal are in action on Monday, City are playing on Tuesday, and then both head into the last day of the season next Sunday, May 24.

So, what does each club need to do to win the title in the final two rounds?

How are the Premier League winners decided?

The team with the most points at the end of the season win the title.

However, if clubs finish with the same number of points, the winners are determined by goal difference.

If their goal difference is the same, then it goes to goals scored, then to the team that collected the most points in head-to-head matches, then to the team that scored the most away goals in the head-to-head games.

Arsenal’s run-in

The league leaders are two points ahead of Man City, so if the Gunners win their final two games, they will lift the Premier League trophy for the first time in 22 years.

However, Man City are currently one goal ahead on goal difference and could still snatch the title if Mikel Arteta’s side slip up. City also have the advantage in terms of goals scored – 75 to 68 going into the last two games.

City also have the better head-to-head record in the league this season as they beat Arsenal 2-1 at home in April and got a 1-1 draw at the Emirates in September.

On paper, Arsenal’s run-in looks easier than City’s as the Gunners face already relegated Burnley at home and then have an away trip to a 15th-placed Crystal Palace side who are safe from the drop and will have an eye on their upcoming Europa Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano on May 27.

• May 18: Arsenal vs Burnley
• May 24: Crystal Palace vs Arsenal

Man City’s run-in

City will likely have to win both their last games and hope that Arsenal slip up. They will also be looking to boost their goal difference in case the teams finish level on points.

If Arsenal win on Monday and City fail to win on Tuesday, then the Gunners will take the title.

Pep Guardiola’s side appear to have a tougher run-in as they travel to Bournemouth, who are chasing Champions League qualification.

They then host Aston Villa, who are tough opponents but have already secured Champions League qualification for next season and could be tired and in demob mode after playing in the Europa League final against Freiburg on Wednesday, May 20.

• May 19: Bournemouth vs Man City
• May 24: Man City vs Aston Villa

What has Arteta said?

Arsenal’s boss said he wants to put Burnley to the sword to boost the Gunners’ goal difference.

“First of all, we have to earn the right to win the game. To make a difference with more goals, even better,” Arteta told reporters on Thursday.

“We had a really tough match against West Ham [last weekend]. We managed to win it, and it was a great feeling, but we know ideally that scoring goals is going to be important.”

He added, “The team is really present. It’s living the moment. It’s emotionally in a really good state. The energy level is the right one.”

What has Guardiola said?

City’s manager said all his side can do is “stay alive” and hope that Arsenal slip up.

“If they win two games, nothing to do, nothing to talk,” Guardiola told the BBC earlier this week. “All we can be is in there just in case. The last two games are tough.”

Guardiola will hope that City’s FA Cup final victory over Chelsea on Saturday can help propel his side to an unlikely title triumph.

The 1-0 victory made it a domestic cup double for his side, who beat the Gunners 2-0 in the League Cup final in March.

“Home – not even one beer,” the City manager said when asked how they would celebrate the FA Cup win.

“Next Monday, after Aston Villa, [we were] going to celebrate with the [league-winning] women’s team with a parade in Manchester, but no, we do not have time now.”

How many league titles have Arsenal won?

Arsenal have won the top tier of English football 13 times, either as the old First Division or the Premier League, which was launched in 1992. The last time the Gunners lifted the trophy was in 2004 under Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal’s league titles: 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53, 1970–71, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04.

How many league titles have City won?

City have won 10 league titles, the vast majority of which have come since 2012. Guardiola has won six of them as manager.

City’s league titles: 1936–37, 1967–68, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24.

Former Real Madrid coach replaces Liam Rosenior at the end of a difficult season for the London-based club.

Xabi ⁠⁠Alonso has been appointed as Chelsea’s new ⁠⁠manager, the Premier League ⁠⁠club says, with the Spaniard signing ‌‌a four-year deal that begins on July 1.

“Chelsea is one of the biggest ⁠⁠clubs in world ⁠⁠football and it fills me with ⁠⁠immense pride to ⁠⁠become manager ⁠⁠of this great club,” Alonso said in ‌‌a statement on Sunday.

The former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen manager becomes the fifth permanent appointment under Chelsea’s BlueCo ownership, ⁠⁠following Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior.

It marks a return to English football for Alonso, who made 210 appearances for Liverpool as a player before leaving for ‌‌Real Madrid in 2009 and later ending his playing career with Bayern Munich in 2017.

“From my conversations ⁠⁠with the ownership group and sporting leadership, ⁠⁠it is clear we share the same ambition,” Alonso said after his appointment.

“We want to build a team capable of competing consistently at the highest level and fighting ⁠⁠for trophies.

“There is great talent in the squad and huge potential at this ⁠⁠football club and it will be ⁠⁠my great honour to lead it. Now the focus is on hard work, building the right culture and winning trophies.”

Chelsea have endured a difficult ‌‌season, slipping to ninth in the Premier League and facing a long-shot battle to qualify for European competition after ‌‌losing ‌‌the FA Cup final to Manchester City on Saturday.

“Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Xabi Alonso as manager of the men’s team,” Chelsea said in a statement.

MMA legend will compete for the first time in five years at UFC 329 in the United States.

Conor McGregor, a huge ‌name in mixed martial arts (MMA) despite not fighting ⁠since 2021, ⁠will return for a match with Max Holloway on July 11 in Las Vegas, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ⁠CEO Dana White has announced.

Ireland’s McGregor (22-6-0) will face fellow former champion Holloway (27-9-0) in a nontitle welterweight bout ⁠as the main event of UFC 329 during International Fight Week, White said on Saturday. It’s a rematch of their featherweight bout in August 2013, which McGregor won by a three-round decision ‌despite a torn ACL.

McGregor, 37, last fought on July 10, 2021, losing by TKO to Dustin Poirier after breaking his leg during the final seconds of the first round. The fighters had split two earlier matches.

Another return ⁠was cancelled when McGregor sustained ⁠a toe injury before his match with Michael Chandler scheduled for June 2024.

McGregor became the first UFC fighter to be champion simultaneously ⁠in two weight divisions in 2016. He knocked out Jose Aldo for ⁠the featherweight belt in December 2015 ⁠and stopped Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title in November 2016. He is 1-3 in his last four bouts.

Holloway, 34, is a ‌former featherweight champion who has beaten Justin Gaethje, Aldo (twice), Poirier and Frankie Edgar. The Hawaii native is ‌1-1 since ‌moving to lightweight in 2025, losing his last bout to Charles Oliveira by a five-round decision in March.

Russian authorities say three people killed in the Moscow region and one in Belgorod in Ukrainian attacks.

At least four people have been killed after Ukraine launched large-scale drone attacks on several Russian regions, including Moscow, in what officials described as the biggest drone assault in more than a year.

Russian authorities said on Sunday three people were killed in the Moscow region and another person died in Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border.

Moscow region’s Governor Andrei Vorobyov said a woman was killed after a drone struck a house in Khimki, north of Moscow. Rescue workers were searching the rubble for another possible victim. Two other men were killed in the village of Pogorelki in the Mytishchi district, he said.

Vorobyov added that apartment buildings and infrastructure sites were damaged in the attacks.

Russia’s state news agency TASS, quoting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, reported that air defence systems shot down 81 drones targeting the capital overnight.

He said 12 people were injured, most of them near Moscow’s oil refinery, adding it continued operating without disruption, while three homes were damaged.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it intercepted 556 drones across the country overnight and into Sunday morning.

Sheremetyevo airport, Moscow’s largest, said drone debris had fallen on its grounds but caused no damage.

The attacks came after United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, suggested the war could be nearing an end. Trump said last week he believed Moscow and Kyiv would “soon reach a deal” to stop the fighting.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks continued in parts of Ukraine. In the Kharkiv region, authorities said Russian forces targeted 15 settlements over the past 24 hours, wounding seven people.

In the southern Kherson region, officials said a 36-year-old man was killed after a Russian drone dropped explosives on the village of Inhulets in Kherson on Saturday morning.

Republicans want to allocate $1bn in public funds for Secret Service security upgrades linked to the plans.

A senior United States Senate official has put up a major roadblock for Republicans as they seek to use taxpayer money for security upgrades linked to President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled on Saturday that the proposed funding, as written in a spending bill, does not comply with the chamber’s budget rules, a Democratic lawmaker said.

Trump had repeatedly said the ballroom itself would be funded through $400m in private donations. But Republicans have sought to include $1bn for the Secret Service to pay for security improvements tied to the ballroom and other planned underground facilities.

Democrats have sharply criticised the proposal, describing it as an unnecessary luxury project at a time when many Americans are struggling with the rising cost of living, including higher fuel prices.

Trump, a former real estate developer, has promoted the project heavily, calling it “the finest building of its kind anywhere in the world”.

According to the office of Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, MacDonough determined that the security funding could not be passed under the fast-track budget process Republicans are using to avoid needing 60 votes in the Senate.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber, meaning they would struggle to secure enough Democratic backing if the ruling stands.

Merkley said Democrats would continue challenging any attempt by Republicans to rewrite the legislation to satisfy Senate rules.

The disputed funding is part of a wider $72bn spending package focused largely on immigration enforcement, which Republicans hope to pass without Democratic support.

Democrats have opposed additional funding for Trump’s immigration policies unless broader reforms are included, especially after incidents in Minnesota in January in which US citizens were killed during operations involving federal immigration agents.

Republicans argued the security funding is necessary to protect the president. They pointed to an April incident in Washington, DC, in which an alleged gunman reportedly tried to enter a black-tie media event attended by Trump.

Trump said he expects the ballroom to be completed by September 2028, towards the end of his second term in office.

Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is gradually increasing as Iran says its open for vessels who coordinate with the Iranian military, with the exception of ‘adversaries’. Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reports from the strait and explains Tehran’s newest plan to manage shipping.