Points total to be crowned Premier League champions as…

Points total to be crowned Premier League champions as Arsenal set new target in Man City battle

When Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 4-1 last month and headed into the international break eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table, the target to be crowned champions became clear.

25 points in addition to a significant swing in the goal difference column in the Gunners' favour against a relentless Manchester City side aiming to retain their crown and English football's biggest prize returns to the red half of north London for the first time in almost two decades.

In a dream scenario for Arsenal that worked out to be eight wins and a draw from the final 10 Premier League fixtures. Fast forward a few weeks and whilst Mikel Arteta's side have chipped away at the aforementioned points target, their lead at the summit has been halved.

A comfortable win over Leeds United at the beginning of the month has since been overshadowed by back-to-back 2-2 draws away at Liverpool and West Ham United where the manner of both draws has sparked a debate as to whether or not the Gunners are bottling the title race.

Having been 2-0 up at Anfield and at the London Stadium; had Arsenal taken six points instead of two then they would have been in a fantastic position to be crowned Premier League champions. Not to mention they wouldn't be trailing Man City by seven on goal difference which could be the deciding factor at the end of the season if both teams end up finishing on 94 points.

Mathematically, albeit very unlikely, as many as four other teams can still win the Premier League title. In fact, the maximum points total for those teams is as follows: Manchester United (83), Newcastle United (80), Brighton & Hove Albion (76) and Tottenham Hotspur (74).

Of course, it would take an almighty collapse from the Gunners to finish outside the top four and the fact there are games between teams chasing the title or a place in Europe still to be played, only one side - as unlikely as it is - has a chance of ending the season with a perfect winning record.

So following the weekend's results, 94 points is a total Pep Guardiola's side can reach were they to win every single one of their remaining eight fixtures and the fact they welcome the Gunners to the Etihad Stadium next Wednesday means this scenario will see them lift the Premier League trophy for the third season in a row.

With that said, whilst it's in City's hands, it's still in Arsenal's too. With seven games remaining for the current league leaders, their maximum points total is 95 but to reach that they have to be perfect starting with Friday night's clash at home to Southampton all the way up to the final day of the season against Wolves.

This is where the trip to the Etihad comes into focus and the dynamics will change if Arteta manages to oversee a Gunners victory over City in the Premier League for the first time since December 2015.

Defeat for City means they can only reach 91 points while a draw means they can reach 92 points. As a result, if Arsenal manage to avoid defeat in Manchester then the new target to be crowned Premier League champions becomes 92 or 93 points depending on the outcome between the top two.

That works out to be six wins - including Man City - from their remaining seven fixtures to hit 92 points in the best-case scenario where Arteta's side could afford to lose once and still come out on top in this season's Premier League title race, but it's important the Gunners overcome Southampton first.