Stan Kroenke is set for a dilemma at Arsenal that he may not have been anticipating at the start of the season. Not only are the Gunners top of the table, they are eight points clear and in control of their fate during the run-in.
The challengers, last season's champions, Manchester City can move back to within five points should they win the game in hand over the league's pace setters throughout, but it's well and truly advantage Mikel Arteta at this stage.
Even with the pair set to face off against each other, with the potential for that to reduce the gap to just two points, Arsenal have it in their grasp. Having finished fifth last season, falling at the final hurdle in the race for the Champions League spots, Kroenke won't have been expecting a surge like the one that has ensued.
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His sports franchises and teams have been successful under his ownership though, so perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that such a turnaround has happened. The LA Rams, his showpiece, have won the Super Bowl under his stewardship and the Denver Nuggets have become a more consistent threat in NBA despite not winning the championship yet.
It is the final team that pose the newest question for him. Heading into the final months of the English footballing season, the NBA is also reaching its regular season climax. At the current stage, Arsenal are top and the Nuggets are too. In the Western Conference they have four more wins than any other team with eight games left to play.
Across the entire two-division structure only two other teams have won more than their 50 matches and in an intriguing parallel to Kroenke's Arsenal, they have spread the points across the board between players, relying less on stars and more on the team as a whole.
Although there is one major star, Nikola Jokic, the entire team look more impressive since last season, including the returning injured players. The same can be said for Arteta's men, who have transformed from last season into mentality monsters, finding ways to win across the board. What will be causing Kroenke some problems is that should the Nuggets get into the play-offs, which it looks like they are set to cruise into, then the run-ins of the two teams will be going on side-by-side.
There are more parallels to point to here as well. The way the Nuggets are run isn't disimilar to the circumstances at the Emirates Stadium. Although the NBA has a salary cap there is still a split that has seen their biggest stars combine better as a group than before, playing to the strengths of key players in their team.
Given the Nuggets' form this season they look set to qualify for the play-offs, bypassing the NBA play-ins. That would set up their key fixtures to be played in April, the same month that Arsenal play Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea. It will, almost certainly, be a massive period for both teams under Kroenke's watch and whilst it could be a historic one, it could just as much be a disastrous one too.
The Nuggets cost Kroenke $450m (£368m) when they were purchased in 2000 and are looking to create history this season. Arsenal would say the same as they search for a first title in nearly two decades. What awaits for Kroenke is the first time under his ownership of both sides that they could feasibly be champions at the end of it.
Whilst Arsenal will know by the end of May if they are going to be league winners in England, the Nuggets could be playing their finals into June. The hard-work has been done up until this point of the season, finishing it off with the success it deserves is the next stage and is one that Kroenke, often villified for his role at both teams, would cherish.
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