The Premier League race is heating up as Arsenal and Manchester City are embroiled in a battle to be crowned this season's champions. The Gunners currently have an eight-point lead over Manchester City but they might be hampered by a raft of injuries. Also, Man City's packed schedule with the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League could be pivotal. Although Arsenal have been vouched by many football pundits to be the outright favourite to win the league, City will not let them rest easy as the campaign unfolds. But who will emerge victorious from the race to clinch England's top-flight title for the 2022/23 season? Will the Gunners manage to win their first title since the 2003-04 Invincibles or will Man City reclaim their fifth trophy under Pep Guardiola? 

For Arsenal, trips to Liverpool, Manchester City, West Ham, and Newcastle await. So do home games against Chelsea and Brighton. They haven't won a league game at Anfield since 2012, and the Etihad has been a graveyard, so it promises to be yet another tough test of mental toughness. Last year's loss at St James' Park prevented Mikel Arteta's team from qualifying for the Champions League. They will have to exorcise demons, but scaling psychological barriers has become a habit this season: they won at Tottenham’s new ground for the first time, beat Liverpool after a run of only one league win in 14, and avenged damaging defeats at Brentford and Crystal Palace. They must continue in this vein.

The biggest issue that Manchester City are faced with is the number of games they will have to be involved in in the next two months. They have a two-legged UCL semifinal, an FA Cup semifinal, and eleven matches to play in the EPL. Fighting on three fronts could put them at a disadvantage against Arsenal. Their three toughest games are all at Etihad. It is messy and there will be no respite. But City have in the past crashed out of cups while prevailing in the league. 

The Gunners have been coupled with VAR controversy this season and all the scenarios have been against them. They had to settle for a point in their game against Brentford after Ivan Toney's wrongly allowed goal by VAR forced the match to end in a draw. There was also Gabriel Martinelli’s disallowed goal at Old Trafford, which was later ruled to be another VAR error. They also missed qualifying for the next round of the UEFA Europa League after fortune failed to be on their side during the penalty shootout against Sporting CP. The remaining games will be very vital in determining whether the league title will remain in Manchester or change location and go to London. Football lovers are in for a thrilling race when the international break comes to an end.