Arsenal have the chance to move three points clear of title rivals Manchester City if they can beat an out-of-form Newcastle at the Emirates on Saturday (17:30 BST). BBC Sport analyses the key talking points ahead of the match.
Arsenal's 209-day run at the top of the table came to an end on Wednesday night as Manchester City finally leapfrogged them on goals scored.
With the sides locked on 70 points and with an identical goal difference of +37, this looks set to be one of the tightest title races in history.
With City not in league action this weekend due to their FA Cup commitments, the Gunners have two home games before Pep Guardiola's side play again on Bank Holiday Monday, so could open up a six-point lead.
But to do that they must address their shocking run of form. After losing just three of their first 49 matches of the season in all competitions (W37, D9) they have lost four of the last six and have suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time since December 2023.
Mikel Arteta will be glad to see the arrival of May next week. Since he took charge of the Gunners they have taken just 40 points from 27 games played in April and a whopping 18% of all top-flight defeats the club have suffered under him have also been in the fourth month of the year.
Despite their recent wobbles Opta's supercomputer still has the Gunners as favourites to win the title at 65% and they will be buoyed by their excellent league record against Newcastle.
Newcastle are in worse form than Arsenal having lost eight of their last 11 league games. In fact, only Tottenham and Burnley have lost more top-flight matches than Newcastle in 2026.
This relegation form has led to serious questions being asked of head coach Eddie Howe. He maintains he is still the right man for the job and that he will "fight to the end", but it will be interesting to see how much credit he has left in the bank as a result of leading them to their first domestic trophy for 70 years last season.
Legendary striker Alan Shearer cast doubt on whether Howe will still be at the helm next season and lambasted the players for their performance against Bournemouth. "They were terrible," he said on his podcast. "They chucked him under the bus, the players. It is a tough situation, a tough summer for Newcastle coming up. They have got some big decisions to make. As I am sat here, I don't see Eddie in charge of Newcastle next season, unfortunately."
Mitigation does comes in the form of key players being unavailable due to injury and the team Howe put out against the Cherries was their youngest starting XI in a Premier League game since May 2005, having an average age of just 24 years and 191 days.
The Geordies have no respite as they travel to the Emirates, a ground where they have managed just one league win in 17 attempts and none in the last 13. Only Stoke City, who have lost on all 10 of their visits, average fewer points per game than Newcastle do at the Emirates since it opened in 2006. They have taken a total of just five points from 51 available and have scored just one goal on their last nine trips.