Arsenal go into the closing stretch with the title still in their hands, but Crystal Palace are not shaping up like an opponent ready to empty the bench. Oliver Glasner has already said Palace may make earlier substitutions, possibly after 60 or 70 minutes, or one or two at half-time, but he will not rotate a lot. That matters because Palace also have the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig on May 27.

Why Palace may still make Arsenal work

Glasner's wording was fairly clear. "Yes, we will maybe make more and earlier substitutions, maybe after 60, 70 minutes latest, maybe one or two at half-time if that's possible, but everything else we won't do," he said.

That is not the same as waving through Arsenal's title charge. It still leaves Palace with enough of a competitive edge to make the match awkward, especially with only two Premier League games left for Arsenal. The Gunners are top with 79 points, and their next two league fixtures are Burnley on May 18 and Crystal Palace on May 24.

Rodri is keeping the pressure on Arsenal

The other side of the story is the pressure coming from Manchester City. Rodri is already doing the title-race mind game in public, saying, "Everything can happen. We need them to drop points, which could happen in the next game or the last one. If I was in their position, it's not easy to finish the task. We have to be there pushing until the end."

He also reached back to City's 2022 collapse against Aston Villa to underline the point. "I mean, from our experience, we were losing the title [to Liverpool] against Aston Villa at our home in minute 80 [in 2022]. So everything can happen in football," he said. City are second on 77 points, so the gap is still live if Arsenal wobble.

The numbers still favour Arsenal. Opta Analyst gives them an 86.5% chance of finishing first, and it ranks their remaining fixtures as the easiest in the Premier League. That is the real frame here. Arsenal are favourites, but Palace do not sound like a side planning to make the title race easier than it already is.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →