Stamina and nerve key for Arsenal and City in this tired, flawed title race

The reason this is such a competitive season is that everybody is flawed.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after the Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire. 

A constant feature of this season has been the background grumble of dissatisfaction. You don’t have to spend long on social media to see moans about the quality of play, the sense that everything has somehow gone backwards since the tactical focus began to shift away from the pure possession and positional football of the peak Pep Guardiola years to something more direct and focused on set plays.

And yet, as we enter the run-in, there appears to be a proper Premier League title race. There is an extremely competitive battle to finish in the top five and qualify for next season’s Champions League and, although Wolves and Burnley are probably doomed, there are four teams scrapping to avoid that last relegation slot with another three glancing a little nervously over their shoulders.