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After falling away badly midway through the 2024/25 season, Manchester City are back in Premier League title contention.
Liverpool's success last time around ended Pep Guardiola's historic run of four in a row and six titles in the previous seven seasons.
Now, as the 2025/26 campaign enters the home stretch, City have leaders Arsenal in their sights.
Guardiola's men were dominant 2-0 winners Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final on March 22 and claimed a potentially pivotal victory in the league showdown on April 19.
Here, The Sporting News has a breakdown of Manchester City's title run-in schedule, fixtures and results, along with our predictions for each fixture.
MORE: 'I have battles every day': Pep Guardiola primed for latest Man City title fight
Man City 2025/26 Premier League run-in fixtures, schedule
Arsenal went into their final nine games of the Premier League season with a five-point lead over Manchester City in second place. City have a game in hand against Crystal Palace that is yet to be rescheduled.
Man City final Premier League fixtures, results in 2025/26
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
| Mar. 4 | Nottingham Forest | H | D 2-2 |
| Mar. 14 | West Ham | A | D 1-1 |
| Apr. 11 | Chelsea | A | W 3-0 |
| Apr. 18 | Arsenal | H | W 2-1 |
| Apr. 25 | Burnley | A | W 1-0 |
| May 4 | Everton | A | _ |
| May 9 | Brentford | H | _ |
| May 13 | Crystal Palace | H | _ |
| May 19 | Bournemouth | A | _ |
| May 24 | Aston Villa | H | _ |
Man City predictions for Premier League run-in 2025/26
Here's a run-down of City's Premier League run-in schedule, along with our predictions as to how things will play out.
Nottingham Forest (H): March 4
City twice took the lead against Forest only to be pegged back by two excellent goals from the visitors' best midfielders, Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson. They may have heard the celebrations from Arsenal fans at the AMEX Stadium all the way up in Manchester.
Result last season: Man City 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Prediction this season: Man City 2-0 Nottingham Forest
Final score: Man City 2-2 Nottingham Forest
West Ham (A): March 14
West Ham have enjoyed an uptick in form since the turn of the year but remain embroiled in the relegation battle. This also wasn't an away game to strike too much fear into City, who had won eight and drawn three of their 11 matches at the London Stadium since the Hammers left Upton Park almost a decade ago.
And yet, the dropped points loom large in the title race as Bernardo Silva's goal was cancelled out almost immediately by Kostantinos Mavropanos's equaliser before halftime, and City could not find a winner. Nine points back in the title race, it will take a miracle for them to come back now.
Result last season: West Ham 1-3 Man City
Prediction this season: West Ham 1-2 Man City
Final score: West Ham 1-1 Man City
Chelsea (A): April 11
Aside from the obvious, this was City's toughest remaining game. Chelsea snatched a last-gasp point at the Etihad Stadium in January and needed a positive result to bolster their bid for Champions League football. In the end, City romped to a comfortable win after blowing Chelsea away in the second half.
Result last season: Chelsea 0-2 Man City
Prediction this season: Chelsea 2-2 Man City
Final score: Chelsea 0-3 Man City
Arsenal (H): April 19
The big one. The general consensus was that if City were to win this, they win the whole thing. However, this is not a juggernaut title race like the ones Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp shared, and further twists, turns and slip-ups are anticipated after this blockbuster.
Still, City's win feels absolutely monumental in terms of this particular battle.
Result last season: Man City 2-2 Arsenal
Prediction this season: Man City 1-1 Arsenal
Final score: Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Burnley (A): April 22
Burnley had their relegation confirmed as Erling Haaland scored the only goal early on. City were unable to bolster their goal difference any further, edging ahead of Arsenal at the top on goals scored.
Result last season: N/A
Prediction this season: Burnley 0-3 Man City
Final score: Burnley 0-1 Man City
Everton (A): May 4
David Moyes has made Everton a horrid team to play against and City's first trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium could prove to be an any-means-necessary assignment.
Result last season: Everton 0-2 Man City
Prediction this season: Everton 0-1 Man City
Final score: _
Brentford (H): May 9
Brentford might remain in European contention at this point and Keith Andrews' side will consider themselves a touch unfortunate to have nothing to show for two fine efforts against City in the the Premier League and Carabao Cup so far this season. This could turn into the short of shootout Guardiola will be keen to avoid at this time of year.
Result last season: Man City 2-1 Brentford
Prediction this season: Man City 4-2 Brentford
Final score: _
Crystal Palace (H): May 12
Arsenal's dramatic 2-2 draw at Wolves on February 18 was a rearranged match brought forward from Carabao Cup final weekend. City vs. Palace could not be similarly moved due to the London club having a Conference League playoff encounter that midweek.
With Palace in the Conference League semifinals and City in the FA Cup final, there were limited options in terms of placing this fixture, so much so that the Premier League confirmed a date almost three months after knowing the fixture would need to be moved.
Palace beat City in the FA Cup final last season and have proved a tricky opponent over recent seasons. However, the Eagles could have an eye on a potential Conference League final, with little to play for in the Premier League as head coach Oliver Glasner prepares to leave at the end of the campaign. Aside from this match coming in the midst of a slight fixture pile-up, it feels a favourable one for City.
Result last season: Man City 5-2 Crystal Palace
Prediction this season: Man City 4-0 Crystal Palace
Final score:
Bournemouth (A): May 19
Bournemouth's 2-1 win over City at the Vitality Stadium last November started their mid-season downfall. Both clubs are in different places now and the Cherries have lost three keenly contested encounters since. Still, this feels like a dangerous game in the final week of the season as Andoni Iraola bids farewell to the south coast club with the pressure off.
Result last season: Bournemouth 2-1 Man City
Prediction this season: Bournemouth 2-2 Man City
Final score: _
Aston Villa (H): May 24
On the final day in 2022, City had Aston Villa at home and needed a win to be sure of the title. They fell 2-0 down midway through the second half before sensationally coming back to win 3-2. The prospect of a repeat, if anyone's heart can take it, should factor in that Unai Emery has made Villa a far better team four years on.
Result last season: Man City 2-1 Aston Villa
Prediction this season: Man City 3-1 Aston Villa
Final score: _
Man City predicted final points tally in 2025/26: 83
Predicted final Premier League table 2025/26
The table below is based on our predicted results for Arsenal and Manchester City. If we're anywhere close to being right, it promises to be one of the closest title races in Premier League history.
| 1. | Arsenal | 83 | 38 | 78 | 30 | +48 |
| 2. | Man City | 83 | 38 | 81 | 34 | +47 |
And here is the real league table as it stands. Let's see how wrong we end up being...
| 1. | Arsenal | 73 | 34 | 64 | 26 | +38 |
| 2. | Man City | 70 | 33 | 66 | 29 | +37 |
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