Our daily round-up of the latest news from clubs and players across the Premier League
Here is your daily briefing for the latest Premier League stories on Monday 13 April.
Title clash is ‘biggest game for years’
This weekend’s top-of-the-table clash between Manchester City and Arsenal promises to be the “biggest game in many, many years”, according to Premier League and Ballon d’Or winner Michael Owen.
Arsenal’s lead at the summit has been trimmed to just six points, and Pep Guardiola’s chasing Man City side also possess a game in hand over their title rivals. Victory on Sunday could have major implications on who will be crowned champions.
“I would say it’s the biggest game in many, many years,” said Owen. “How the Premier League is poised – the two teams going head to head, the one team that are ahead, but everything else is pointing to the team that are in their slipstream at the moment.
“Because it’s so close to the end of the season, it’s so important, it’s going to slingshot whoever wins, probably, to the title. It’s going to be so pivotal. It’s huge.”
Watch: Owen on Man City v Arsenal
Gary Neville, who won the Premier League eight times with Manchester United, believes Mikel Arteta’s side should still have the edge in Sunday’s showdown.
“Arsenal can win the title next weekend at the Etihad,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“Maybe I’ve got more faith in Arsenal than Arsenal have got in themselves, but when you are in a title race, you’re six games out and you’ve lost a football match, you’ve got to put it into perspective.
“I have thought for a number of years with this Arsenal team that they’ve got to go and win a game that shakes the world. They’ve got to go to Man City and win.”
Meanwhile, former Man Utd and England captain Wayne Rooney says Man City’s title-winning experience will give them a psychological advantage over Arsenal. Guardiola has led his side to six Premier League crowns in nine seasons at the helm.
“I think Man City will have the edge on that, just purely with the manager and players they’ve got,” he said on The Wayne Rooney Show. “They will be able to stay a little calmer than the Arsenal players.
“They [Arsenal] will be worried because when you go on a run and lose a few games, you start thinking: ‘Where’s the next goal, the next win going to come from?’ That negative mindset really has an impact on your performance.”
Man City flourish in sunny April
One thing Man City have in their favour as they prepare to host title-race rivals Arsenal on Sunday is their remarkable ability to turn on the style when it matters at the back end of the season.
During his time in charge of Man City, April has been the most successful calendar month for Guardiola; conversely, it has been the least successful one for Arteta as Arsenal manager.
Premier League record in April
Arsenal under Arteta
Stat
Man City under Guardiola
26
Played
39
11
Won
31
7
Drawn
5
8
Lost
3
42.3%
Win ratio
79.8%
1.54
PPG*
2.51
*PPG: Points per game
In fact, the last time Man City lost a Premier League game in April was way back in 2021. Since then they have played 22 league games during the month, winning 20 of them and drawing two.
When asked for an explanation for his team’s late-season prowess, Guardiola offered an interesting theory: “The sun. I’m not joking. The sun. In Manchester, there is never the sun. If the sun arrived in November, we would be champions in January! Honestly, the mood is better.”
De Zerbi: Spurs’ relegation fear is taking toll on team
Tottenham Hotspur’s new head coach Roberto De Zerbi has urged his players to remain positive, despite conceding that the fear of relegation is hindering their survival quest.
The winners of last season’s UEFA Europa League have dropped into this season’s Premier League relegation zone and now sit two points from safety, having not won a domestic match in this calendar year.
After Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, De Zerbi was asked about the mental toll of fighting relegation.
“You can see it during the game,” he said. “But we have to find the energy, we have to find the right spirit to be positive, to think. During the week when they stay with me, for sure, they will see a positive coach because I believe in their qualities.
“They are human, and they are suffering maybe too much. Altogether, we have to stay close, to be positive, to work, to improve in the details, in the football, but to be better as a mentality.”
Dutch centre-back Micky van de Ven also admitted the mental strain of battling to stay in the Premier League is taking its toll.
“You can’t say you don’t look at the other teams [in or around the relegation zone],” Van de Ven admitted.
“Mentally, it’s tough. We have been suffering for the last few months when we don’t get wins in the Premier League and keep struggling. We need to get the confidence back. It’s really tough, but we need to make sure we get it back.”
In their next fixture, Spurs host Brighton & Hove Albion, De Zerbi’s previous Premier League club.
Mainoo close to new Man Utd deal
Michael Carrick is hopeful that Kobbie Mainoo’s remarkable Manchester United resurgence will result in the midfielder signing a new contract with the club before the end of the season.
Mainoo only made his first Premier League start of the 2025/26 campaign in January, but – ahead of Man Utd’s game against Leeds United on Monday night – he has been included in every one of Carrick’s starting line-ups since then.
Having joined the club aged nine, Mainoo, who turns 21 this weekend, now stands four appearances away from 100 senior appearances. His impressive recent performances also earned him a recall to last month’s England squad.
When asked if he is confident Mainoo will sign a new Man Utd deal before the end of the season, Carrick said: “Obviously we’d like to think so, yeah, and it’s getting closer so we’re positive with that. We’re calm with it, but we’re positive with it. Time will tell how it goes, but at the moment we’re in a good place with it.”
Bowen in illustrious company
West Ham United’s survival hopes received a major boost with their crushing 4-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday night. But if the Hammers do end up going down, it will not be due to Jarrod Bowen, who continues to be as influential as ever at the club.
The West Ham captain set up goals for Konstantinos Mavropanos and Valentin Castellanos on Friday, as well as hitting the woodwork with an effort of his own.
Bowen now has eight goals and eight assists in the Premier League this season, putting him in sight of a notable achievement. Already, he is one of only three players (alongside Mohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes) to register 10+ goal involvements in each of the past six Premier League seasons.
But, as noted in this Sky Sports article, four more goals or assists would rank him alongside Erling Haaland as the only players to reach 20+ goal involvements in all of the last three campaigns – quite some achievement at a club battling near the foot of the table.
