Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd and Aston Villa’s Remaining 25/26 Premier League Fixtures Ranked

No longer in its infancy, the 2025/26 Premier League season is reaching a tricky period for all 20 clubs: its business end. At the time of writing, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are looking strong in their pursuit of ending their title-winning voodoo, while Arne Slot’s Liverpool – despite a £400 million splurge in the summer – have struggled to replicate last season’s form.

Manchester City are the main side who are looking to challenge the Gunners in the race. Aston Villa had looked like they were an outside shout in the race, but Unai Emery’s side have fallen away with just one win in their last five games, allowing Manchester United to jump above them in third.

That said, there are still plenty of games for all teams to play and, as we’ve seen in years gone by, anything can happen. Leicester City’s season in 2015/16 is the perfect proof of that. GIVEMESPORT, using the average positions of every opponent, have ranked the fixture difficulty of the remaining fixtures for Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa.

Manchester United Have The Trickiest Run

They wouldn’t, would they? Manchester United have looked like a completely new team since Michael Carrick took up the interim position following Ruben Amorim’s sacking. And the Red Devils have improved massively under his guidance, winning all but one match against West Ham United to climb into third place.

United are, however, still way behind Arsenal, and it would take an implosion of huge proportions at the Emirates Stadium for Carrick’s men to catch them. Not only that, but they would have to navigate the toughest schedule out of all teams currently in the top four.

A visit to St James’ Park to face a struggling Newcastle United is next on the agenda for United, before Aston Villa make the journey to Old Trafford for a massive fixture in the race for top four. Favourable matches against Bournemouth and Leeds United then come after, but then they have something of a gauntlet.

Three consecutive games against Chelsea, Brentford and Liverpool mean that United will play three teams all pushing for European football, and an away day at the Stadium of Light is hardly a reprieve either. It is, at least, a more chilled out end to the season, with matches against Nottingham Forest and Brighton. But whether or not those games will be decisive in the title race remains to be seen.

Manchester City Will Find It Tough To Catch Arsenal

As things stand, Pep Guardiola’s men are keeping pace with the table-topping Arsenal – but can they replicate their form from previous seasons by leapfrogging the Gunners? Erling Haaland, widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, will be doing all he can at the sharp end of the pitch to score goals… they just need to stay more resolute at the back.

Manchester City have a favourable fixture list in the next few weeks. They will expect to beat Nottingham Forest and West Ham United, but then things will get tough. City will have to travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea before the Etihad Stadium will, perhaps, play host to the most important match of the entire league on April 18 when Arsenal travel to Manchester. It’ll be a six-pointer of sorts. Once the match comes to a close, the commentators may utter the words: “Have we just seen the champions there tonight?”

Following their tasty match-up with the north Londoners, City face Burnley and Everton away from home before hosting Brentford, currently the division’s surprise package, on home soil. They will host Aston Villa on the final day of the season – a fixture that won them the title in 2021/22.

Aston Villa Are in the Middle

After their first five Premier League matches of the campaign, when they had picked up a total of zero wins and scored just one goal, there were a group of cynics that thought Aston Villa could be in serious trouble. The talent at their disposal meant that relegation was never on the cards… but only a select few of supporters believed they’d be gunning for a title.

They are, of course, a huge outside shout given the expertise and firepower of the above-mentioned sides. And after a stalemate against Leeds United and a disappointing 2-0 loss at the hands of Wolves, Emery’s men now need to claw back a 13-point deficit if they are to beat Arsenal to the crown. It seems as though the writing might be on the wall, particularly as their games don’t get any easier.

Villa now face Chelsea at home in a match which could have huge implications in the race for top four, let alone the title battle. A trip to Old Trafford follows after their contest with the Blues before an easier fixture – West Ham at Villa Park. Entering April, Villa play Forest, Sunderland and Fulham before facing Burnley at Turf Moor.

Of the three teams, there is no doubt that Villa have the trickiest ending of them all. Liverpool, especially if they continue on their upwards trajectory, at Villa Park, will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination before an end-of-campaign test against City – who are used to winning under pressure – concludes what could be a positive season for the Birmingham outfit.

Arsenal Have Easiest Set of Remaining Fixtures

Seeing in the New Year, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better candidate to win the Premier League than Arsenal, who have – at the time of writing – won 19 of their 29 matches.

Their defensive record, as always, is the crown jewel in their search for their first bit of major silverware since Arteta’s maiden campaign at the helm, though Viktor Gyokeres’ struggles in the final third could end up being their downfall when push comes to shove at the end of the term.

On paper, though, there’s plenty of promise, especially as they have the easiest run of the lot after victories against London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea. Games against Brighton, Everton, Bournemouth, Man City and Newcastle lie in store for them next, although none of those are sure things.

Related

Ranking the 12 Biggest Clubs to Never Win the Champions League

The Champions League has brought some dark memories for several of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Come the very end of the campaign (May, in particular), it is much simpler for Arteta and his entourage. Starting with an all-London affair against Fulham, they then face West Ham United and Burnley and Crystal Palace to round things off – but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to win their first Premier League title since 2003/04.