City eye finish line as Arsenal still believe in chances
Manchester City can take a giant stride towards a third consecutive Premier League title by beating Everton but rejuvenated Arsenal have not given up hope of springing a surprise.
Leaders Manchester City are hot favourites to wrap up their fifth Premier League trophy in six seasons but face a potentially tricky trip to Everton on Sunday.
Sean Dyche's side clawed their way out of the relegation zone with a confidence-boosting 5-1 win at Brighton earlier this week.
Everton's record against City is not pretty -- their 1-1 draw in December, under former boss Frank Lampard, came after 10 consecutive defeats in all competitions.
The Merseyside club, just two points above the drop zone with three games to play, will be fighting for their lives.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has not given up on his title dream, saying "the prize is there, not too far" after his side's 2-0 win against Newcastle last week.
Arsenal, with three games left, can reach a maximum of 90 points if they beat Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Wolves.
City, a point ahead of the Gunners with a game in hand, need nine points to guarantee the title, though their goal difference is significantly superior.
Pep Guardiola's men have the trickier run-in, with matches against Chelsea, Brighton and Brentford to follow their trip to Goodison Park.
When asked at Arsenal's pre-match press conference on Friday whether the players still believe they can win the title, Arteta said: "That's what we're here for.
"It starts on Sunday again, there's three games to go, this is the crucial one and right now we want to beat them and elevate our hopes and enthusiasm to keep going because everything is still to play for."
City could face a tough challenge against an Everton side who hammered European hopefuls Brighton 5-1 in their last outing.
"Every player is ready to play and give his own absolute contribution," Guardiola said.
"I thought a lot about a substitution in the Bernabeu. I decided on players on the bench that are so dynamic -- Phil (Foden), Julian (Alvarez), Riyad (Mahrez).
"But in the moment we didn't need that, we didn't need a player to increase our rhythm. But everybody will be so important, we have a lot of games and everyone is ready."d
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