It is the debate dividing pundits and social media - did Arsenal 'bottle it', or are relentless Manchester City just too strong?
At the beginning of April, Arsenal restored an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League over rivals Manchester City with a 4-1 home win over Leeds United.
Fast forward to May and the Gunners' hopes of securing a first title since the unbeaten 'Invincibles' side of 2003-04 look over, after a second-half capitulation at home to Brighton on Sunday.
City are one victory away from a third successive top-flight crown thanks to winning 11 league games in a row and dropping just two points from 42.
Data experts Nielsen's Gracenote suggest it was not a case of Arsenal 'bottling' the title, with their current total of 81 points exactly matching their projections.
Instead, it is Manchester City raising the bar even higher, with their calculations showing City have "outperformed expectations by seven points since mid-January".
'Agueroooooo!' - Man City & Man Utd, 2011-12 (eight-point lead)
| Premier League table - 8 April 2012 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Dawn | Lost | For | Against | Points |
| 1. | Man United | 32 | 25 | 4 | 3 | 78 | 27 | 79 |
| 2. | Man City | 32 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 75 | 26 | 71 |
The 2011-12 title fight was a two-horse race between Manchester City and Manchester United, with the rivals swapping places at the top of the table throughout the campaign. Following a 1-0 loss to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on 8 April, City found themselves eight points behind United with six matches remaining.
Would manager Sir Alex Ferguson be bringing a 13th Premier League trophy back to Old Trafford? Or could Roberto Mancini secure City's first top-flight success in 44 years?
In one of the most dramatic endings to a Premier League campaign, City won all of their last six matches - including a 1-0 win against United - to win the league on goal difference. While Mancini's men collected three points after three points, Ferguson watched his side lose 1-0 to Wigan and drop two points in a 4-4 draw with Everton after leading 4-2 with seven minutes to go.
Two minutes into injury time in their final match of the season, losing 2-1 at home to QPR and with United beating Sunderland, City's Edin Dzeko scored a 92nd-minute equaliser before Sergio Aguero's famous winner in the fourth minute of added time turned Manchester sky blue.
Title ambitions slip away - Liverpool & Man City, 2013-14 (nine-point lead)
| Premier League table - 20 April 2014 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points |
| 1. | Liverpool | 35 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 96 | 44 | 80 |
| 2. | Chelsea | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 66 | 24 | 75 |
| 3. | Man City | 33 | 22 | 5 | 6 | 88 | 34 | 71 |
Liverpool and winning league titles used to go hand-in-hand, but the hunt for a top-flight trophy since 1990 had been a fruitless task for the Merseyside club.
Brendan Rodgers was now in the managerial chair and as the season drew closer to its conclusion, the Reds hit a scintillating run of form, picking up 11 consecutive victories - including a home win over Manchester City - to lead the Premier League title race in April 2014 by five points over second-placed Chelsea and nine points over Manuel Pellegrini's City in third.
With Liverpool having played more games than their two closest rivals, Rodgers and his side knew they could not afford any mistakes in their final three games.
The title race was blown wide open, however, when Jose Mourinho's Chelsea arrived at Anfield on 27 April. Demba Ba gave the Blues the lead at the end of the first half after Reds captain Steven Gerrard's slip, before Willian capped a 2-0 win with a breakaway goal in stoppage time.
One week later Liverpool's trophy ambitions were severely dented again after a three-goal lead was squandered in the final 11 minutes in a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace.
In the midst of the Reds' title stumble, City won their last five matches and picked up their second Premier League prize in three years by two points.
