Man City v West Ham LIVE: Latest updates from Premier League’s final day

If Arsenal are to snatch the title on the final day then Arteta will need a helping hand from his former Everton manager David Moyes, who will take charge of his last game in charge of West Ham at the Etihad Stadium.

Arteta said of Moyes: “He’s been instrumental in my career so he could help us to fulfil our dream and my personal dream to win the Premier League.

“That would be unbelievable and it would be in my memory that’s for sure.

“For that dream to happen we have to win. We also have to hope that West Ham can help us achieve that dream so that part is on us and that’s the only thing we can focus on.”

Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal’s “dreams are still alive” ahead of their final-day bid to win the Premier League. The Gunners, who sit two points behind leaders Manchester City, will need to beat Everton and for Pep Guardiola’s men to drop points against West Ham if they are to lift their first league title since 2004.

City are favourites to claim a record-breaking fourth successive Premier League crown but Arteta remains optimistic ahead of what could be a dramatic last day of the season.

“I’m really excited and I can’t wait for Sunday to be in front of us,” Arteta said. “Obviously I’m very optimistic as well with the possible outcome.

“The hope is there. It didn’t happen (on Tuesday), we have to do our job. We will have to prove again that we are better than our opponent and we have to wish that West Ham have a really good day and help us to fulfil our dream.

“We have the possibility to live a beautiful day on Sunday where the dream is still alive and it’s still possible. It’s football, we have to live the moment.”

City put themselves in position to defend their crown as they overcame Tottenham in a hard-fought contest in midweek to move back above Arsenal at the top.

Guardiola, who is without first-choice goalkeeper Ederson but hopes Kevin De Bruyne will recover from a blow to the ankle, now has a plan to rouse his players for the final challenge.

He said: “I saw perfectly the reaction in the locker room at Spurs away a few days ago. They were relieved, they were ‘wow’, but they were not extra celebrations or something like that.

“They were happy but incredibly calm, it was nothing more special than another game in the Premier League.

“They know there is still a lot of work to do. And today, they will feel it. What I’m going to show them, they will feel there is a lot of work to do.”

Asked for further details, Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference: “It is something that belongs to us.

“I’m going to show them how good they are and what they have to do. As simple as that. It’s nothing special.”

“I have the feeling it will be an Aston Villa game. We would love to be 3-0 up after 10 minutes – but it isn’t going to happen,” Guardiola added.

“We’ve seen enough West Ham games (to know) they have a few things we have to control. They will be ready to beat us. That happened with Aston Villa – they didn’t play for anything – in the same position, two years ago.

“I know what happened, it’s going to happen the same. Ourselves and our people have to come here to be ready from the first minute, to do it together.”

Pep Guardiola is preparing his Manchester City players for another nerve-shredding finish to the title race.

The champions will secure an unprecedented fourth-successive Premier League crown – and a sixth in seven seasons – if they beat West Ham in their final game at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Yet any slip-up would offer Arsenal the chance to seize top spot at the last moment, as the Gunners head into their clash with Everton, trailing by just two points.

Such finishes are hardly unfamiliar to City. Guardiola remembers well how his side needed to recover from 2-0 down against Aston Villa to see off Liverpool’s challenge on the closing day two years ago.

Then, of course, there was City’s dramatic last-gasp success in 2012, when Sergio Aguero scored deep into injury time to snatch the title from Manchester United.

City manager Guardiola said: “If you ask all the Premier League teams at the start of the season, what would be the best position for the last game of the season – we are in the best position. That’s for sure.

“One game left, destiny in our hands, we need to win one game to be champions. Everyone would love to be in our position.

“But it won’t be easy. It’s win or win, otherwise Arsenal will be champions. It is not more complicated than that.”

Pep Guardiola is on the brink of history. “One game, destiny in our hands,” he said, relishing the scenario rather than deflecting attention from it. A fourth consecutive English title would be an unparalleled achievement. It would also be a very popular one; within the Manchester City fanbase, anyway.

And in the wider world? “F***, I don’t know,” replied a dismissive Guardiola. “I don’t go knocking on doors asking people what they think. I don’t know, honestly.”

And if he is sufficiently busy that he scarcely had time to double up as a pollster, canvassing opinions, if many people in football are insulated from the outside world, there is a broader question of how City are viewed. As a great team? Definitely, and they will be even if they lose to West Ham on Sunday and Arsenal supplant them at the top of the table. As the best side in Europe? They were last season but, however often they are described as such, that status surely belongs with either the relentless Real Madrid or even Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen, based on the evidence of the current campaign. As a side whose achievements often come with a caveat? For now, certainly, given that 115 Premier League charges still hang over City. That said, if the eventual verdict is that City breached regulations for years to create the conditions for their current era of dominance, the fundamental fault for that was not committed by Guardiola or his players.

It wasn’t quite predecessor George Graham ahead of Arsenal’s famous last game in 1988-89, when he came in the morning after title rivals Liverpool thumped West Ham United 5-1. “Best thing for us, they’ll think they have it won,” was the message before that historic title showdown at Anfield.

This season’s final day obviously doesn’t have those dimensions, where the top two directly met, but also feels unlikely to reach the heights of previous Premier League climaxes.

This is the ninth time the title has gone down to the final day since the competition was founded in 1992, but it feels illusory, closer to 2010 or 2014 rather than 1995 or 2012.

Let’s face it, does anybody seriously think Man City are going to slip up at home to West Ham United? Far more likely is that they beat them easily, just as they did on that last day in 2014 and just as Chelsea did against Wigan Athletic in 2010. It’s why Arteta has to tell the Arsenal players to simply concentrate on their own jobs.

Final day preview, by Miguel Delaney

As well as a dramatic title race, the Premier League is heading for a frantic late scramble to decide the final European places this season – with several spots still up for grabs ahead of the final day.

Aston Villa have secured the fourth Champions League place, in a stunning achievement for Unai Emery’s side.

But Erik ten Hag’s side did beat Newcastle, their fellow challengers for the European places, to build some late momentum ahead of the FA Cup final against Man City. So, with a single game to go, here’s how the battle for the final European places is shaping up.

If Man City lose, Arsenal will instead win the title if they earn victory against the Toffees, finishing top by a point. Given Guardiola’s side have not lost a single home match all season, though, that seems an improbable outcome at the last.

But they have drawn five of their 18 home league games so far though, and two of their last five at the Etihad in all competitions – and a draw for Man City against West Ham on the final day combined with an Arsenal win would see both teams at the top tied on 89 points.

That would mean the title goes to goal difference, which would see the north London club celebrating a first league championship in 20 years, their last coming in 2003-04, as they currently hold a goal difference one better than City, which would in turn improve with a victory. City’s, naturally, would remain as it is now with a draw.

City won the title by five points last year, but in 21/22 were made to wait until the final day as they edged out Liverpool by just one point – and on that occasion needed to come from 2-0 down in the final 15 minutes to claim a 3-2 win and take the points they needed to celebrate.

Both Arsenal and Man City are at home on the final day, making them heavy favourites to win each match, but Mikel Arteta knows he needs a favour from David Moyes if it’s to be celebrations at the Emirates instead of the Etihad come 6pm on Sunday.

The equation for how the Gunners can win the title is fairly routine from their perspective: they must first of all win against Everton, thus moving themselves to 89 points for the campaign.

Then it’s over to West Ham, and the hope that they can rouse themselves for a final-day upset against last year’s treble-winners.

Naturally, a Man City win would mean they stay a minimum of two points clear and, regardless of Arsenal’s result, would be once again crowned champions.