Premier League title race: Who has the best remaining fixtures - Man City or Liverpool?

As the title race heads into the final furlong, who has the most favourable run-in?

With only three rounds of fixtures remaining and one point separating the champions and the challengers, the finest Premier League title race of recent years is almost over.

Both Manchester City and Liverpool are likely to achieve points totals which would be enough to win the league in all but a handful of post-1995 (i.e. 38-game) seasons.

And whichever one of Jürgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola finishes in second place is now all but certain to have overseen the Premier League’s best-ever runners-up finish.

Whether City defend their crown or Liverpool end their 29-year wait for a domestic title will depend, in part, on their respective run-ins.

By calculating the average points-per-game home and away of each Premier League club this season, we can weigh up the difficulty of City and Liverpool's remaining fixtures.

Then, we can see where the title may be won and lost over coming weeks.

The run-ins

Manchester City

Current position: 1st

Points: 89

Average home/away points of opponents: 1.34

City’s run-in up until this point has undoubtedly been the more difficult one, but they have now cleared their two biggest hurdles.

Remaining fixtures

28/04 Burnley (A)

04/05 Leicester (H)

12/05 Brighton (A)

Saturday’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur was followed by another at Old Trafford, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United beaten 2-0.

City are now one crucial point ahead of Liverpool having played the same number of games as Klopp’s side, with three fixtures remaining.

The champions must now travel to Burnley, who have picked up 1.35 ppg at Turf Moor this season, beating Tottenham but losing their other three home fixtures against ‘top six’ sides.

The visit of Brendan Rodgers to the Etihad will evoke memories of the last time City and Liverpool battled for the title in 2014.

Leicester City (1.39 ppg away) have already beaten City this year, though doing the same away from home will be a tall order.

On the final day, City travel to relegation-threatened Brighton. Chris Hughton’s side may well be safe by then. If not, then they could have a significant say in this title race.

Liverpool

Current position: 2nd

Points: 88

Average home/away points of opponents: 0.97

Liverpool’s run-in remains marginally more favourable than City’s, though Klopp’s side also have a Champions League semi-final against Barcelona to worry about.

Remaining fixtures

26/04 Huddersfield (H)

05/05 Newcastle (A)

12/05 Wolves (H)

Before next week’s Camp Nou first leg, already-relegated basement club Huddersfield visit Anfield on Friday night.

Anything less than a comfortable win over Jan Siewert’s side will be classed as a severe disappointment, given that they have picked up just 0.44 points-per-game away from home.

St James’ Park, however, will be a very different proposition and any suggestions that Rafael Benitez will be easy prey for his former club should be treated with suspicion.

Newcastle have won six of their eight home games since the turn of the year, including a memorable victory over City in late January.

Wolves, meanwhile, have famously taken points off every member of the so-called ‘top-six’ bar one: Liverpool.

They travel to Anfield on the final day and no longer have to worry about resting players for an FA Cup final.