Manchester City defeated Arsenal 4-1 on Wednesday in a match that was long anticipated to go a long ways in deciding the Premier League. 

City is now within two points of Arsenal with two matches in hand.

Pep Guardiola had insisted for weeks that Arsenal were favorites, but he's now more confident in City's chances of winning their fifth title in six years.

"Absolutely my position now, because it's in our hands. We have to win the games in hand, but it depends on us. Until today, I preferred Arsenal's position.

"The next three games are really important. Fulham on Sunday, then two games at home. These three games will dictate if we do what we have to do. It sounds naive, but we are behind Arsenal, they are two points in front of us."

FiveThirtyEight gives City a 90 percent probability of winning the Premier League.

Sheffield United have secured their return to the Premier League following their promotion-clinching 2-0 victory over West Brom.

Led by Paul Heckingbottom, United have been fighting at the top of England's second tier since their relegation from the Premier League in 2021. 

Vincent Kompany's Burnley have already secured automatic promotion.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin once again said he is open to a discussion about playing the Champions League final in the United States.

Ceferin told Roger Bennett that he would not rule out holding a part of the most-watched annual football event in the world outside of Europe.

"It is possible [Champions League in U.S.]," Ceferin said. "We started to discuss about that, but then one year it is World Cup, 2024 is Euro, this year is Istanbul, '24 in London, '25 in Munich. And after that let's see. It's possible, it's possible."

In 2022, UEFA signed a six-year, $1.5 billion deal with CBS, Viacom and Paramount for English language U.S. television rights to its club competitions, including the Champions League.

The contract, which starts in 2024-25, also covers the Europa League and the Europa Conference League. Its $250 million annual value is a significant increase from UEFA's previous U.S. broadcast package, which brought in $100m per season.

The 2022 Champions League final featuring Real Madrid and Liverpool attracted a record 2.76 million English-speaking viewers on CBS in the United States. The 2021 final between Chelsea and Manchester City drew 2.1 million viewers on CBS.

Chelsea are in advanced talks to hire Mauricio Pochettino as manager. Pochettino could take the job before the end of the season and replace Frank Lampard, who is serving as interim.

Pochettino, 51, has been out of work since leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season.

Julian Nagelsmann and Pochettino were regarded as initial favorites of the club's owners, Clearlake Capital. Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim and Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti were also considered by Chelsea.

Pochettino was interviewed for the Manchester United manager's job last season and made the final two before missing out on the post to Erik ten Hag. 

Tottenham Hotspur have fired interim manager Cristian Stellini following a 6-1 loss to Newcastle. Ryan Mason will take over on an interim basis.

Spurs were 5-0 down within 21 minutes at St. James' Park.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said in a statement: "Sunday's performance against Newcastle was wholly unacceptable. It was devastating to see. We can look at many reasons why it happened and whilst myself, the board, the coaches and players must all take collective responsibility, ultimately the responsibility is mine.

"Cristian will leave his current role along with his coaching staff. Cristian stepped in at a difficult point in our season and I want to thank him for the professional manner in which he and his coaching staff have conducted themselves during such a challenging time. We wish him and his staff well.

"Ryan Mason will take over head coach duties with immediate effect. Ryan knows the club and the players well. We shall update further on his coaching staff in due course.

"I met with the Player Committee today -- the squad is determined to pull together to ensure the strongest possible finish to the season. We are all clear we need to deliver performances which earn your amazing support."

Vincent Kompany has emerged as a candidate to become the next manager of Chelsea.

Kompany retired from his playing career in 2020. After two years managing Anderlecht, he has been in England for less than one season, a hugely impressive promotion-winning campaign with Championship side Burnley.

Julian Nagelsmann has withdrawn his named from consideration as Chelsea searches for its next manager.

Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino, Vincent Kompany and an unnamed candidate made Chelsea's four-man shortlist.

Nagelsmann met with Chelsea executives in recent days for a series of talks which initially progressed well, but he became frustrated as the club was adamant about  conducting a lengthy and exhaustive search.

The final four of the 22-23 Champions League is set with Manchester City playing Real Madrid in one semifinal, while AC Milan will meet Inter Milan in the other.

Champions League Betting Odds (via Caesars Sportsbook)

To reach the final
Manchester City: -250
Inter Milan: -137
AC Milan: +100
Real Madrid: +175

To win the final
Manchester City: -143
Real Madrid: +330
Inter Milan: +600
AC Milan: +700

Manchester City are preparing a new contract offer for Erling Haaland after a release clause in his current contract was removed.

Haaland joined City from Borussia Dortmund last summer for the relatively low transfer fee of £51.2million, which was inserted into his contract when he agreed to move to Germany from Red Bull Salzburg in December 2019.

Haaland's contract would allow him to leave City in the summer of 2024 for £150 million. But the clause was canceled when Pep Guardiola renewed his contract through 2025.

Julian Nagelsmann has emerged as the front runner to become the next manager of Chelsea after impressing during initial talks.

Nagelsmann made a positive impression during a meeting with the club’s sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, last week and he has support from the co-owner Behdad Eghbali.

Chelsea are keeping their options open and have made contact with Mauricio Pochettino, who has been out of work since leaving Paris Saint-Germain last summer.