W hen Andoni Iraola and Mikel Arteta talked on 20 May, each could praise his boyhood friend for a historic achievement. While Arteta had just won Arsenal ’s first Premier League title for 22 years, the kingmaker was Iraola, whose Bournemouth team had held Manchester City , leaving the Gunners four points clear with a game to go. “We spoke the next day just to congratulate each other because it was massive for us as we got Europe,” Iraola said.

If Iraola was an unwitting ally to Arteta then, now he assumes the role of obstacle to his fellow Basque’s ambitions. It is not merely because he has three victories in their last four meetings . “It doesn’t mean a lot,” said Iraola; now he has different players and a different team. Then he faced Arsenal as underdogs, now perhaps as equals.

But there is a school of thought that, if Arsenal do not retain their title, Liverpool are the likeliest champions. That mantle would rest with Manchester City, but the threat of a sizeable points deduction hangs over them.…