Arsenal is resigned to losing its Premier League title to Chelsea. What would make it more painful is handing the Blues the championship by losing at home to bitter rival Tottenham.
Holding Chelsea to a 0-0 tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, the Gunners at least made sure that Jose Mourinho's men can't clinch its first title in 50 years by beating Fulham last Saturday.
But Arsenal can lose it on Monday.
If Chelsea beats Fulham and goes 14 points clear, the Gunners -- with five games left -- have to beat Spurs at home to keep the title race going.
With seventh-place Tottenham chasing a place in next season's UEFA Cup, there is more than local rivalry at stake for Martin Jol's team, which hasn't beaten the Gunners at Highbury since a 3-1 victory in 1993.
That was against an under-strength Arsenal side, with the Gunners saving their best players for the upcoming FA Cup final against Sheffield Wednesday.
Arsenal's current manager, Arsene Wenger, effectively conceded the title to Chelsea after Wednesday's tie.
"We have to congratulate them for what they have achieved," he said. "They will be champions. It will take a huge accident for them not to be champions.
"We want to win every game but we will not be champions this year. We knew that when we came here, but we have our pride and want to finish as close as we can to Chelsea."
Mourinho didn't appear at the post-game news conference, but assistant manager Steve Clarke said the Portuguese coach was hoping to capture the league title before his side faced Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday.
"Jose is happy," Clarke said. "It was a good result for us and keeps the gap at 11 points. It is going to be difficult for anybody to catch us now.
"We are getting there slowly. It doesn't matter when we win it. It would have been great to have done that on Saturday but we can't."
Third-place Manchester United is 15 points behind Chelsea with five games to play and has virtually no chance of catching the Blues.
Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Everton, where Gary Neville and Paul Scholes were sent off, also left Alex Ferguson's men four points behind the Gunners in the race for second place.
On Sunday, the Reds face ailing Newcastle for the second time in a week, having beaten the Magpies 4-1 in an FA Cup semifinal last weekend.
Everton's first victory over the Reds for 10 years strengthened its hold on fourth place and David Moyes' team should follow that up with a home victory over Birmingham City, which went down 3-0 at Manchester City on Wednesday.
While the title is almost certainly on its way to Chelsea, the struggle to avoid relegation is getting more intense.
Last-place Norwich scored a last-minute winner for a 2-1 victory over Newcastle on Wednesday, and has picked up seven points from three games -- including a 2-0 victory over Manchester United.
The Canaries, who host Charlton on Saturday, now are level on points with Crystal Palace, which went down 1-0 at Blackburn. Palace, which tied 3-3 with Norwich last weekend, hosts Champions League semifinalist Liverpool, which is chasing fourth place.
Southampton has one point more and West Bromwich Albion -- eight points off safety in last place at the start of 2005 -- is just outside the relegation zone with a game in hand.
The Saints go to south-coast neighbor Portsmouth on Sunday while West Brom, which has a one-point advantage, has its third away game in a row at Middlesbrough. It looks likely that the three relegated clubs will come from these four.
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