Sky Sports will show every one of Arsenal and Manchester City's Premier League games in May live, part of a dramatic increase in the broadcaster's exclusive coverage as both clubs head into a decisive run of fixtures while Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta continues to rail against a controversial VAR reversal after their 1-1 Champions League semi-final first leg with Atletico Madrid.
The scale of Sky's move is concrete: the network has expanded its Premier League package from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live, and will show 30 matches in May alone. Every game in the final two weekends of the season will be televised, and seven matches are scheduled to take place on May 17. Specific fixtures on the calendar include Manchester City's re-arranged meeting with Crystal Palace on May 13 at 8pm, Arsenal's final home game against Burnley on May 18 at 8pm, and Manchester City's trip to Bournemouth on May 19 at 7.30pm. Tottenham face a potential six-pointer at Leeds on May 11, and West Ham will host Leeds at the London Stadium on the season's final day.
Sky has framed the extra coverage around the title race, saying both Arsenal and Manchester City still have the championship in their hands as the season reaches its crucial stretch. The broadcaster's blanket schedule also reflects contingency planning: if Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest to reach the Europa League final the Villa v Liverpool fixture would move to Friday May 15, and a Villa European triumph while finishing fifth would hand an extra Champions League place down the table — permutations that now play out under a much larger live audience.
The timing of the expanded live schedule collides with fresh anger from Arsenal after Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Atletico. Arsenal took the lead before half-time when Viktor Gyokeres converted a penalty, and Atletico levelled through Julian Alvarez from the spot after a handball decision against Ben White. Later in the match referee Danny Makkelie initially awarded Arsenal a penalty for an alleged foul by David Hancko on Eberechi Eze, but VAR intervened and the on-field decision was overturned. Arteta publicly rejected the reversal, arguing there was no obvious error and saying the intervention changed the course of the game and should not happen at this level; he added that the way the decision was handled left the squad furious.
The overturned decision rekindled a debate over consistency. Sport noted the incident was similar to a penalty Arsenal were awarded last month against Bayer Leverkusen — when Noni Madueke went down in the area under a challenge from Malik Tillman — underlining why Arteta and supporters see a double standard. That gap between what is awarded one week and overturned the next supplies the tension beneath what is otherwise a tidy broadcast story: millions will now watch key matches live, and every contentious call is likely to be dissected in real time.
Sky's commitment to show every match involving the two title contenders in May guarantees the controversy will be public and immediate. The most consequential unanswered question for fans and administrators is whether refereeing protocols and VAR explanations will be reconciled before a fortnight of fixtures that could decide a title are shown live to a far larger audience — because if they are not, those live broadcasts will only amplify the stakes and the grievances.
