The final day of the Premier League season is upon us and yet again, the title race will come down to the final moments as only two points separate league leaders Manchester City from Arsenal in second place. City will host West Ham United in David Moyes’ final game in charge of the club while Arsenal will host Everton needing City to drop points.
Looking at relegation, things are pretty cut and dry as while Luton Town only trail Nottingham Forest by three points, the Hatters would need a miracle in the goal difference department where they trail Forest by 12 goals. Even if Forest lost by five goals, Luton would still need to win by seven to close the gap and by eight to stay in the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp will also manage his final game for Liverpool against Wolves and Roberto De Zerbi will manage his final game for Brighton against Manchester United.
Final day schedule
All matches will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern
Liverpool vs. Wolverhampton (Peacock)
Sheffield United vs. Tottenham (Peacock)
Luton Town vs. Fulham (Peacock)
Brighton vs. Manchester United (CNBC and Fubo)
Manchester City vs. West Ham United (NBC and Fubo)
Arsenal vs. Everton (USA Network and Fubo)
Brentford vs. Newcastle United (Peacock)
Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa (Peacock)
Burnley vs. Nottingham Forest (Peacock)
Chelsea vs. Bournemouth (Golf Channel and Fubo)
The title race
Manchester City finally made their way back to the top of the league after defeating Tottenham midweek which sets up a moment where someone will be keeping an eye on their results as well as Arsenal’s. City are looking to win their fourth consecutive title and sixth in the last seven seasons. The dominance under Pep Guardiola has been impressive and his former assistant coach Mikel Arteta is who could end this run. Arsenal came in second to City last season and have looked like admirable title challengers for much of this season but a team needs to be essentially perfect to topple Guardiola’s men. Only time will tell if this is the season that someone joins Liverpool as the only other team not named City to win a title since Guardiola came to the Premier League. If City win, the title is theirs. Arsenal must win and have City drop points.
Jostling in the middle
With teams earning more money the higher that they finish in the league and there being a slight jump once you get to 10th place where Brighton are currently, it’s significant for teams to want to be able to finish as high as possible in the table. People may refer to teams who are out of the European races as on the beach but when 12th to 14th are only separated by two points, those games will be important down the stretch. It’s similar between six and eight where three points separate Chelsea from Manchester United which will determine Europa League and Europa Conference League places. Whichever team finishes eighth will be the odd team left out of European play so expect all three teams to put their best foot forward to not be left out.
Relegation
Gone are the days during which teams needed 40 points to stay in the Premier League as the gaps between the haves and have not have grown wider and wider. Nottingham Forest could stay in the league with only 29 points while Brentford also may not hit 40 points on the season. With all of the recently promoted teams set to be relegated right back to the Championship, it shows how hard the transition is from being a good Championship team to a stable Premier League one. Players from those teams may make their way back into the Premier League but they’ll still receive parachute payments to try and climb the ladder again.
Scenarios
To see all of the scenarios for Sunday’s action, please click here.
KVSP