Premier League Finale: Title, European Qualification, relegation all in play

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It’s simple: Manchester City will retain the title — their sixth in 11 years — by beating Aston Villa at home. City lead second-place Liverpool by one point and just has to match the result of Jurgen Klopp’s team, which is also at home to Wolverhampton. Villa is lower in the standings (14th compared to eighth) but in better form than Wolves, who are winless in their last six matches and were thrashed 5-1 by City last week. Then there is the Steven Gerrard factor. Gerrard, the Villa manager, is a Liverpool great and boyhood fan who never won the league title in his 17 years at Anfield. Could Gerrard — whose Villa team includes former Liverpool players Philippe Coutinho and Danny Ings — do his old club a favor? City has history on its side: no team leading the standings before the final round of the season has ever failed to go on to clinch the title. If Liverpool wins the league, it would complete the domestic treble and set up the chance to clinch an unprecedented quadruple in the Champions League final against Real Madrid on May 28.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFICATION

The fourth and final qualification spot for next season’s Champions League will go to either Tottenham or Arsenal, fierce rivals from north London. Tottenham is the big favorite as it occupies fourth place — two points ahead of Arsenal — and has one of the easiest fixtures possible, an away game at lastplace Norwich, which has already been relegated. Arsenal is at home to Everton, which secured its top-flight status on Thursday with a game to spare. If Tottenham and Arsenal finish tied on points, Tottenham is highly likely to be fourth because it has a superior goal difference of 15 to Arsenal. Tottenham was most recently in the Champions League in the 2019-20 season, while Arsenal hasn’t been in the competition for the past five seasons.

OTHER EUROPEAN COMPETITIONS

Manchester United and West Ham are assured of being in either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League. Sunday will decide into which competition each team goes. The Europa League is the bigger of the two it comes with the extra prize of the winner qualifying for the lucrative Champions League — and sixth-place United occupies the final qualifying spot heading into an away match against Crystal Palace. West Ham is two points back in seventh place, which clinches a Conference League berth, and finishes the season at Brighton.

RELEGATION

Burnley and Leeds are tied on points in their bid to avoid joining already relegated Norwich and Watford in returning to the Championship. Crucially, Burnley have a superior goal difference of 20 compared to Leeds so realistically knows that a win at home to Newcastle will ensure survival, which looked unlikely before long-serving manager Sean Dyche was fired last month and replaced by under-23 coach Mike Jackson. Leeds, which dropped in the relegation zone after Burnley’s draw at Aston Villa on Thursday, have also changed their manager this season by bringing in Jesse Marsch for Marcelo Bielsa. The American coach takes Leeds to Brentford on the final day. Brentford have won five of their last seven games and are chasing a top-10 finish.