Premier League: Match Week 37 Preview

The penultimate Match Day of the Premier League season extends from Friday until next Tuesday and surrounds an FA Cup final this weekend. Both Friday games have bearing on an entertaining chase for Champions League qualification. Chelsea and Aston Villa are level on points in fifth and sixth position in the table, Chelsea holding a goal differential advantage. Unfortunately for Aston Villa, only the top five clubs in the table are assured a Champions League berth. Both clubs face a couple of frauds on Friday. Villa hosts Tottenham Hotspur while Chelsea is home to Manchester United. Spurs and United play in the Europa Cup final this Wednesday to determine which will become the worst, by virtue of domestic table standing, ever winner of the Europa and its predecessor UEFA Cup. Aston Villa and Chelsea will both be heavily favored at home and to take their Champions League quest into the final weekend though Chelsea is playing these last two weeks without suspended striker Nicolas Jackson. Aston Villa will play Manchester United in its season finale while Chelsea could face a do or die match at Nottingham Forest.

Taiwo Awoniyi

The Tricky Trees are in a panicked tailspin which took a dark turn in a draw with Leicester last week. Not only did they drop points, but their owner stormed the pitch to engage in a heated discussion with Manager Nuno Espirito Santo. The club has indicated owner Evangelos Marinakis was upset, not at the result, but at the handling of an injury to Taiwo Awoniyi. The forward was allowed to continue playing despite being in obvious pain and unable to contribute after colliding with the post on a goal attempt. Awoniyi’s later emergency surgery and induced coma has added horror to the volatile mix. While praying for their teammate’s recovery, Nottingham Forest players will face West Ham on Sunday with victory essential to their receding Champions League hopes. The Tricky Trees are a point behind Chelsea and Aston Villa after winning just one of their last six Premier League matches.

Arsenal has also won just one of six Premier League matches, has not yet clinched Champions League entering the weekend matches, and could fall out of its accustomed second position in the table. The Gunners could back into their Champions League berth with a stumble by either Aston Villa or Chelsea on Friday. Second place will be on the line, however, when Arsenal host Newcastle on Sunday. The Magpies are two points behind the Gunners. The two clubs have already played four matches across all competitions this season with Newcastle having won three of those matches.

Manchester City, fourth in the table, will not play its league match until Tuesday as the Citizens will face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup Final on Saturday. The opportunity for silverware is rightfully foremost in the mind of City supporters right now. Manchester City, however, could return to the pitch next Tuesday on the outside looking in on Champions League qualification. Aston Villa and Chelsea could both pass Manchester City in the table before the Citizens play their match in hand against Bournemouth. Tuesday’s match at the Etihad will mark the final home appearance for Manchester City legend Kevin De Bruyne.

Two other notable goodbyes will take place Sunday when Everton plays its final match at Goodison Park and Jamie Vardy pulls on a Leicester kit at King Power Stadium for the final time. The match results will pale in significance when Everton hosts Southampton and Leicester hosts Ipswich Town.

This week’s match results are extremely critical for supporters of clubs jockeying for the final place in Europe. The Europa Conference League berth, expected to go to the Premier League’s eighth place finisher, is currently in the hands of Brentford which has a goal differential advantage over Brighton with both clubs locked on 55 points. Bournemouth remains hopeful, two points back of the Bees and Seagulls. Fulham is four points removed from Brentford, but the Cottagers visit the Bees on Sunday.

Brighton, meanwhile, will host Liverpool on Monday. The Seagulls should be catching Liverpool at the right time as the Reds look ahead to closing out their championship season at home the following week and celebrating with a parade a week from Monday. Crystal Palace supporters are over the moon for their club’s third visit to an FA Cup final on Saturday. Tuesday’s meaningless match versus Wolverhampton is thus less than an afterthought for the Eagles.