It Is Down To This

Chaos reigns in the Premier League races for Europe entering the final matches of the season this coming Sunday. Currently the top seven clubs have qualified to play somewhere in Europe. Other than Liverpool and now Arsenal, however, the other five clubs do not have clarity as to which of the three continental tournaments they will be competing in. In addition to pride and recruiting value, there is enormous financial gain for clubs playing in the premier Champions League competition. Three of the five remaining contenders will fill out the five Champions League spots allotted to the league. The other two clubs are guaranteed a yet to be determined place in the less prestigious and certainly less lucrative Europa League or Conference League competitions.

Currently only three points separate third place Manchester City from seventh place Nottingham Forest. Beyond the top seven clubs in the table, the bottom half of the table will also contribute two unlikely European participants next season for a total of nine Premier League clubs certain to be playing in Europe next year. Either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur will play in the Champions League as the winner of today’s Europa League final despite those two finalists being the worst Premier League teams not to be relegated this season and each establishing new club records for Premier League losses.

And then there is Crystal Palace. The Eagles won the first major title in their club’s history by defeating Manchester City 1-0 last week for the FA Cup. That win not only comes with silverware but earns Crystal Palace a place in the Europa League next season. That is terrific news for the Eagles but not so much for their hated rival Brighton, currently eighth in the Premier League table and seemingly on track for Europe if Manchester City had taken care of business. Manchester City will qualify for either Champions League or Europa League by virtue of its table position. Thus, a Europa League invitation awarded to the Citizens as FA Cup winners would have defaulted to the next eligible club in the Premier League table, expanding the number of seats for the league at the European table.

With Crystal Palace, a bottom half side, now clinging tightly to the invitation, it is now most likely, though not certain, that only seven clubs (five to Champions League, one to Europa League, one to Conference League) will go to Europe based on their league standing, joining the Europa League winner and Crystal Palace for a total of nine Premier League teams headed to Europe. There is still hope, however, for the eighth-place Premier League club, currently Brighton with Brentford still in the picture, to qualify and send 10 clubs, or half of the Premier League, to Europe. Chelsea is the key to those hopes which require the Blues to win the current year’s Conference League final next week against Real Bettis AND also, under the clearest scenario, finish seventh in the table (A tenth Europe spot would also free up if Conference League winning Chelsea were sixth and EFL Cup winning Newcastle finishes seventh, but don’t ask…). In the simplest case, if Chelsea earns a Europa League spot for winning the current Conference League title and also earns the Premier League’s Conference League berth for next year, based on present league standing, that latter ticket would be passed on to the eighth-place finisher. Chelsea, of course, is still focused on earning a Champions League berth and that means winning away at seventh place Nottingham Forest on Sunday. The Blues got a goal from their surprising 2025 scoring leader, fullback Marc Cucurella to capture a 1-0 win over Manchester United last Friday and Nottingham Forest then edged West Ham 2-1 on Sunday to set up a massive final Sunday at the City Ground.

Aston Villa, currently level on points with Newcastle and Chelsea, rolled to a 2-0 win last Sunday over a Tottenham Hotspur side which long ago gave up caring about its Premier League schedule. Incredibly, Tottenham Hotspur has lost 21 matches in the Premier League this season and yet Manager Ange Postecoglou, currently embroiled in nasty relations with both supporters and media, could perpetrate a travesty this week by delivering a long-sought trophy for the north London club which sits 17th in the Premier League table.

Villa, meanwhile, now faces the other Europa League finalist in Manchester United, already an 18-time loser in the league, on Sunday. Newcastle, a loser last Sunday, is level on points with Chelsea and Aston Villa, though holding a goal differential advantage on both.

Arsenal became the second club after Liverpool to nail down a Champions League invite when Declan Rice’s goal proved the difference in a 1-0 win over Newcastle at the Emirates. Arsenal will be on the beach at Southampton this weekend while Newcastle returns home to face Everton as the Magpies make a final push for Champions League. Manchester City, now third in the table after Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth, could be tested in its season finale at Craven Cottage versus Fulham. The Cottagers established a new club record Premier League point total by inflicting a damaging loss on Brentford last weekend. Brentford’s only hope to recapture eighth place, which may or may not mean anything, is to win at Wolves while Brighton is upset by unmotivated Tottenham Hotspur. If Chelsea has a good day Sunday, all is lost for either Brighton or Brentford.

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.

Premier League Match Week 36 Results: Newcastle Moves Up With Win Over Chelsea; Saints Surprise Manchester City; Watkins Becomes All Time Scorer In Aston Villa Win; Nottingham Forest Drops Points As Owner Goes Mad; Brentford and Brighton Race For Eighth; Farcical Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United Stumble Toward Europa League Final

Newcastle, Aston Villa, Brentford  and Brighton improved their chances for Europe while other contenders stumbled over the weekend. Newcastle won for the seventh time in its last nine matches, defeating ten-man Chelsea 2-0 at St. James’s Park. The Magpies wasted no time taking the lead when Sandro Tonali found the net less than two minutes into the contest. Visiting Chelsea was then further disadvantaged when Nicolas Jackson lost his mind and swung a vicious  forearm into the face of Magpie defender Sven Botman. Jackson’s red card  put his team down a man and got him suspended for Chelsea’s final two matches. Surprisingly, shorthanded Chelsea had the better of chances after Jackson’s departure, particularly in the second half, but were unable to find an equalizer which would have kept them level on points with the Magpies.

Newcastle sealed the verdict on Bruno Guimares’s 90th minute strike and finished the weekend third in the Premier League table as Manchester City was shockingly held to a goalless draw at Southampton. The Saints parked the bus and Manchester City was unable to unpark it. Southampton did not take a single shot on target, sat back and  stymied a lifeless Manchester City attack. The point, the first one Southampton had earned at St. Mary’s Park since November, gives Southampton 12 points on the season, one more than the infamous Derby total of 11 which is the lowest point total in Premier League history. The shared result could have a more pragmatic impact, however, on Manchester City. The Citizens slipped to fourth place after their own dropped points and Newcastle’s win, just two points clear of both Chelsea and Aston Villa.

Six clubs are battling for the four remaining Champions League places, champion Liverpool having already claimed one of the prized appointments. Now bringing up the rear of that parade of clubs contending for Europe’s top competition is Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees inexcusably dropped points in a 2-2 draw with already relegated and usually hopeless Leicester when the Foxes’ Facundo Buonanotte scored an equalizer in the 81st minute to damage Nottingham Forest’s Champions League chances. Forest’s chances to regain the lead were damaged by a case of poor management and/or miscommunication that  brought Nottingham Forest owner, Evangelos  Marinakis, onto the pitch to publicly remonstrate with his manager after the match. Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi injured himself colliding with the post but was left on the pitch, limping and ineffective, while Santo used his last substitution elsewhere. Santo pointed to poor communication from medical staff regarding Awoniyi’s fitness. Awoniyi underwent surgery Tuesday for a serious abdominal injury suffered in the collision. Marinakis was unhappy with everyone, and the strain is beginning to show for everyone involved as the Tricky Trees now have just one win from their last seven matches. Marinakis has been disciplined twice on previous occasions by the Premier League for his post-match tantrums on the pitch or in the tunnel. The emotional ending obscured the fact that Nottingham Forest clinched a spot in Europe, even if it is not the hoped-for Champions League, with Saturday’s point. It will be the first time Nottingham Forest will play in Europe since the 1995/96 season.

Aston Villa were the beneficiaries of the Tricky Trees’ dropped points as the Villans sailed by Nottingham Forest and drew level on points with fifth place Chelsea, the Blues still clinging to a goal differential advantage, after Ollie Watkins delivered a 1-0 win over Bournemouth with his first half stoppage time goal. Watkins has curiously lost his status as a mainstay in Manager Unai Emery’s lineup and had started only four of the last ten games for the club. His winner on Saturday, however, was hugely important for club and player. The three points kept Aston Villa in the Champions League chase with its final two matches scheduled against disinterested Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. Watkins, meanwhile, became Aston Villa’s all-time scoring leader with his 75th goal for the team. Bournemouth entered the weekend in possession of eighth place and a presumed Europa Conference League berth but has now fallen to tenth after the Cherries’ loss and victories by Brentford and Brighton.

Brentford’s 1-0 win over Ipswich Town was the club’s fourth consecutive Premier League win and moved the Bees into eighth place, ahead of Brighton on goal differential. The Seagulls kept pace with a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton. Brighton’s Danny Welbeck converted a penalty kick in the Seagulls’ victory for his tenth goal of the season, his first double digit Premier League output since debuting for Manchester United in 2008.

Fulham’s European dreams, meanwhile, continued to fade after the Cottagers suffered a damaging 3-1 home loss to  Everton. Fulham, four points behind Brentford, will still have a say in matters, however, as they face the Bees next weekend.

There was also a game on Sunday between the Premier League’s current first and second place teams. Unfortunately, the day began and ended with a 15-point gap separating champion Liverpool and fading challenger Arsenal. The champions sprinted to a two-goal advantage by halftime only to have Arsenal make a game of it in the second half for the 2-2 final. Mikel Merino would score the equalizer in the 70th minute for Arsenal only to be sent off nine minutes later, blunting any continued momentum by the Gunners. Liverpool pressed the action from there, substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot curling wide of the post and a goal by the Reds’ Andy Robertson being ruled out  for a foul in the buildup. Alexander-Arnold told supporters this week that he would not be renewing his Liverpool contract with the Liverpool star rumored to be Spain bound to join Real Madrid this summer. The offensive-minded defender was met with a chorus of boos upon his substitution, a sad way to end an illustrious career in red. Arsenal, meanwhile, is still one point away from clinching Champions League football for next season after winning  just one of its last six Premier League matches as the Gunners wind down their season in desultory fashion.

Nothing, however, approaches the travesty that Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have made of their Premier League seasons in past weeks. This year’s Europa League finalists are 16th and 17th in the Premier League table, respectively, as they sideline key players in preparation for their European matches. This week’s lucky winners to have these two laggards on their schedule were Crystal Palace and West Ham. Palace defeated Spurs 2-0 to give the Eagles some momentum heading into their FA Cup final next week. West Ham clipped Manchester United by the same 2-0 score, ending an eight-match winless run by the Hammers.