Premier League Final Matchday Pre-Thoughts

The final match week of the Premier League season is upon us, and I figured I would write some predictions and share my thoughts. The title race comes down to the last match unlike the last few seasons, so we have some excitement to look forward to in that regard. As an Arsenal fan I will certainly be flipping between City’s game and Arsenal’s, hoping for a favorable outcome. It seems like the rest of the league has pretty much already shaken out, other than a few places here and there. Sheffield United and Burnley have already been relegated, and Luton Town are effectively relegated sitting three points behind Nottingham Forest with a 12-goal difference setting them apart. Barring some sort of never-before-seen miracle I fully expect to see Luton go down, which I find a tad disappointing because I enjoyed having Luton in the league. All three of the newly promoted teams going straight back down just shows the difference in quality of established Premier League teams, not even top ones, and those newly promoted sides. Hopefully, we can see them back in the league soon as they were all involved in some entertaining matches.

Moving onto the big story, the title is in Man City’s hands, but there is still potential for them to lose it if they drop points to West Ham and Arsenal beat Everton. You’d be insane to not back City to win against West Ham, especially since they are at home. If they manage to win their 4^th league title in a row they’d become the first time in English League history to do so, which itself is impressive, but (and this may be the rival fan in me talking) its become quite boring in all honesty. The Premier League prides itself on being the most competitive league in the world, where numerous teams all have a chance to win the league, but it really isn’t that way if City are winning all the time. What is the difference between their dominance and Bayern’s dominance of the Bundesliga before this year, but I digress. Anyway, I still hold on hope that maybe they will drop points and Arsenal will lift the title, but I really can’t see them doing so. The only situation that would maybe happen is if they go down to 10 men early, but the chances are slim. City have the experience, they’ve done this sort of thing before, I think they will be comfortable and confident and easily beat West Ham by 3 or even 4 goals. I do believe that Arsenal will win comfortably by a few goals against Everton at home, but I fear it just won’t be enough to lift the trophy with City going on this ridiculous run to end the season. So that means we will see City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Aston Villa representing England in the Champions League next season. Should make for some great entertainment.

Now, the league is pretty much figured out when it comes to final positions, there are some teams that could move up or down depending on results, but there are no European implications in those other than the 4 teams from 5^th to 8^th. Tottenham currently sit in 5^th, but have been in horrendous form as of late and now only find themselves 3 points ahead of Chelsea who sort of found their stride in the last month or so (other than the Arsenal game). Spurs play Sheffield on the last matchday, which if we’re being honest, should be an easy game for them against a team that has literally nothing to play for other than pride (maybe? Conceding over 100 goals is pretty embarrassing). The thing is that Spurs confidence must be at a real low and they barely scraped by against Sheffield earlier in the season, at home none the less. All I’m saying is that I’ve seen crazier things happen. Chelsea plays a Bournemouth side who, to be fair, have performed massively well under Andoni Iraola this season, but based on Chelsea’s current form and the fact that it is at Stamford Bridge, I expect them to win this game, maybe not as comfortably as some would think, but I think they will get it done in the end. So, if both teams win then Spurs finish 5^th and Chelsea 6^th and both are playing in Europe next year. However, and this is purely speculatory, if Spurs were to lose and Chelsea win, they would flip places and I think that would be one of the most embarrassing scenarios for Tottenham. Especially considering if they lose against the last place team that has conceded more than 100 goals this season, I am not sure what you do if you’re Tottenham. Losing 6 of your last 7 games while you were battling for a Champions League spot only to end up in 6^th would be humiliating. Now as an Arsenal fan I would relish it immensely, but being realistic it is a LONG shot that they would lose to Sheffield, I mean even a draw would secure them 5^th place, and I think that they will be able to hold on but it sure wasn’t pretty. And Chelsea finishing 6^th place after sitting as low as 12^th this season is not the worst outcome for them. It seems that they found their mojo towards then end of the season and it is certainly something positive to build upon for next year.

Elsewhere, Man United look to avoid their worst ever Premier League finish against an injury decimated Brighton squad. This season can be classified as a total disappointment for the Red Devils. Finishing last in their Champions League group that had the likes of Copenhagen and Galatasaray was already somewhat embarrassing for a club of their size, but finishing 8^th would be the nail in the coffin. In order to finish in 7^th, they need to either get any points and a Newcastle loss to Brentford, or Newcastle draw and United beat Brighton. Not an impossible scenario, but I just can’t really see Newcastle losing to Brentford and expect them to pick up 3 points there. I do think that United will beat Brighton, but it just won’t be enough to get them past Newcastle. Even if United finish in 8^th, they still have a chance to win the FA Cup against City, which would get them into the Europa League, so not the worst case but certainly not what they were expecting from this season.

It should be an interesting and entertaining final matchday which will see wither City or Arsenal crowned champions. There’s still a lot to for some teams to play for, so I expect some of the games to have an intensity to them. We will see how everything pans out when it comes to continental qualification after the FA Cup final, so there’s that to look forward to. All in all, it has been an entertaining season, as it always is, and there are some classic matches (Chelsea 4-4 City) that will be replayed for years to come. The Premier League never fails us in terms of drama and entertainment and this season was no different, regardless of outcomes I will be tuning in on Championship Sunday to get my final fix of Premier League soccer in before it is gone until August.