Premier League Round 38: What's At Stake
By Ty Duffy
The English Premier League plays its final round of fixtures Sunday. All 10 matches kick off at the same time. It can get exciting. Here is what’s at stake.
The Title
Leicester City won. They were 5,000-1 odds, at one point, before the season started. You probably heard about it.
Champions League
The top four qualify for the Champions League. The top three avoid the qualifying playoff. Arsenal lead Manchester City by three points. They play last-placed Aston Villa at home. If they win or draw, they finish at least third.
It’s possible, if Tottenham loses away to Newcastle, an Arsenal win could put them in second, saving themselves the indignity of finishing behind Spurs for the first time under Arsene Wenger.
Manchester City or Manchester United for the Champions League will be the most contentious question. City play at Swansea City. They are three points behind Arsenal and two points ahead of United. A win and an Arsenal loss gets them third. A point secures fourth, whatever Manchester United does at home against Bournemouth. United need a win and a Man City loss to grab fourth.
Europa League
It’s complicated. We won’t know all the answers Sunday. Teams with league ambitions probably don’t want to be there anyway. Basically, four Champions League places go to the top four. Three Europa League places go to the 5th place finisher, the Carling Cup winner, and the FA Cup winner.
Manchester City won the Carling Cup. They will finish no lower than 5th. So, one of their berths will go to the 6th place finisher. If Manchester United win the FA Cup Final and finish in the top six, one of their places goes to the 7th place finisher. Manchester City, Manchester United, West Ham, Southampton and Liverpool are still in that mix.
Liverpool play Sevilla in the Europa League final. If they win, they qualify as a fifth Champions League team. If they finish inside the Europa League places, England will have five teams in the Champions League and two in the Europa. If they finish outside, England will have eight teams in Europe.
Relegation
Over. Settled. Sunderland (38 pts) made a great escape, scoring wins over Chelsea and Everton in their last two matches, opening a four-point lead. Newcastle (34 pts), Norwich City (34 pts), and Aston Villa (17 pts) will be relegated to the Championship.
Burnley and Middlesbrough have earned automatic promotion to replace them. Brighton and Hove Albion, Hull City, Derby County, and Sheffield Wednesday will play off for the third promotion place.