With the final few weeks of the Premier League season upon us, Alex Keble picks out the matches you won't want to miss - and they don't all involve the race for Europe
It’s an all-too common refrain that the 2024/25 Premier League season has run out of steam; that Liverpool sewing up the title and the bottom three already relegated has made the run-in a damp squib.
That just isn’t true.
The race for UEFA Champions League football has six clubs vying for four spots, with even Arsenal not guaranteed a place in the top five. Three head-to-heads between these clubs will be essential viewing.
Further down, the likelihood of eighth being a European spot means interest for another four clubs, two of which have never played in Europe before.
Put all that together and you get 10 Premier League clubs fighting desperately for a prestigious and lucrative place in the Champions League or Europa League - and no fewer than NINETEEN matches, spread over the next three Matchweeks, to get excited about.
Matchweek 36
It starts in earnest on Saturday, when Aston Villa travel to AFC Bournemouth in a must-win match for both teams.
Villa can still sneak into the Champions League places if they win their remaining three matches, and with their other opponents Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United focusing on the UEFA Europa League, Villa’s trip to Vitality Stadium is make-or-break time.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
35 | +33 | 67 |
| 3 |
Man City
MCI
|
35 | +24 | 64 |
| 4 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
35 | +21 | 63 |
| 5 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
35 | +21 | 63 |
| 6 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
35 | +12 | 61 |
| 7 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
35 | +6 | 60 |
Meanwhile the Cherries, leading the race for eighth, can scarcely afford to drop points, not with Fulham, all the way down in 11th, only two points behind.
If Unai Emery gets the win then the pressure cranks up on Newcastle United versus Chelsea.
It’s the defining head-to-head of the run-in, because if Villa win on Saturday then it feels unlikely there will be space for both Newcastle and Chelsea in the top five. It could be winner takes all.
On Sunday evening comes the game we all hoped would be a title decider but have known for a couple of months is a dead rubber - except that it isn’t anymore.
Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth last weekend means they probably still need two points to secure a place in the Champions League. With Newcastle after Liverpool, Mikel Arteta doesn’t want to be sweating at St Mary’s against Southampton on the final day.
There’s also Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham v Everton, two sticky games for two of the sides battling for eighth.
Matchweek 37
Things will remain finely poised near the top whatever happens in Matchweek 36, leaving fans of all six Champions League-chasing clubs nervous wrecks when the penultimate set of fixtures roll around.
Not a single one of them has it easy here, bar perhaps Nottingham Forest at West Ham United, although given how Nuno Espirito Santo’s side tend to struggle when forced to hold possession – preferring to be underdogs – that is no walkover.
Villa host Spurs, Chelsea host Manchester United, Manchester City host Bournemouth, and Arsenal host Newcastle.
None are home bankers. Granted, Spurs and Man Utd might field weakened teams ahead of a possible Europa League final, and Man City – having played Southampton the week before – may not be feeling the pressure so much.
But these are not easy matches, no matter how they’re spun, and the same goes for a horrible set of fixtures for the clubs chasing eighth.
Brentford and Fulham play each other in the pick of the games; Bournemouth follow up that awkward Villa encounter by travelling to the Etihad Stadium; and Brighton host champions Liverpool.
It will be an exhausting, nerve-wracking, and possibly devastating weekend for, you would think, at least half of the clubs fighting for Europe.
And finally, there’s Everton’s farewell to Goodison Park, their iconic home since 1892.
It will be an emotional day for Everton fans and players, who will hope for the perfect send-off against rock-bottom Southampton. They have a great chance of ending on a high.
Matchweek 38
It isn’t always easy, on the final day, to decide which of the 10 simultaneously-played matches to focus on.
It is this year. Nottingham Forest, way out in front for so much of the season and the fairytale waiting to happen, host Chelsea in a six-pointer that might just decide which of the two, if any, qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Here is a chance to become heroes in front of their own fans at the City Ground.
Elsewhere, Villa travel to Old Trafford in the hope that Man Utd will field academy players after a Europa League final four days earlier, but no matter who’s on the pitch, Villa fans will fear the worst.
They hate making the trip to Old Trafford, having won just once there in the last 16 years.
With Newcastle hosting Everton and one of Forest or Chelsea likely to win, Villa, if they’re still in the hunt, will know that it’s win or bust on the final day.
In the battle for eighth, we could see all four clubs win.
Brighton play a Spurs team who could be similarly distracted by the Europa League final; Fulham and Brentford face Man City and Wolves respectively, two teams who may have one foot on the beach; and Bournemouth host Leicester City.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
35 | +6 | 60 |
| 8 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
35 | +13 | 53 |
| 9 |
Brentford
BRE
|
35 | +9 | 52 |
| 10 |
Brighton
BHA
|
35 | +1 | 52 |
| 11 |
Fulham
FUL
|
35 | +3 | 51 |
In the fullness of time we might come to see that particular race as being decided one week earlier, although whatever the final outcome, there will be twists and turns in all three remaining Matchweeks.
Don’t look away now. The top and bottom of the league might be done, but the rest of the Premier League is going into overdrive.