Premier League Championship Sunday

While the Premier League champion is already determined, there is much to be decided on Championship Sunday. Battles for Europe and the battle for Premier League survival will play out simultaneously on Sunday.

Four clubs are already assured of Champions League football. There is one more Champions League berth assured with the prospect that a sixth spot could be available. The European iterations include a potential sixth Champions League spot because Aston Villa is the Europa League champion, which comes with a Champions League ticket, after defeating Freiburg 3-0 on Wednesday.

The trick is that, under the convoluted voodoo of the UEFA qualification system, Villa must finish fifth for the Premier League to receive a sixth Champions League bid. The fifth “coefficient” based “bonus” slot, based on table position, would then pass to the sixth-place team in the Premier League while Aston Villa uses its Europa League Champion card for admission to Europe’s top competition next season.

Aston Villa would need to lose at Manchester City in Pep Guardiola’s final game as manager of the Citizens, and Liverpool defeat Brentford at Anfield for the Premier League to secure a sixth Champions League place. If those dominoes were to fall, either Bournemouth or Brighton would win the spot based on the results of their games on Sunday.

Bournemouth is currently sixth in the league as it travels to Nottingham Forest. The Cherries are three points ahead of seventh place Brighton, though they have an inferior goal disadvantage which could play into a tiebreaker should the Seagulls win at home versus Manchester United while Bournemouth loses at the City Ground. At worst, Bournemouth has already secured a Europa League spot at minimum and will play in Europe for the first time in the club’s 127-year history.

The next incredible chapter of this football club is written ❤️

We’ll be in Europe for the first time in our 127-year history next season 🌎

On to Sunday for one final push to find out which competition 💪 pic.twitter.com/BSNmpgTtGU

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) May 19, 2026

If Bournemouth wins by a wide margin against the Red Devils on Sunday, the Cherries could even finish fifth with a Liverpool loss should they be able to overcome an imposing six goal deficit in goal differential versus that of Liverpool.

Brighton, meanwhile, faces an enormously high-stakes match against Manchester United as the Seagulls could conceivably qualify for any of the three European competitions or be restricted to domestic play next season. A sixth-place finish and a possible Champions League berth is clearly a remote possibility for Brighton. However, the Seagulls could also lose out on the Europa League and Conference League competitions with a loss at home Sunday as Chelsea, Brentford and even tenth place Sunderland are in position to overtake the currently seventh place Seagulls. Essentially, absent an unlikely Champions League qualification, Brighton is in a four-team scramble for two European spots, one in the Europa League and one in the Conference League.

Currently, Brighton is two points ahead of tenth place Sunderland which has a must-win match at the Stadium of Light with Chelsea on Sunday. Chelsea currently occupies the eighth-place position which would receive a Conference League invitation. Brentford is level on points with Chelsea but has a four-goal deficit versus Chelsea in the goal differential tiebreaker entering the final day when the Bees visit Liverpool.

Crystal Palace may qualify for Europe for a second consecutive season, but it will have nothing to do with its currently poor Premier League table position and certainly nothing to do with Sunday’s game versus champion Arsenal. The Eagles will lock down a Europa League place should the Eagles win their Conference League title match next Wednesday versus Rayo Vallecano. A Crystal Palace victory would earn a Europa League place for next season and make the Eagles a ninth Premier League club to qualify for Europe.

Two other English clubs, meanwhile, are competing not for Europe but for their very Premier League survival. Tottenham Hotspur is clinging to a two-point advantage over West Ham in the tight race for Premier League survival near the bottom of the table. Both clubs have been awful this season and West Ham particularly has wilted under the pressure in recent weeks, failing to score a goal in three consecutive losses. The Hammers get one last chance when they host Leeds at London Stadium but will need Spurs to stumble versus Everton. A draw should be enough for Spurs to clinch survival even should West Ham win, based on a massive goal differential advantage.

Even further down the table is the most meaningless game of the final weekend as Burnley and Wolves will square off in what will mercifully be the final Premier League match for a while for the two already relegated sides. In a game of better clubs but still inconsequential consequences, Fulham will close out the season at Craven Cottage versus Newcastle. 

Premier League Match Week 37 – Part 2 Arsenal Claims Premier League Title; Pep Says Farewell; Chelsea Downs Spurs To Extend Relegation Race To Final Weekend

Arsenal is the Premier League Champion! On Monday, the Gunners triumphed over Burnley 1-0 with a trademark goal from a Bukayo Saka corner kick which Kai Havertz deposited for the winner. On Tuesday, the Gunners clinched their first Premier League title in 22 years when Manchester City mathematically eliminated themselves from the race with a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

A stoppage time goal by Erling Haaland damaged Bournemouth’s European hopes but was not enough to keep hope alive for another week in Manchester. The title deciding match came just hours after news broke that Manager Pep Gardiola will be leaving Manchester City after ten years and 20 trophies won with the club, a run which saw the Spaniard win six Premier League titles, a Champions League, three FA Cups, five League (Carabao) Cups, three Community Shields, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup. Guardiola is widely expected to be replaced by Enzo Maresca who left Chelsea after falling out with the club’s ownership in January Guardiola was said to be furious with the leak of his pending departure before he even had a chance to speak with his players.

The announcement also crowds a news cycle which should be about the success of Arsenal and Manager Mikel Arteta who has delivered a Premier League title to north London for the first time since the departure of Arsenal’s own legendary manager, Arsene Wenger. The Gunners are also pursuing a double with a Champions League final looming later this month. A celebratory final league weekend, where the football itself will now be no more than a finality, provides opportunity to rest players for that next challenge.

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola is coincidentally a childhood friend of Arteta’s and conveyed a parting gift to his friend with the result versus Manchester City. Iraola is leaving Bournemouth after the season in a curious decision made weeks ago. The Cherries are having their best season ever and, despite the late dropped points in Tuesday’s match, are still mathematically alive for a Champions League spot. Bournemouth will enter the final weekend three points behind Liverpool though at a significant goal differential disadvantage.

The man who will lead Bournemouth into Europe for the first time, likely in the Europa or Conference League, will be Marco Rose, a former Bundesliga manager from the Jurgen Klopp school of “heavy metal” play. Iraola’s next stop is unknown, the highly regarded Portuguese having recently been passed over for the Chelsea job in favor of Xabi Alonso.

Chelsea has little positive to take away from its current season but the infliction of pain on hated rival Tottenham Hotspur provided Chelsea supporters with at least something to smile about on Tuesday. Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to leave Spurs just two points clear of West Ham in the relegation battle entering the league ‘s final weekend. Enzo Fernandes and Andrey Santos gave Chelsea a two-goal advantage before some nervous moments ensued for home supporters when Richarlison drew Spurs to within a goal at the 73-minute mark.

A miracle comeback by Spurs to cement their Premier League survival, however, was not in the cards. Tottenham Hotspur will be home to Everton on Sunday while West Ham hosts Leeds. While there will be only one winner and one loser at the bottom of the table this coming weekend, seven clubs including 10th place Sunderland will be jockeying for the remaining places in the European competitions on Championship Sunday.

Premier League Match Week 37 – Part 1 Hammers Just About Nail Their Relegation

West Ham took another major step toward the second tier by laying an egg at Newcastle in a 3-1 loss. The Hammers were both sloppy and uninspired, looking every bit the sort of team that should not be in the Premier League. With their season on the line, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men conceded the first two goals in a four-minute span of the first half which might well have ended their survival hopes.

Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen gave away the first goal of the match, lazily knocking a ball while trying to play the ball out of the back. Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes seemed to be the only player to pay attention and pounced on the ball. The former Leicester man, starting in place of the out of favor Anthony Gordon, quickly fed the ball to teammate Nick Woltemade who swept it past the flustered Hermansen to give the Magpies an early lead.

After William Osula scored on an impressive individual effort four minutes later, the young Newcastle striker later added his second goal of the match when the Hammers erred yet again, this time losing possession on their own throw in. Woltemade, normally a striker who had not scored since December for the Magpies, played a Number 10 role for Manager Eddie Howe on Sunday and connected well with installed striker Osula, pumping some new life into a Newcastle attack which has been less than prolific this season.

William Osula can’t stop scoring for @NUFC 🔥 pic.twitter.com/uWFyIAlUDn

— Premier League (@premierleague) May 17, 2026

West Ham, meanwhile, will have well earned a demotion after failing to score for a third straight Premier League loss, disgraceful results for a club which should be battling to maintain its Premier League status. The shine has long left Nuno Espirito Santo who had seemed to bring hope after his September appointment. Much must fall on the players, however, if the team goes down. Mistakes at the back have been accompanied by futility up front. Jarrod Bowen, captain and supposed star of the club, has been goalless for West Ham’s last 13 Premier League matches.

Having squandered the opportunity to help save itself at Newcastle, West Ham remains two points south of Tottenham Hotspur in the table. Spurs has two matches to play and an insurmountable goal differential advantage over the Hammers. A point from either of Tottenham Hotspur’s last two matches against Chelsea and Everton, respectively, will doom the Hammers. Given Spurs are a hot mess themselves, there is of course a glimmer of hope should West Ham itself be able to win its last match against an in-form Leeds which is undefeated in eight matches.

Leeds delivered a gut punch to Brighton’s European creds in a 1-0 win over the Seagulls at Elland Road. Dominic Calvert Lewin had the winner in a 1-0 Leeds victory which leaves the Seagulls in seventh position. Brighton’s current placement would be good for a Europa League berth if the season ended with Sunday. There is, however, more to come and the Seagulls are vulnerable.

Eighth place Brentford is just a point behind the Seagulls, but more threatening is the prospect of ninth and tenth place Chelsea and Sunderland respectively, two clubs which could knock Brighton, Brentford, or both out of the European places. A Chelsea win on Tuesday would bring the Blues level on points with Brentford with Chelsea holding a goal differential advantage over the Bees. Brentford struggled against Crystal Palace at GTech Community Stadium on Sunday in a 2-2 draw. Crystal Palace twice took the lead and, while the Bees responded twice to equalize, it was an underwhelming performance considering there was much on the line for the homestanding Bees with little in it for the Eagles.

Sunderland already knows it will be just two points behind the Seagulls, one below the Bees, entering the final weekend after the Black Cats thrashed Everton 3-1 at the Toffees’ Hill Dickinson Stadium. The home defeat essentially ended Everton’s European hopes. Twelfth place Everton needs to climb over four clubs in the unlikeliest of circumstances on the Premier League’s final day. Sunderland, meanwhile, will face Chelsea on the final weekend for what could be European spot should Brighton and Brentford falter.

Champions League qualification could be decided on Tuesday. Aston Villa clinched its place with a 4-2 defeat of Liverpool on Friday. Ollie Watkins had a brace for Villa while center back Virgil van Dijks scored twice in a losing effort for the visitors. Van Dijk’s attacking threat is outpacing his defensive performance at the center of a leaky Liverpool defense which has conceded the most ever goals by the club in a 38 match Premier League season. The defensive area was much overlooked in last summer’s futile transfer endeavors to refresh an attack which has also not delivered this season.

Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool legend leaving after next weekend’s finale, delivered a scathing indictment of Liverpool’s management on social media after the club’s Friday defeat, its 12th of the season. Despite its poor season, Liverpool still holds a four-point advantage over Bournemouth with the Cherries playing their game in hand against Manchester City on Tuesday. Liverpool’s goal differential advantage dictates that the Cherries must win at Manchester City, an unlikely event, to have a chance of overtaking the Reds on the final Sunday.

Manchester United, meanwhile, has already locked down third place in the league and Champions League football for next season. Much of the club’s success, in addition to the guidance of interim Manager Michael Crrick, can be attributed to the record season of midfielder Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese internation tied the Premier League season record of 20 assists in the Red Devils’ 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Casemiro also delivered the best season of his Manchester United career in his final season with the club.

Long time club servant Luke Shaw scored against the Trees Sunday in what was his 37th league appearance this season. The veteran left back, who has battled injuries in the past, is the only player to have been active for all of Manchester United’s Premier League games entering the final weekend. As for Carrick himself, there is no official announcement on his status for next year though reports are running rampant that a deal has been reached between the parties.

Rob Edwards, whose status should be in question to accompany relegated Wolves to the second-tier next season, still seems to have ownership support which will not be hurt by a 1-1 draw with higher up the table Fulham over the weekend. Wolves supporters do not necessarily share ownership’s positive opinion on Edwards, who controversially left Middlesbrough in-season to jump on Wolves’ sinking ship.

Meanwhile, unanimous support should be at least temporarily accorded Xabi Alonso’s appointment as Chelsea manager. The former Liverpool player won the Bundesliga two years ago with Bayer Leverkusen before a troubled stint with Real Madrid whose problems run deeper than a managerial issue. In a nod to the influence Alonso will have within the Chelsea organization, he was named “manager” which is a departure from BlueCo ownership’s previous characterization of the role as “coach.”