Everything That’s Up For Grabs On The Final Day In The Premier League

Everything That’s Up For Grabs On The Final Day In The Premier League

As we enter the Premier League finale, there are still many seasons yet to be decided for some. There is a lot at stake, with the fates of some clubs in their own hands, while others may rely on a stroke of luck elsewhere.

So, let’s dive in and take a closer look at many of the permutations on the final day of the 2024/25 Premier League season.

The European Race Reaches Its Conclusion

Despite there being just one game week left in the Premier League season, as many as seven teams await their European fate. With the table for reference below, we are now going to examine what each team requires on the final day as their “best scenario”.

Manchester City

The Citizens sit in the most commanding position of any team we will be talking about in this piece, however, for Pep Guardiola and his players, they will be disappointed with this season. For starters, they come into this weekend unable to snatch second place, meaning for one, they are obviously unable to clinch the title for record-extending fifth time in a row, and for two, they will suffer their worst finishing position since Pep’s first season in charge in 2016/17.

They head into this week with a returning trip to London, and they will be hoping this trip is a more successful one. Apart from their 1-0 loss in the FA Cup Final to Crystal Palace, City have been in excellent league form, suffering just one league defeat since March. We found on Sofascore that The Citizens will also look to maintain a superb record against The Cottagers, having won all the last 10 meetings between the sides.

All City need from Craven Cottage is a point to secure Champions League football next season, but with their form, they will be disappointed if they do not come away with all three points. It is extremely unlikely that City do not make the Champions League, with some seriously absurd results needed to push them down to sixth place.

Newcastle United

⚪️⚫️🏆 Newcastle win their first major trophy in 70 years by beating Liverpool in Carabao Cup final! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/PwDfUruZoq

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 16, 2025

The Magpies have already locked in their return to European football next season, thanks to their historical EFL Cup Final victory over Premier League Champions Liverpool, to end their major trophy drought of 56 years. They would, however, be keen to secure an upgrade on their Conference League spot to a Champions League place when Everton come to visit St James’ Park on Sunday.

Newcastle sits on 66 points coming into the final weekend, and with a win, they will likely have their dreams of a return to the Champions League come true, unless both Chelsea and Aston Villa win by large margins on the final day. A draw would leave the Toon Army waiting anxiously as they would then require either Villa not to beat Manchester United or Chelsea to draw with Nottingham Forest.

A loss to Everton could be tragic for Newcastle however, as it would mean they will then need Villa to lose at Old Trafford, with the result of the Chelsea match would mean the Blues would overtake them if they avoided defeat and Forest will overtake Newcastle if they win.

Chelsea

December feels centuries away for Chelsea fans where they were considered genuine title contenders. Since then, the Blues have had an inconsistent run of form, especially away from home. This leaves the Blues faithful waiting nervously on the final day, as they will require just their second away win of 2025 to ensure their spot in next season’s Champions League is confirmed.

A draw for Enzo Maresca’s side would not be ideal, however, it is far from the worst situation, as they already have the superior position to Sunday’s hosts. For The Blues to seal qualification to the Champions League, they would need Aston Villa to not win at Old Trafford or Newcastle to lose to Everton.

Defeat at The City Ground would leave Chelsea on red alert. This would mean Forest will overtake them, so they will be praying to the Premier League Gods that Newcastle have the worst fumble in Premier League history by losing by three or more goals and the Ruben Amorim’s side can overcome Villa.

The Conference League final is set ⚔️

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐯𝐬. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐬 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/F9pnD1jeOq

— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 8, 2025

If the worst-case scenario comes into fruition, Chelsea will then drop down to play Conference League football again nest season, unless they defeat Real Betis in Wroclaw, Poland on Wednesday evening.

Aston Villa

Unai Emery’s Villans are the last of three sides on 66 points, however, their goal difference of just +9 will leave them needing a Premier League record win over Manchester United of all teams to surpass either Chelsea or Newcastle’s superior goal difference. For Villa to stand a chance of hoping to improve on their top eight finish in the Champions League next season, they will have to beat the Europa League finalists at Old Trafford on Sunday. Even if they do win, they will still require Chelsea not winning versus Forest or Newcastle to drop points against The Toffees.

Villa have been in outstanding form coming into the run-in and have shown how good they can be, but they may have left themselves just too much to do on the final day, as they need to better the results of opponents around them. Thankfully, victory will secure a Europa League spot, but of course they will be hoping for the Champions League to accept them in.

A draw at Old Trafford would leave Villa hoping Newcastle fall to Everton, where the result in Nottingham is redundant as there will be no possible way Villa would finish above both sides.

A loss at The Theatre of Dreams, and it will be the season over for Emery and his men, he will then need Chelsea to win for Villa to secure Europa League, while a draw or Forest win would push them down to a Conference League spot.

Nottingham Forest

Nuno Santo’s men have secured a Conference League position at least, so it will be a historic return to Europe for the Reds following a near 30-year absence. They have, however, been in third for a majority of this season, so they will feel hard done by to be relying on other results no matter their performance against Chelsea on Sunday.

Because of goal difference, it will be win or bust for The Tricky Trees on the final day as they can only finish above Chelsea and Newcastle with a win, as they sit one point behind Newcastle, Chelsea, and Villa. A draw at the City Ground would require both Villa to lose, and Newcastle to lose by 10 goals.

While a loss would of course see their position unchanged, a draw will be enough to upgrade to Europa League football should Villa fall to Man United.

Is There A Conference League Position Still For The Taking?

There is still a Conference League position which is yet to be activated and would also mean 10 teams from England will take part in Europe next season. Thanks to PremierLeague, we understand that Chelsea can activate this scenario if they reign supreme in Poland.

This scenario will also require Chelsea to finish in seventh, which can happen if they lose to Forest and Villa avoid defeat in Manchester. This can also happen should The Blues finish sixth and Newcastle seventh. This can occur if Chelsea lose to Forest, Villa gain a point against United, and Newcastle lose to Everton by three or more goals than Chelsea do at The City Ground.

Then it just becomes a race for the final European spot between the birds and the bees.

Brighton & Hove Albion

All the sides in the previous section are confirmed for the top seven, leaving just two teams fighting it out for a European spot that neither side even know if it will be available until Wednesday.

It is simple for The Seagulls, and Fabian Hurzeler has had an excellent debut campaign at the Amex. A considerable improvement on last season’s 11th place finish and already 10 points more than the last campaign.

Brighton need to win or draw at the home of newly crowned Europa League Champions Tottenham Hotspur to guarantee Conference League football should the spot be activated.

A loss at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would leave them needing Brentford to slip-up in Wolverhampton.

Brentford

After four memorable seasons in the topflight of English football, Thomas Frank’s side find themselves on the brink of a European berth. They do have superior goal difference to Brighton, however, still find themselves praying for a miracle on Sunday.

A loss or draw at Molineux and their season is over, so close to something special. A win, however, will give them a chance to play in Europe. If they do get this win, they will need to hope Spurs can recover from their Europa League hangover and hold strong in North London.

With so much on the line this weekend, it is sure to be an afternoon full of twists and turns, chaos, and surprises. Like usual, Sunday will be unpredictable as ever, so make sure to tune in and watch the chaos unfold.