Premier League final: Arsenal, relegation, Champions League, Salah and Pep | Football News

The Premier League season reaches its climax on Sunday with all 10 matches kicking off in the final stretch of the road which is in jeopardy at the bottom of the table and close to the top of Europe’s top-flight competition.

The title has already been decided and the four Champions League spots will go to league winners Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa.

Recommended Articles

list of 4 itemsend of series

So the focus is now shifting to the European finals – and few would have predicted when the season would begin.

There is also a good farewell number to the big names. Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the five main points he made on deadline day.

When will Arsenal lift the Premier League trophy?

Arsenal’s first Premier League title in 22 years will see them lift the trophy after Sunday’s game at Crystal Palace.

The Gunners’ victory was confirmed on Tuesday while Manchester City failed to win at Bournemouth – a result that would have kept the title on the final day.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted on a trip to Palace that he didn’t even watch a City game, instead opting to set up a barbeque in his family’s garden.

His son, Gabriel, who is part of Arsenal’s youth set-up, also explained the team’s first title since 2004.

“I should have been at Colney (the training ground), watching the game with the boys and the other staff because that’s what they wanted – but I couldn’t,” Arteta said.

“I think 20 minutes before the game, I had to leave. I couldn’t bring the energy I wanted, and in the end it was their time to watch together, to be alone and just see the result.

“My eldest son opened the garden gate, he started running towards me, he started crying, he hugged me and said: ‘We are the champions, daddy’.”

Arteta added that winning the competition after six-and-a-half years was “one of the joys I’ve had”.

The excitement will be heightened when the competition is lifted to Selhurst Park, and will be even higher when his side beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest on May 30.

“We will prepare for the game with the goal of winning and writing a new story in the club’s history,” Arteta said.

Who will be relegated on Premier League deadline day?

The game is simple and easy on the ground: one of the two London teams will go down – Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham.

Spurs are in a good position, 17 out of 38 points, two ahead of West Ham who are 18th and third where they left off. Only one combination of results sends Spurs down: a home defeat to Everton plus a win at West Ham hosts Leeds.

“When you fight for relegation, you have to stay in the league until the last minute of the last game of the season,” said Spurs manager Roberto de Zerbi. “We have to live because it is a big day for us.

“The most important thing is to keep your dignity, to keep your pride, to go on vacation like this (head up) and not like this (head down).”

A win for West Ham is vital and while that may not be enough, their slim difference leaves them reliant on support from Everton in north London.

Which Premier League clubs will qualify for Europe?

Another big issue is the fight for one or two Champions League places.

Liverpool are on a high when they host Brentford, knowing that a point will be enough to finish fifth. Bournemouth, who won another European Championship with a 1-1 draw against Man City on Tuesday, are three points behind, but behind Liverpool on goal difference.

Bournemouth’s run has been one of the stories of the season. They arrive at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground on the back of a 17-game unbeaten run, their consistency keeping them sixth and firmly in the European picture.

This amount can exceed one Champions League round. Aston Villa’s Europa League victory on Wednesday has opened up the possibility of a sixth-placed English club in next season’s competition, provided Villa finish fifth in the league. That would require a Liverpool win in what will be talisman Mohamed Salah’s last appearance as a Red at Anfield, and a Villa loss to City, who are expected to bid farewell to manager Pep Guardiola after ten years at the club.

If Villa finish fourth, the long road closes and they drop to sixth in the Europa League, the club’s second-highest competition. Brighton & Hove Albion, who will host Manchester United, are still the most realistic side that can enter sixth – they are three points behind Bournemouth in seventh – while the main group, including Chelsea, Brentford and Sunderland, are chasing the Europa League and Conference League spots in the middle of the table.

Will Salah say goodbye to the Premier League at Liverpool?

Mohamed Salah will bid farewell to Liverpool on Sunday, but it remains to be seen how after manager Arne Slot did not commit to the Egyptian star playing against Brentford at Anfield.

Salah, one of the club’s top goalscorers, forced the question by criticizing the crowd during Liverpool’s 4-2 defeat by Aston Villa last Friday. He called for a return to the “heavy metal attack” that struck fear into the enemy.

The blow – Salah’s second goal difference with Slot this season – adds extra drama as the team tries to regain Champions League qualification.

Slot was asked on Friday if Salah would be involved with Brentford.

“I didn’t say anything about choosing a team,” Slot replied. “It would be a surprise to you if I were to do this right now, I think”.

In March, 33-year-old Salah announced he would be leaving at the end of the season after agreeing a deal with the club to end his contract a year early.

Salah’s form in his ninth year at Anfield was such that he was left out of several games at the end of last year – prompting the winger to tell reporters that the club had “thrown me under the bus”.

Why is Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City?

“Don’t ask me the reasons why I’m leaving. There’s no reason, but inside, I know it’s my time,” Guardiola said in a statement confirming what City fans were fearing.

The best manager in the group he is leavingby the end of 10 years he had established City as one of the biggest clubs in Europe and changed the face of English football.

Guardiola, who has another year left on his City contract, will take charge of his final Premier League game against Aston Villa on Sunday.

“Nothing is forever, if it was, I would be here. Forever will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City,” Guardiola added.

We worked, we struggled, we fought, and we did things our way.

City said Guardiola would take on the role as international ambassador.

Enzo Maresca – the former Chelsea manager who previously served as Guardiola’s assistant at City – is the favorite to take on the difficult task of filling Guardiola’s boots after a decade of unprecedented tenure.

Since joining City in the summer of 2016, Guardiola has led the Abu Dhabi-backed side to six Premier League titles and the Champions League for the first time in 2023.

He won 17 major trophies all, including two home runs this season in the English League Cup and FA Cup. He has won 35 major titles throughout his coaching career including his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.