Premier League final-day permutations - Relegation, Champions League, the title and more

Cameron Loftus
20 May 2022

Who’s going to win the Premier League, who’s heading to Europe and who’s going down - all these questions and more will be answered on Sunday afternoon.

For the first time in Premier League history, going into the final day, the title, Champions League spots, Europe and the identity of all three relegated teams are all still to be decided.

Here at Planet Sport, we take you through all the permutations ahead of what promises to be an intriguing afternoon. Are you paying attention? There'll be questions afterwards.

Title race

Manchester City sit top on 90 points with Liverpool a point behind in second.

A win for Manchester City over Aston Villa guarantees them the title, while a draw would be enough if Liverpool fail to beat visitors Wolves.

If Steven Gerrard's Villa can pull off a shock victory at the Etihad then a win from the Reds would guarantee them the title. Should they draw, they would need City to lose by seven goals or more to overhaul Pep Guardiola's side on goal difference.

And, if you really want to take the scenarios to the extreme, a 6-0 defeat for City and a 5-5 draw between Liverpool and Wolves would see the top two sides level on points, goal difference and goals scored. In that unlikely event, a play-off would be required to determine the destination of the title.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Man City	37	28	6	3	96	24	90
2	Liverpool	37	27	8	2	91	25	89
3	Chelsea	37	20	11	6	74	32	71
4	Tottenham	37	21	5	11	64	40	68
5	Arsenal	37	21	3	13	56	47	66
6	Man Utd	37	16	10	11	57	56	58
7	West Ham	37	16	8	13	59	48	56
8	Wolves	37	15	6	16	37	40	51
9	Leicester	37	13	10	14	58	58	49
10	Brighton	37	11	15	11	39	43	48
11	Brentford	37	13	7	17	47	54	46
12	Newcastle	37	12	10	15	42	61	46
13	Crystal Palace	37	10	15	12	49	46	45
14	Aston Villa	37	13	6	18	50	51	45
15	Southampton	37	9	13	15	42	63	40
16	Everton	37	11	6	20	42	61	39
17	Burnley	37	7	14	16	33	51	35
18	Leeds	37	8	11	18	40	78	35
19	Watford	37	6	5	26	33	75	23
20	Norwich City	37	5	7	25	23	79	22

Final Champions League spot

Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea have guaranteed Champions League football once again for next season, leaving Tottenham and Arsenal to battle it out for the fourth and final spot on the concluding day.

Spurs are in pole position with a two-point advantage over their rivals and a far superior goal difference (no talk of 15-goal swings here).

A Tottenham win or draw against already relegated Norwich will secure them a top-four finish.

However, this is Spurs, so should they lose to the Canaries then Arsenal can pip them for a Champions League spot, but only with victory over Everton at the Emirates.

How do the rest of the European places work?

Liverpool's Carabao Cup and FA Cup wins mean there is an extra Europa League spot up for grabs, with fifth and sixth set to qualify.

The unlucky losers out of Arsenal and Tottenham will fill one berth, with Manchester United and West Ham vying for the second.

Ralf Rangnick's side sit in sixth on 58 points, two points ahead of David Moyes' side. However, due to their vastly inferior goal difference, they need to beat hosts Crystal Palace to guarantee sixth.

A draw or defeat will open the door for West Ham who can walk through it with victory at Brighton.

The seventh-placed side will then drop into the Europa Conference League.

Relegation

Everton's dramatic come-from-behind win over Crystal Palace on Thursday evening means they are safe, leaving Leeds and Burnley to scrap it out on the final day to avoid filling the third relegation spot.

Burnley's point at Aston Villa lifted them out of the bottom three on goal difference heading into Sunday and makes the equation a simple one: if Leeds don't better Burnley's result they are down.

Leeds travel to Brentford, while Burnley entertain Newcastle.