What's left to play for in the Premier League: Second place battle between Spurs and Arsenal, top-four shootout

A look at the remaining battles up and down the Premier League table

Jack de Menezes
Friday 13 May 2016 16:48 BST
Comments
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger can see his side finish second in the Premier League
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger can see his side finish second in the Premier League (Getty)

Leicester may have secured the title, the relegation battle may be over for another year and players may already dreaming of Euro 2016 and their summer holidays, but there’s still plenty to play for on the final weekend of Premier League football in 2015/16.

The battle for Champions League qualification will go down to the wire between rivals Manchester City and Manchester United, while Liverpool will be bidding to give themselves hope of Europa League football by finishing as high as possible, with sixth still up for grabs.

Further down the table, Bournemouth may be safe from the drop in their first season in the top flight, but there could be as much as £2m extra in prize money depending on where the Cherries end the season.

With 10 matches all kicking off at 3pm on Sunday afternoon, a busy two hours are set to decide the final battles in the league. So who is playing for what?

Second place

North London supremacy is up for grabs as Tottenham bid to finish above Arsenal for the first time in 21 years. Having seen their title hopes die in recent weeks, both clubs are having to cope with bitter disappointment. Spurs have been much more impressive than Arsenal this season, but if they lose to already relegated Newcastle, the door will be open for the Gunners to snatch second place away from their rivals – providing they can see off Aston Villa.

Top four

Talking of rivals, United and City will duke it out with the reward being Champions League football next season. If City draw or win in their match against Swansea, United will have no chance of finishing in the top four and the pressure will be back on Louis van Gaal.

However, if City suffer defeat, a win for United against Bournemouth will see them finish in fourth and condemn Pep Guardiola to Europa League football next term.

Europa League

The Europa League picture is a very murky one, given a number of different outcomes are possible. At present, fifth place will guarantee Europa League qualification, with City, United, West Ham and Southampton all capable of finishing there. A sixth-place finish could also prove enough, although that depends on whether Crystal Palace win the FA Cup when they face United and Liverpool’s destiny in the Europa League final.

If the Reds triumph and manage to finish seventh, then sixth will not be enough to reach the Europa League, as the Premier League will lose one place due to Liverpool’s promotion to the Champions League.

Prize money

16th-placed Bournemouth can finish as high as 12th this season, and while that may seem pointless to bring up, it could yet prove to be a financial windfall for the Cherries. Each rung up the Premier League table generates an additional £500,000 in prize money, meaning that should Bournemouth upset the odds and defeat United, they could yet increase their reward for the season by an extra £2m.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in