The title fight, race for European football and the relegation battle will all go right down to the final day of the 2021-22 Premier League season. TIBS News reviews the action.
Title race going down to the final day
Manchester City were held to a 2-2 draw against West Ham, meaning they remain top of the league but just one point ahead of Liverpool after the Reds’ 2-1 win over Southampton.
City went two goals down during the first half after Jarrod Bowen netted twice for the Hammers, but a Jack Grealish strike followed by a Vladmir Coufal own goal saw the points shared in London.
Riyad Mahrez had the chance to effectively put the title race to bed with a late penalty, but his spot kick was saved by Lukasz Fabianski.
Liverpool capitalised on their rivals dropping points, beating Southampton 2-1 to move one point away from top spot.
An early goal from Nathan Redmond gave the hosts the lead but strikes from Takumi Minamino and Joel Matip saw the visitors come away with all three points.
Chelsea have more or less confirmed third spot after their 1-1 draw against Leicester.
James Maddison had given the Foxes the lead, before Marcos Alonso equalised for the Blues.
Top four in Tottenham’s hands
Arsenal had the chance to confirm a top-four finish last week but lost 3-0 in the north London derby after a Harry Kane brace and Son Heung-min goal saw Antonio Conte’s side take all three points.
Tottenham then piled further pressure on their rivals with a valuable 1-0 win over Burnley last weekend.
Kane netted again from the penalty spot, as Spurs overtook Arsenal moved into the top four.
Things then went from bad to worse for the Gunners, losing 2-0 in their penultimate game of the season to Newcastle.
A Ben White own goal was followed by Bruno Guimaraes’ late strike, meaning Arsenal now need to win on the final day and hope Spurs lose against the already relegated Norwich.
Manchester United and West Ham battling for sixth
The highest Manchester United can now finish is sixth, with the Red Devils not playing a game since their shock 4-0 loss to Brighton on May 7.
West Ham are just two points behind Ralf Rangnick’s side following their draw against City, with both clubs having one game remaining.
A disappointing 1-1 draw last weekend against Norwich left Wolves still in 8th place, ending their hopes of qualifying for European football.
Teemu Pukki opened the scoring, before Rayan Ait-Nouri equalised for the hosts.
Before their game against Chelsea, Leicester sat ninth following their 5-1 win against Watford, another side returning to the Championship.
The Hornets actually opened the scoring through Joao Pedro, but a brace each for Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes, as well as a goal for James Maddison condemned the hosts to another disappointing defeat.
Everton avoid relegation
The final relegation spot is yet to be decided, following some dramatic results over the last week.
Leeds rescued a point against Brighton after a last minute equaliser from Pascal Struijk, cancelling out Danny Welbeck’s opener.
The 1-1 draw briefly lifted Jesse Marsch’s side out of the bottom three, but they would return to the drop zone just days later.
Everton could have confirmed their Premier League status with a win over Brentford, but two red cards and some poor defending saw them lose 3-2 to the Bees.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison netted for the hosts, but a Seamus Coleman own goal followed by strikes from Yoane Wissa and Rico Henry meant the Toffees needed to win against Crystal Palace to stay up.
However, they would then go on to confirm their safety in dramatic fashion, coming from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 later in the week.
Goals from Michael Keane, Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin confirmed the Toffees’ survival.
Burnley then picked up a valuable point against Aston Villa, drawing 1-1 with the goals coming from Ashley Barnes and Emi Buendia, respectively.
Earlier in the week, Villa played out another 1-1 draw, this time against Crystal Palace, with Ollie Watkins scoring for the hosts and Jeffrey Schlupp bagging for the visitors.
