Three ‘finals’ on Premier League last day

There will be what can be termed as ‘three finals’ on the final day of the  Premier League this season as three clubs will fight for top four positions to qualify for next season’s elite tournament, the Uefa Champions League.

Third-placed Chelsea (67), Liverpool (66) and fifth-placed Leicester City (66) have a chance join the two Manchester clubs who have already qualified for the elite league.

Chelsea will be away at Aston Villa while Liverpool will host Crystal Palace and Leicester City will be at home when they play Tottenham. All matches will start at the same time 16:00 GMT on Sunday.

Chelsea are in top form at the moment. They are oozing with confidence having beaten stubborn Leicester City on Saturday which was a sweet revenge after the FA Cup loss. I expect Chelsea to win and qualify for the Champions League. Thomas Tuchel has all the fire-power at his disposal to demolish Aston Villa. Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount will lead the attack with Hakim Ziyech, Hudson Odoi, Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abrahams waiting in the wings as re-enforcements.

Of course, Aston Villa are not pushovers. They have enjoyed their best football in as many seasons. They have beaten the best, including a 7-2 trouncing of  Liverpool early this season. Of course, they have some farmiliar faces such as Betrand Traore, Ross Barkley and assistant  manager John Terry with connections to Chelsea. The return of the fans will make the final day more lively.

I also expect Liverpool to win against Crystal Palace. Liverpool have picked up form lately. Their last loss was on April 6 against Real Madrid. Since then, they have not lost a match. They have drawn three times and won five. It is unlikely Crystal Palace will offer much resistance. But it could have been great for Crystal Palace to win and give the oldest Premier League manager Roy Hogson a perfect send-off when he retires on Sunday.

Leicester City at home against Totteham is big ask. For Leicester to qualify for top four and Champions League, they need to satisfy two conditions if Liverpool and Chelsea win. First they need to win. Secondly, they need to score more than four goals because Liverpool have a four goal advantage over them.

So, the way I see it is that Chelsea and Liverpool are favourites to finish in top four.  Leicester will rely on the failures of these two. If any of them lose or draw, Leicester will have a chance. The tricky part for Leicester is also the fact that Tottenham are also fighting for a Europa position alongside West Ham, Everton and Arsenal.