Game day

Premier League title on the line, Lyon rules Champions League

For the first time in Premier League history, the title, qualification for both the Champions League and the lower-ranked European competitions, and a relegation spot will all be decided on the final day of the season. Here’s a look at what’s at stake Sunday:

Title race

It’s simple: Manchester City can retain the title — its sixth in 11 years — by beating Aston Villa at home. City leads second-place Liverpool by one point and just has to match the result of Jürgen Klopp’s team, which is at home to Wolverhampton. Villa (14th) is lower in the standings but in better form than Wolves (eighth), who are winless in their last six and were thrashed 5-1 by City last week. Then there is the Steven Gerrard factor. The Villa manager is a Liverpool great and boyhood fan who never won the league title in 17 years at Anfield. Could Gerrard — whose Villa team includes former Liverpool players Philippe Coutinho and Danny Ings — do his old club a favour? City has history on its side: no team leading the standings before the final round of the season has ever failed to go on to clinch the title. If Liverpool wins the league, it would complete the domestic treble and set up the chance to clinch an unprecedented quadruple in the Champions League final against Real Madrid next Saturday.

Champions League

The fourth and final spot for next season’s Champions League will go to Tottenham or Arsenal, fierce rivals from north London. Tottenham is the favourite as it occupies fourth place — two points ahead of Arsenal — and has one of the easiest matchups possible at last-place Norwich, which has already been relegated. Arsenal is at home to Everton, which secured its topflight status on Thursday with a game to spare. If Tottenham and Arsenal finish tied on points, Tottenham is highly likely to be fourth because it has a superior goal differential. Tottenham was most recently in the Champions League in the 2019-20 season, while Arsenal hasn’t been there for the past five seasons.

More berths

Manchester United and West Ham are assured of being in either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League. Sunday will decide which. The Europa League is the bigger of the two — with the winner qualifying for the lucrative Champions League — and sixth-place United occupies the final qualifying spot heading into an away match against Crystal Palace. West Ham is two points back in seventh place, which clinches a Conference League berth, and finishes at Brighton.

Relegation

Burnley and Leeds are tied on points in their bid to avoid joining already relegated Norwich and Watford in the second-tier Championship. Crucially, Burnley has a superior goal differential (plus-20) and knows that a win at home to Newcastle will ensure survival, which looked unlikely before longserving manager Sean Dyche was fired last month and replaced by under-23 coach Mike Jackson.

Top scorer

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah leads the way with 22 goals, but isn’t certain to play against Wolverhampton after an injury in the FA Cup final last weekend. Tottenham forward Son Heung-min is one goal behind.