The final day of the 2024-25 Premier League season is finally upon us. Weird things happen on the last day of the season. I’ve seen it so many times over the years. There are no foregone conclusions, just drama of the highest order!
I remember watching Manchester City live on the final day of the season against QPR in the past. We all know what happened back then. Even if you look at this season, there’s been a lot of drama in Europe. Just look at Ajax’s collapse in the Eredivisie or Le Havre staying up in Ligue 1 with a dramatic late win. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a similar kind of drama in the Premier League this weekend.
So without further ado, let us dive straight into my predictions for the final gameweek of the Premier League season.
A lot of nothing games this weekend starting with this one here. I was a bit disappointed with Bournemouth against Manchester City. It was the perfect chance for Bournemouth to hurt City, but I saw that game and it felt like they were just waiting to get beat.
Leicester have had a forgettable season after their return to the Premier League. But at least Jamie Vardy is signing off in the best possible way. Vardy scored his 200th goal in the last game and the fact that he did it in front of the Leicester fans on home turf is just perfect. For every kid who got released from the academy or got rejected by a club, Vardy is an absolute inspiration. It shows what you can achieve if you work hard and believe in your dreams, simply phenomenal stuff. We will miss him in the Premier League, no doubt about it.
It does not matter what happens in this game. I reckon most people would already be thinking about their holiday!
Prediction: Bournemouth 3-1 Leicester City
Manchester City must avoid defeat to qualify for the Champions League. But this is a dangerous game if you ask me. I saw Fulham last week against Brentford. It looked like they were down and out before that incredible comeback that helped them win!
Fulham will show no fear on home turf and they have nothing to lose. That makes it a really tricky game for Manchester City. If City fail to qualify for the Champions League with the squad they have, that would be a really big embarrassment.
I think Pep Guardiola’s men will get the win, but it will only be a narrow margin. This should be a really tight game.
Prediction: Fulham 0-1 Manchester City
It was a bad result for Wolves the other day. Crystal Palace would’ve been partying all week after the FA Cup win and they still beat Wolves! That is quite disappointing from Wolves’ perspective.
Brentford will also want to put their last game behind them. They were leading 2-1 against Fulham and ended up losing that match. It was just one of the most shocking turnarounds that not many people saw coming. Obviously, Liverpool losing to Brighton only made it worse for Brentford.
I’m expecting Brentford to win here. All they can do now is get the three points, finish eighth and hope that Chelsea win the Europa Conference League to give them a chance of playing in Europe next season.
Prediction: Wolves 0-2 Brentford
I don’t see Chelsea winning this game. They have lost all their away games against the top eight teams this season. So for Chelsea to go to Nottingham Forest and get a win on the last day of the season is a big challenge in my opinion. Away from home, they haven’t been good enough.
The rather unfortunate thing here is that even if Forest win this game, they may not finish inside the top five! There is always plenty of drama on the final day of the season and I feel like this fixture could give us something similar. Forest could get the win, but I don’t expect other results to go in their favour in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Chelsea
Manchester United are where they are for a reason. They are not a very good team! You know what? Even if Manchester United had time till now to score and win the Europa League final, they still wouldn’t have done it! It was that bad.
Ruben Amorim came out and said that he is ready to step down if the club wants to part ways with him. That’s just an indirect way of him saying, ‘put me out of this misery’. If you walk away, it makes you look weak. But saying that instead is like telling everyone you’re prepared to give up. Amorim knew this would happen, he knew that this group had no chance, they have been a million miles off it this season.
I don’t think Manchester United would even want to play this game now. Aston Villa have been outstanding this season. They reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and I think they will finish inside the top five. When the fixtures came out, they had a very tricky run of games in these final few weeks. But they have negotiated it well so far and I expect that to continue.
Prediction: Manchester United 0-2 Aston Villa
Arsenal did well to cement second-place in the Premier League last week. I expect Mikel Arteta to give playing time to a few youngsters in this game. All of them will be eager to show how much they can contribute to the first team next season.
We all know how Southampton play. They will come out and want to play their football no matter what. This game has nothing in it for both teams, but I still think this could be entertaining. If Arsenal hit the right gears early on, they could even be five or six-nil up by the end of 90 minutes.
Prediction: Southampton 0-3 Arsenal
This is a dangerous game for Newcastle because Everton are one of those teams that never lie down. No matter what kind of season they go through, Everton never roll over or make it easy for their opponents. If Alexander Isak is not fit to play this game, then it becomes a really tough task for Newcastle. Home advantage will count, but the longer it stays 0-0, Everton will sense more than just an outside chance to nick a win.
A draw might be good enough for Newcastle to qualify for Champions League. But I don’t think they would want to leave it down to chance. All these teams want to win on Sunday and I think Newcastle will edge it.
Prediction: Newcastle United 1-0 Everton
There will be goals in this game. Liverpool want to finish on a high at home and they are playing at home. There have been some sketchy results for Arne Slot’s men since they won the league. A lot of doubters would say they only won the league because the others were poor, if they lose again on the final day of the season.
I don’t think that’s a fair assessment because Liverpool have been brilliant. My only worry for Liverpool next season is what do they do if Virgil van Dijk gets injured? That would really test them in my opinion.
Crystal Palace are coming off an incredible FA Cup triumph and backed it up with a win over Wolves. But I don’t expect them to get another win here. Both sets of fans will be celebrating what has been a memorable season and the mood at Anfield will be brilliant.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Crystal Palace
West Ham to win this. I don’t think they are a great team, but Ipswich are terrible. No one cares about what happens in this game if I’m being brutally honest.
It’s proving to be a really tough job for Graham Potter at West Ham. They have to do something in the summer transfer window to help him. But I don’t really understand West Ham. They had David Moyes in charge, he won a trophy and they got rid of him because his team did not play the West Ham way! Honestly, what is the West Ham way of playing? I don’t even know.
Prediction: Ipswich Town 0-2 West Ham United
Brighton will win this game, I can bet on it one million percent! When the pressure is off them, Brighton are a dangerous team. Now if Brighton win this game, finish eighth and Chelsea win the Europa Conference League, they can play in Europe next season – what an achievement that would be!
We have to talk about Tottenham. It does not matter where they are finishing in the Premier League this season. The only thing that matters is that they have done something many Spurs teams of the past failed to do. I don’t care what the critics say, winning a trophy is special. If you’re a footballer, would you want to tell your grandkids about winning a European trophy or finishing fifth in the Premier League without any silverware to show? I know what’s my answer to that!
Ange Postecoglou said he’d win things in his second season and he just put the money where the mouth is with that result. People said it was impossible for Spurs to win anything. Postecoglou has now done a better job than Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte at Tottenham. I firmly believe he should be given a chance next season. He deserves it for this achievement.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
After his retirement, Merson has continued to be involved in the beautiful game as a media personality.
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