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Premier League finale with survival on line for Spurs and West Ham – matchday live | Football
Key events
And while we’re at it, can anyone help out Sunderland fan Steve?
“I haven’t degree in applied maths. Any chance you could explain what has to happen for Sunderland to get into Europe. Probably best if it doesn’t happen, but it would be the second time in my life. I have sworn for decades I would go to the first away leg which of course will be either Azerbaijan or Connahs Quay.”
I also do not have a degree in applied maths. But I think given Sunderland play Chelsea, all they need to do is win their fixture, and hope Brentford draw or lose to Liverpool, which would mean the Mackems would hop to eighth from tenth and find themselves in Europe! Please, however – someone, anyone, correct me if I’m wrong.
Simone’s holiday lives on:
“Thank goodness Arsenal won the league on Tuesday as my husband, unconsciously trying to avoid deep disappointment, booked flights at the PRECISE time we will be playing today. He is a Gooner since birth. CHAMPIONES!”
This is an excellent point Simone. There I was thinking about all the great places Arsenal fans might have been celebrating, but I hadn’t stopped to consider some of the worst. There must be some catastrophic absences, missed title wins and dreary celebrations that fans have had over the years. Keep the emails coming.
Arsenal fans, how did you celebrate on Tuesday?
And did you have as good a night as Gunners fan Daniel Bull, who sipped champagne with Ian Wright and ended up in the same Mayfair nightclub as the entire squad.
Adam Griffiths has an important point to make:
“While Spurs getting relegated would be the funniest of the outcomes, I would prefer them to stay up because I would still get to say “it’s ze De Zerbi derbi” when they play Brighton. Cheers.”
Hard to argue, really. Keep your emails on all things football coming in.
Keep your World Cup feelings coming in:
This just in from Kári Tulinius.
“On the one hand, this is a bloated World Cup where the first gazillion games will only lead to a handful of eliminations, but on the other my son is ten and is already excited. I’ll be swept up in the whole thing, I know, despite my reservations.”
We’ve also had a few emails expressing reservations about the competition citing hiked up ticket prices, Trump’s relationship with Infantino and the potential presence of ICE agents at matches. “Can’t help feeling hopelessly compromised,” emails in Michael Knuppell. Before adding: “Go Socceroos.”
A message from Joshua Keeling:
“Don’t support either team, but want Spurs to go down. Come on West Ham/Everton.”
I also, as a supporter of neither team, want Spurs to go down. For no good reason other than I’d find it funny.
David, please can we have that favour again?
David Moyes saved West Ham from relegation twice, and delivered a first major trophy in 43 years, but was nevertheless let go for a second time in May 2024.
Now, the Hammers need David Moyes’ Everton side to do the business against Tottenham for them to have any chance of staying up.
Read Sam Cunningham’s preview of West Ham’s final day here.
Spurs first, as Robert De Zerbi reaffirmed his commitment to Tottenham even if the club go down.
“It’s still an honour to be a coach for Tottenham, even if on Sunday we play for the relegation fight, it’s not a problem,” he said in his pre-match presser.
Injured captain Cristian Romero had attracted criticism for choosing to attend a fixture in Argentina rather than being present for Spurs’ final fixture, although reports on social media from Alasdair Gold, Tottenham’s correspondent for football.london, are now suggesting the Argentinian is back in the capital for the match.
Right. Let’s focus on the bottom end of the Premier League table and who, out of Tottenham and West Ham, will survive.
Spurs have not been relegated since 1977 but are favourites to stay up with a draw against Everton all they should need to stay in the Premier League.
West Ham, however, need to beat Leeds, and cross their fingers that David Moyes’ Everton side does them a favour. The same David Moyes of course, who West Ham fired in 2024.
Comment from hubbahubba:
“I want to say I’m excited for World Cup to start, but this time…I’m just not feeling it.”
I’ve been hearing this a lot recently and intrigued to other people’s thoughts. Personally, I know as soon as the World Cup starts I’ll be swept up in it. Qatar v Switzerland, Canada v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Australia v Turkey. Give me the lot.
Do get in touch via email or in the comments section below about how you’re feeling about the World Cup.
Make sure to read Jonathan Liew on Arsenal’s title celebrations.
As a recently new resident of Finsbury Park myself. Can attest to the presence of several thousand Lime bikes outside the station. Flags in windows remain everywhere. The title parade next Sunday is going to be a remarkable event.
Over in Germany, Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the DFB-Pokal Cup as Bayern Munich completed the double.
Kane has played 147 games for Bayern, and scored 146 goals. Remarkable.
The Premier League may end today. But football never really does as the World Cup looms ever closer.
Read Jonathan Wilson’s column on Brazil and Carlo Ancelotti’s selection of Neymar in their World Cup squad.
Lionel Messi was 35 when he lifted the World Cup. Neymar is now 34. Can Brazil’s talisman have his own fairytale finish?
It’s been a hell of a season. We asked our fans’ network to review each and every teams season including the highs, the lows, and what they need from the summer ahead.
Brighton for the Champions League?
I’ve enjoyed this a lot from David Howell who has been in touch.
“There is a way Brighton can get into the Champions League, hinging on a sequence of four results.
“As mentioned, wins for City (against Villa) and Liverpool will put Villa fifth and cascade the European Performance Spot down to sixth; wins for Forest (against Bournemouth) and Brighton will mean the Seagulls swoop into that spot.
“That would have seemed unthinkable four months ago, let alone back in the club’s infamous Gillingham groundshare days…”
On the ball – guess the footballer
The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
And later today, Bolton take on Stockport County in the League One playoff final.
At the beginning of May, Dominic Booth sat down with Stockport manager Dave Challinor and it includes one of the more remarkable sporting stats I’ve come across. In Challinor’s 16 years as a manager, his team has finished in a playoff spot or higher in 15 of them!
Are you also that good at your job? Let us know in the comments.
It’s not just the Premier League on today. The final weekend of May is always fun as the weekend of playoff finals continues. Yesterday, Hull nabbed a dramatic win against Middlesbrough to win a final that had the shadow of spygate hanging over it. Read Jonathan Wilson’s piece from Wembley here.
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A question from Albert Birkicht:
“With Aston Villa winning the Europa League, isn’t there a sixth guaranteed spot for England in the Champions League? Greetings from Switzerland.”
Albert, I’m glad you asked. So in a quirk of various rules, England could have six teams in next years Champions League, but only if Aston Villa finish fifth.
This is because, as Europa League winners, Villa won’t need the European Performance Spot that is awarded to the fifth-placed team, so it would drop down to sixth. Unai Emery’s side are currently fourth, so would need to lose today and for Liverpool to win for this to happen.
What to look out for on the final day
Our writers have done the rounds on the ten things to keep an eye on during the final day of the season. Many things to keep an eye out for (ten, to be precise) but I’m with Will Unwin that the real jeopardy is to be found at Turf Moor where Burnley and Wolves will duke it out to see who finishes rock bottom of the table.
Today’s Premier League fixtures
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Brighton v Manchester United
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Burnley v Wolves
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Crystal Palace v Arsenal
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Fulham v Newcastle
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Liverpool v Brentford
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Manchester City v Aston Villa
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Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth
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Tottenham v Everton
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Sunderland v Chelsea
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West Ham v Leeds
Preamble
Hello, good morning and good day. We’re back with another Matchday live for the final day of the Premier League season!
After Arsenal wrapped up the title on Tuesday after Manchester City drew with Bournemouth, eyes turn to the bottom of the table where we’ll finally discover who survives out of West Ham and Tottenham. There’s also the small matter of who pinches the final Champions League spot between Liverpool and Bournemouth. All 10 matches start at 4pm BST so set your watches.
We’ll also be covering the major stories of yesterday, including Hull’s dramatic injury-time winner to seal promotion to the Premier League, as well as Celtic securing the domestic double, and Charlton beating Leicester on penalties to gain promotion to the WSL.
And finally, if you weren’t happy with England’s World Cup squad, I’ve got good news. Pep Guardiola hasn’t ruled out one day managing the national side. Stick with us for the latest updates and news from around the football world and send me an email with your thoughts.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
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