Congratulations to Arsenal, champions of England for the first time in 22 years. After years of finishing in second place, they have finally crossed the line. You can criticize the way they play, but they were the most consistent team this season and fully deserving of the trophy. It wasn't pretty to watch, but they got over the line thanks to Manchester City drawing with Bournemouth on Tuesday. With one game left for everyone, all played this Sunday at the same time to avoid any chicanery, Arsenal are beyond reach of Pep Guardiola's City.
It could truly be an historic season for Arsenal. When you look at the 'biggest' clubs in England, they're the only one who has never been crowned Champions of Europe. Liverpool have six, Manchester United three, Chelsea three, Manchester City have one while Nottingham Forest have won it twice and Aston Villa once. Arsenal? Never. They've only got to the final once, but next weekend they play defending champs Paris St. Germain in a bid to join the club. Often taunted by Chelsea and Manchester United fans with a chant of "Champions of Europe, you'll never sing that," they can rip that song out of the hymnbook by upsetting PSG.
Relegation battle
Wolves and Burnley are going down. Who will join them: West Ham or Tottenham? Winning the league and Champions League would be THE dream season for Arsenal fans if they can tie those accomplishments to the same season their bitter North London rivals Tottenham get sent down to the lower division — The Championship — for the first time since 1977. Spurs have a two-point lead on West Ham, so it's likely they'll stay up by the skin of their teeth for the second season running. But should Spurs lose to Everton and West Ham beat Leeds, then down they go.
What's going to happen at Liverpool?
Last year's champions spent a record amount of money, more than $400 million on new players, bringing in one of Europe's hottest young properties in Germany's Florian Wirtz and broke the British transfer record spending nearly $250 million alone on Newcastle's Alexander Isak, but they've been a disaster. They'll most likely be in next season's Champions League regardless thanks to Aston Villa winning the Europa League on Wednesday. A win or draw on Sunday against Brentford guarantees it, but they've only taken one point out of the past nine available. If they were to lose 3-0 to Brentford and Bournemouth beat Nottingham Forest 4-0, then Liverpool would be out. But will manager Arne Slot be back? The fans have turned on Slot's boring, controlled style of play that has seen them concede more goals and lose more games than they have in the past two decades. Journalists in Liverpool insist the power brokers inside the Liverpool offices have said Slot will get a chance to fix it with a healthy squad next season. After last week's flaccid loss to Aston Villa, departing superstar Mo Salah penned a lengthy Instagram post tearing the team's style of play apart. The post was liked by several high-profile stars on the squad, suggesting Salah is far from the only one who is fed up with Slot's sluggish brand of play. Will owners Fenway Sports Group listen? Or is this a case where Slot will be given a chance to get things back on track?
Will Bournemouth be in the Champions League?
What a story this would be. Aston Villa's triumph means they have a legitimate hope and there are two scenarios in which the Cherries can qualify. Villa are in the Champions League now as Europa League Champions. If they lose to Manchester City on Sunday and Liverpool beat Brentford, then as the fifth-place team, Villa would give their spot to sixth-place Bournemouth. If Villa finish fourth and Liverpool lose to Brentford and Bournemouth beat Nottingham Forest, then they qualify and Liverpool would miss out. If the Cherries get in and have access to the hundreds of millions in broadcast revenue the competition brings, it's going to be amazing to see how they reshape their team to take on the best squads in Europe.
Who's coming up?
Oh, the drama. Coventry and Ipswich are already set to join the Premier League next season. The playoff final was supposed to be between Hull and Southampton, who beat Middlesbrough in the playoff semifinal. But it emerged that a junior staffer from Southampton was spotted in the bushes, allegedly spying at Middlesbrough's training prior to the game. So Southampton have now been kicked out of the playoffs and Middlesbrough play Hull to see who joins the others in the Premier League. The broadcast revenue difference for teams in the Premier League versus the Championship is $370 million. So this is a massive financial failure on the part of the Southampton coaching staff and threats of lawsuits are already flying around.
What's going to happen at Manchester City?
They fell short in the Premier League for the second season in a row and, though they won a domestic double, winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, manager Pep Guardiola has announced he's leaving. Former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has already been installed as next season's manager and it will be fascinating to see how the transition takes in their style of play and their results.
What impact will the World Cup have?
Players have already complained about the year-round calendar being too full. But now while teams scramble to rebuild for next season the World Cup is just a couple of weeks away. Consider most English teams open training the same week the final is being played, any players who make the quarterfinals or beyond are going to have a very abbreviated off-season — in some cases just three weeks off. That's going to severely impact which players will be bought and sold. Chelsea will have a new manager and a hunger to fix the tire fire that went on there this season, but many players are reluctant to leave their teams prior to or during the World Cup, that business can wait. There's Manchester City with a new manager with a desire to put a stamp on his squad. Arsenal with designs to strengthen after winning the title, Manchester United rejuvenated with their return to the Champions League and Liverpool, new manager or not, with holes to fill in the squad including a Salah replacement. The list of teams wanting to do business will have the time to do so truncated into just over a month. The World Cup final is July 19. The Premier League season kicks off again on August 22. You should expect the teams that kick off the season to look quite different when the transfer window closes on Sept. 1. Late business and who does it best will be massive in the story for next season.
This weekend's EPL schedule
Sunday at 11 a.m. ET: Brighton vs Manchester United; Burnley vs Wolves; Crystal Palace vs Arsenal; Fulham vs Newcastle; Liverpool vs Brentford; Manchester City vs Aston Villa; Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth; Sunderland vs Chelsea; Tottenham vs Everton; West Ham vs Leeds.
