Arsenal to lift trophy as West Ham and Spurs fight relegation

Arsenal’s title run changed the final day from a coronation into a snapshot of a league in transition. With six of the 10 matches still carrying major stakes, the Premier League’s closing round still had Champions League places, Europa League and Conference League spots, and the final relegation place to settle.

Arsenal had already been confirmed as champions after Manchester City drew at AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday, ending a 22-year wait and three straight second-place finishes. The club’s fourth top-flight title was due to be marked with a trophy presentation after the match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, with captain Martin Odegaard expected to be the last player to receive his medal before lifting the trophy. For Arsenal, it was not just a title win but evidence that Mikel Arteta’s side had finally turned repeated contention into a finished season.

The wider contest remained far less settled. The Premier League said fifth place would qualify for the Champions League and eighth place for the Conference League, keeping the battle for European money and status alive even after Arsenal had pulled away at the top. Last season, each league position was worth an extra £2.6 million in prize money, a reminder that the final table still carried direct financial consequences.

At the bottom, the league said the relegation fight had become a straight two-way contest between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. West Ham were 18th with 36 points from 37 matches, two points behind Spurs, and needed to beat Leeds United while hoping Everton won at Tottenham to survive. Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers were already down, and whichever of the London clubs joined them was likely to go into the Championship with more points than any relegated team since 2015/16.

That possibility sharpened the sense of how narrow the margins had become across the league. Leeds’ own escape on the final day in 2021/22 showed how often the closing round has rewritten reputations at both ends of the table. This year, the stakes were spread across the top four, the European places and the survival line, while Pep Guardiola prepared to manage his final Premier League game for Manchester City, his exit adding one more sign that the league is entering a new era as Arsenal rise into it.