At this point in the European season, it’s all about who needs what to claim titles, avoid relegation, make the playoffs, or overturn first leg deficits.
Premier League title race
In this week’s installment of the cat and mouse game that is Arsenal and Manchester City’s pursuit of the Premier League crown, the Gunners play first.
Mikel Arteta welcomes Fulham to the Emirates for a Saturday evening kickoff knowing that his side can put six points between themselves and their City chasers. Fulham, despite never having won at Arsenal’s current home, may well fancy their chances of getting something from this meeting with the league leaders.
Arsenal have only been victorious in two of their last eight in all competitions and haven’t scored more than once in a game since mid-March. With the home leg of their Champions League semifinal coming up on Tuesday, juggling player fitness against the need for points is going to a tough one for their long-term manager.
For their part, Man City’s next act does not start until Monday evening. Then, they close the 35th round of the season against Everton. City are unbeaten in their last 18 meetings with the Toffees.
With a game in hand, and playing catch up this week, Guardiola will be relishing another title chase that has seen City on the back foot. The role of pursuer rather than pursued clearly suits them. And his only bugbear is fixture congestion - this being the first of four matches they need to get done in the space of 11 days.
Avoiding the drop
Much like the two-horse race at the top of the table, it’s now realistically a straight up head-to-head fight between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at the bottom.
One of these proud London clubs, both winners of European trophies in recent years, will join the already-relegated Wolves and Burnley in the Championship next season.
Obviously, neither want to go down but for Spurs, the thoughts of losing a top flight status they’ve maintained for 48 years must be unfathomable. And yet, the table does not lie - the side Roberto De Zerbi has inherited have won just once in 2026 and it’s them who currently occupy 18th, inside the bottom three.
West Ham are two points better off and could better their position by winning away at Brentford on Saturday. Spurs then face the prospect of going to Aston Villa on Sunday, a team looking good for Champions League qualification.
Until Ipswich’s 87th minute equaliser in their midweek game in hand, it looked like we’d be heading in to the Saturday’s final round of Championship games with four teams separated by just two points, all still able to achieve automatic promotion to the Premier League!
Instead, that 2-2 draw ruled out Tractor Boys’ opponents Southampton, and left just Ipswich, Millwall, and Middlesbrough fighting to finish second.
It’s Kieran McKenna’s side who currently occupy the hot seat, with Millwall one point worse off, and Boro a further point back in fourth. Second will go to Ipswich if they win their home game with QPR. Slip up, and Millwall can take their place should they beat relegated side Oxford United at the New Den.
If both lose or both draw, Middlesbrough could get back in to the top two. The difficulty for the Teessiders is that not only are they relying on other results, they also have to go to Wrexham, who are in their own three-way battle to hold on to sixth place and the playoff spot that comes with it.
Boro have confirmed their playoff place but having spent 217 nights in the top two this season (credit Opta Analyst for that stat) settling for the next best thing may be particularly galling.
For Wrexham, the dream of a fourth-straight promotion is still alive! Level on points with Hull, but one goal better off on goal difference, the Welsh side know that they have to at least match their result. Both, however, will also be desperately following Derby’s game against Sheffield United, with the Rams still able to leapfrog the two sides above them and extend their campaign.
Who do you want to join Coventry City in the Premier League?
Barca out to set up Clásico classic
Presuming that both Barcelona and Real Madrid win their respective fixtures this weekend, we could be on for what LaLiga’s marketeers and TV execs would no doubt describe as a dream scenario: the season being decided by the league’s biggest game, the next El Clásico on Sunday 10 May.
As it stands, Hansi Flick needs his side to earn five more points from their remaining five games to seal back-to-back titles for the first time since 2019. That means a win at Osasuna, on Saturday, sets it up nicely, regardless of what happens when Real Madrid are in the Catalan capital to face Espanyol on Sunday.
Barca have won their last nine straight games in LaLiga and their supposedly vulnerable back line has leaked just five goals in that run.
Winning in Pamplona isn’t a given though, Barca lost 4-2 at Osasuna in the corresponding game last season, and the Reds have lost just twice at home in 2025/26.
Porto president André Villa-Boas could be celebrating the first Liga Portugal title of his tenure this weekend, as the Dragões look to secure the three points they need to get them over the line with two games to spare.
They face midtable Alverca on Saturday, just after their last remaining title rivals Benfica are due to finish their game at Famalicão. Benfica face the very real prospect of going a full season unbeaten but with nothing to show for it, under Villas-Boas’ former mentor, José Mourinho.
The title would be something of a vindication for Porto coach Francesco Farioli, who’s Ajax side threw away a nine-point lead to miss out on the Eredivisie last season, and for mid-season signing Thiago Silva, who at 41, returned to European football from Brazil to play for a manager four years his junior.
Inter Milan have won a lot of Serie A titles, 20 to be precise, an honour that allowed the club to add a second star to their crest at the end of last season. Strangely, though, they’ve not sealed the title in front of their own fans since 1989.
Inter have secured seven Scudettos in the intervening years - either away from home or administratively (following the Calciopoli scandal).
This weekend’s home clash with Parma therefore offers fans a rare opportunity to be there for the big moment. Inter need just three points from their remaining four games to lift the trophy in what is Cristian Chivu’s first season as manager.
They may not even need to win the game if second placed Napoli (the only team who could overhaul Inter’s current points tally) drop points when they travel to Champions League-chasing Como on Saturday.
In that instance, a sold out San Siro will be partying prior to kick off and then long in to the night. As will Inter wingback Federico Dimarco, who will have double reason to celebrate having broken the league assist record last weekend.
A selection of long reads published in the app over the last week…
La Real were 16th when Matarazzo took over in December but barely four months later they sit eighth in LaLiga, and their triumph in the final of the Copa Del Rey means he has become the first American coach to win a major honour in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
Brazil’s fallen icon, whose peak, and latter years of his career, have been hampered by injury is determined to make the Seleção squad for the World Cup. Santos are managing his game time this season and Carlo Ancelotti may still benefit from a player of his calibre and experience.
Since the turn of the year, Gibbs-White has been on a mission; to save Forest’s Premier League status as captain, get them to a European final, and presumably, earn himself a seat on the plane as part of England’s World Cup squad.
The Spanish giants finished fourth for three consecutive seasons leading up to 2022 and won their record extending seventh Europa League title a year later. Now, they find themselves in the relegation zone and have five games to save themselves.
It’s at times like these, when we hit the final day of a long season, that we like to highlight the little tools in FotMob that can help you keep track of everything that is going on.
One is the Short table view, which is particularly handy when there are simultaneous kick-offs and multiple games to keep track of. Head to the table tab in either a league page or your team’s ongoing match, switch the view from ‘Full’ to ‘Short’ and you’ll see all the other live scores coming in, and you’ll be the first to know when the table positions change.
For better or worse, you can keep track of all the ups and downs in real time.
*The screenshot above was taken from last season’s final day…what a difference a year makes.
Pro Tip: Click on any of the matches below, then tap the star in the right hand side of the match page to add them to your Following section.
Friday: Former assistant Michael Jackson takes interim charge of relegated Burnley for the first time, in what is probably no longer a six-pointer for opponents Leeds United. In LaLiga, however, points will be worth double in Girona vs. Mallorca as both battle to avoid the drop. The same will be the case at Pisa in Serie A where visitors Lecce, sat just outside the relegation zone, could condemn the home side to the drop.
Saturday: PSG, who are in the midst of a run of nine games in 28 days, face Lorient in Ligue 1 and are still looking for the points they need to see off Lens in the title race. Bayern, the other participants in that midweek Champions League classic, have the luxury of having already won their domestic league. Maybe they’ll take it easy against weekend opponents Heidenheim!? Watch out, as well, for what may finally be FC Thun’s crowning moment, away to Basel in Switzerland. Ajax vs. PSV is the big one in the Eredivisie, with the home side chasing a Champions League place against the new league champions.
Sunday: Manchester United vs. Liverpool is a Premier League clasico, especially with both fighting for third place in the table. Real Madrid, who may be resigned to finishing as runners-up in LaLiga, will look to secure what points they can away to Espanyol. Celtic need a win at Hibs in order to maintain their title challenge in Scotland. And spare a thought for Rochdale, who’s stoppage time heartbreak in last week’s non-league title decider consigned them to the National League playoffs. They face Scunthorpe in the semifinals, a team they finished 24 points ahead of in the regular season.
Monday: It’s a public holiday in the UK, so as well as the key Premier League games discussed above, Hearts take on title rivals Rangers in a huge game in Scotland. Back in LaLiga, Sevilla continue their fight against relegation when they take on Copa winners Real Sociedad. And in Serie A, Roma vs. Fiorentina may be worth a follow.
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