Join The Club
The Premier League title race and two of the relegation places have already been decided, with over half the league left with nothing substantial to play for on the final day.
But there is one intriguing and just about possible scenario that could instantly make things much more interesting.
How the Premier League's first play-off could happen and why Bournemouth might get the Champions League even without it
Realistically, Liverpool or Aston Villa are likely to finish in fifth place. The Reds are three points behind the newly-crowned Europa League champions with a superior goal difference.
But it is also possible that Bournemouth might end up finishing the campaign level on points with Liverpool...and if the scorelines align just right, they may well end up level on goal difference and goals scored too.
That is pretty unlikely, we should stress. The most plausible way for it to happen would be for Bournemouth to win 5-0 away to already-safe Nottingham Forest while Liverpool fall to a 1-0 defeat at home to Brentford.
In that scenario, both Bournemouth and Liverpool would finish on 59 points with 62 goals scored and 53 conceded.
The first two tiebreak criteria under rule 17 of the Premier League 2025/26 would not provide any separation, either.
Points gained in head-to-head record gives them both three points each, and away goals scored in head-to-head games gives them two goals each. The fact that Liverpool won their home game 4-2 and Bournemouth 'only' won theirs 3-2 therefore doesn't enter into it.
That would leave just one more option to determine who finished fifth and got the Champions League place: "a play-off on a neutral ground, the format, timing and venue of which shall be determined by the [Premier League] Board."
That would be tremendous fun, and would neatly book-end the Premier League season after Liverpool and Bournemouth kicked off the entire campaign with that encounter at Anfield on the first Friday night of the season.
Of course, there is a way both sides could get Champions League qualification.
Villa's Europa League win means that if Unai Emery's side finish exactly fifth, then the sixth-placed team would also get a Champions League place, instead of a Europa League slot.
That means that if Bournemouth can't score at least five against Nottingham Forest, they actually better off hoping that Liverpool win, while Villa lose away to Manchester City in what looks like it could be Pep Guardiola's big farewell.
If that happens, then a single point would see Bournemouth hold off Brighton to secure sixth place and claim the final Champions League berth. The Seagulls are three points behind Andoni Iraola's side but with a superior goal difference.
