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The battle for Premier League survival is the main event of Sunday’s final day of the season as Everton, Leicester and Leeds face a nerve-wracking scrap to avoid relegation. The two clubs who join already-relegated Southampton in the second tier will be pushed to the financial precipice, with sports business experts Deloitte estimating that a season of Premier League football is worth up to 70 million pound ($210 million). Everton can ill-afford that hit with the Toffees already seeking external investment just to be able to complete the club’s new stadium.

They are the one side in full control of their own fate as victory at home to Bournemouth will extend their stay in the top flight to 70 years.

However, Sean Dyche’s men have won just once in 10 games and will be without talismanic striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin to offer Leicester and Leeds hope.

“We want the players to focus on the game,” said Dyche on Friday. “It’s not as easy as it sounds but that’s the idea: focus on what’s going on the pitch and don’t worry about all the noise.

“Don’t worry about all the rumours, don’t worry about anything that’s going on off the pitch.”

Leicester’s fall from grace

If fourth bottom Everton fail to win, third bottom Leicester can survive by beating West Ham at home thanks to their superior goal difference.

Seven years ago, the Foxes were celebrating the most unlikely of title triumphs.

That kicked off a glorious era as they finished fifth in back-to-back seasons in 2019/20 and 2020/21 and won the FA Cup for the first time just two years ago under Brendan Rodgers.

Mayny believed a squad boasting the talents of James Maddison , Youri Tielemans and Harvey Barnes was too good to go down.

But the fairytale has turned into a nightmare this season as Rodgers bemoaned a lack of investment to refresh the squad before he was sacked in April.

Dean Smith has been unable to mastermind a turnaround in fortunes with just one win in his seven games in charge.

“We have to win the game and not look at the Everton result until after the game,” said Smith. “We have to do our job and see where it takes us.”

Second bottom Leeds need a miracle to avoid the end of their three-season stay in the top-flight.

Victory over Tottenham at Elland Road will only be enough for Leeds boss Sam Allardyce to pull off another great escape if Everton lose and Leicester fail to win.

Should Everton manage even a draw, Leeds will need to beat Tottenham by three goals to surpass them on goal difference.

“I just hope that we’re talking on a very positive nature on Monday morning and I have a hangover!” Allardyce said on the possibility he could remain at the club beyond his caretaker role till the end of the season.

Tottenham’s result could have a bearing on the only other issue yet to be resolved – qualification for next season’s Europa Conference League.

Aston Villa are in pole position and will secure a return to Europe for the first time in 13 years with victory over Brighton.

Tottenham can sneak into seventh place should they better Villa’s result.

But if neither side win then Brentford could qualify for Europe for the first time in their history with a shock win over champions Manchester City in west London.

Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle are already assured of joining City in next season’s Champions League.

Liverpool and Brighton will be in the Europa League.

Fixtures:

Sunday (all 1530GMT)

Arsenal v Wolves, Aston Villa v Brighton, Brentford v Man City, Chelsea v Newcastle, Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest, Everton v Bournemouth, Leeds v Tottenham, Leicester v West Ham, Man Utd v Fulham, Southampton v Liverpool

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Erling Haaland became the first man to win both Premier League player and young player of the year awards in the same season on Saturday. The 22-year-old has taken just 35 appearances to set a new Premier League record of 36 goals in a single season to help Manchester City retain the title. “I am honoured to have become the first player to win both awards in the same season – thank you to everyone who voted for me,” said Haaland in a City statement.

“It has been an incredible first season in the Premier League and lifting the trophy last weekend in front of our fans at the Etihad was a very special moment for me.”

The Norwegian, who was also named the football writers’ player of the year this week, has scored 52 goals in all competitions as City close in on a treble.

Pep Guardiola’s men face Manchester United in the FA Cup final and Inter Milan in the Champions League final next month.

“These awards would not have been possible without my amazing teammates, the manager and all of the staff at the club who help me perform on the pitch,” added Haaland.

“Now we have two more finals to go and we want to finish the season strong.”

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Bayern Munich have won their 11th straight Bundesliga title, a 90th minute goal from Jamal Musiala sealing a late 2-1 win at Cologne after Borussia Dortmund were held 2-2 at home to Mainz. With Bayern needing a win to overtake Dortmund, the England-raised Germany forward hammered home with the clock winding down, ensuring the Bavarians keep their grip on the title for another season.  Dortmund knew a win would guarantee a title, but were 2-0 down after just 25 minutes, with striker Sebastien Haller also having missed a penalty. Dortmund scored two second half goals to draw the game but the point was not enough, Bayern winning the title on goal difference.

Heading into the final matchday, with Dortmund two clear atop the table, Bayern knew only a win would give them hope of a title, while hoping for a Dortmund collapse.

France forward Kingsley Coman struck after eight minutes to set down the gauntlet to Dortmund, playing one hour to the north.

Despite a bright start, Dortmund soon found themselves behind 1-0 after 15 minutes, Andreas Hanche-Olsen tapping in from a corner.

Dortmund were handed a lifeline when Raphael Guerreiro was brought down in the box, but Sebastien Haller failed to convert the penalty.

Mainz doubled their lead shortly after, Karim Onisiwo heading in from close range as the visitors began tearing up the home fans’ script.

The home side, who had scored 15 goals in their past three home games, grew nervous and lacked potency in front of goal, while Mainz grew bullish and had several chances on the counter.

With time winding down, Guerreiro gave the home side hope, scoring with 20 minutes remaining.

Word filtered around the ground that Cologne had equalised with ten minutes remaining, Dejan Ljubicic converting from the spot, but Musiala’s strike again took Bayern atop the table.

Niklas Suele added another in the sixth minute of injury time, but Dortmund were unable to conjure the comeback which would have broken Bayern’s hold on the German title.

One bright spot for the disappointed home side was that arch rivals Schalke were relegated, after a 4-2 loss at RB Leipzig.

Schalke had fought back to equalise from two goals down, but Leipzig scored twice in the final ten minutes to secure Schalke’s fate.

Elsewhere, Union Berlin secured Champions League football for the first time with a 1-0 home win over Werder Bremen.

Union captain Rani Khedira scored a goal with nine minutes remaining, ensuring victory for the home side and keeping alive a remarkable fourth season in the top division.

Also on track for a first ever Champions League berth but needing Union to slip up, Freiburg lost 2-1 away at Frankfurt. Leading 1-0 after a Vincenzo Grifo strike, Freiburg conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes and will instead play Europa League next season.

Stuttgart’s 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim means they finish third last, ensuring a shot at staying in the second division through the relegation playoff.

Bochum’s 3-0 win at Leverkusen also ensures they will play top division football for another season, taking them from second last to the safety of 14th.

A ten-man Augsburg lost 2-0 at Borussia Moenchengladbach but will also stay up, having finished 15th.

Relegated Hertha Berlin won 2-1 away at Wolfsburg, denying the hosts a chance at leapfrogging Leverkusen into Europe.

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Rodrygo hit a brace to earn Real Madrid a 2-1 win over Sevilla in La Liga on Saturday, sending his side four points clear of third-place rivals Atletico Madrid. Madrid were without injured winger Vinicius Junior, who drew global support during the week after he was racially abused by Valencia fans last weekend. Carlo Ancelotti’s team were also missing injured duo Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio in attack.

Rodrygo was Madrid’s only fit regular starting forward. After Rafa Mir gave the Europa League finalists, who face Roma on Wednesday, the lead, Rodrygo made his chance count with two goals, the first from a free kick.

“It’s hard to choose. They were both nice goals, maybe the second a little bit more but scoring from a free-kick is always special,” Rodrygo told DAZN.

“We always practice them and talk about it before, whoever is the most confident takes it and I took the ball.”

Ancelotti took off Rodrygo with 10 minutes remaining.

“I was a bit annoyed with him because I wanted to score one more, a hat-trick, but it’s OK, he told me that like this we would win,” said Rodrygo.

Sevilla coach Jose Luis Mendilibar rotated many of his usual starting players at a rain-soaked Ramon Sanchez -Pizjuan stadium to prepare for the final against Jose Mourinho’s side.

Mir slammed a rebound into the roof of the net to send Sevilla ahead in the third minute after Bryan Gil’s shot was blocked.

Rodrygo should have equalised but fired off-target when well placed, after good build-up play by Dani Ceballos and Lucas Vazquez.

However, the Brazilian soon pulled Real Madrid level from a free-kick, curling his effort around the wall and into the bottom corner, wrong-footing goalkeeper Yassine Bounou .

Mir came close again early in the second half with an effort which whistled narrowly over, before Rodrygo pounced for his second goal.

Set free by Toni Kroos , the Brazilian forward sent Sevilla defender Gonzalo Montiel one way and then the other, before slipping home past Bounou.

It was the Brazilian’s ninth league goal of the season, a campaign in which he has slowly become one of Ancelotti’s most reliable players.

“Rodrygo stood out as the centre-forward, he can play there,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“He’s got different characteristics, but with his dribbles around the box, it’s easier to score there than doing it out wide.”

– Heated –

Marcos Acuna was sent off for Sevilla in the final stages for an ugly tackle on Ceballos, leaving his side without much chance of making a comeback.

The red card heated up a previously tranquil match and the players rowed on a couple of occasions during nine minutes of stoppage time, but Los Blancos were eventually able to seal their win.

Madrid’s last away game was the trip to face Valencia at Mestalla, where Vinicius was racially abused.

Ancelotti praised Sevilla fans after the match passed without incident.

“The atmosphere changed. Today was a good sign,” said Ancelotti.

“People are starting to understand what you can do in a stadium and what you can’t. We have to continue like this.”

Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey earlier in May but their campaign soured after Manchester City knocked them out of the Champions League, while Barcelona won La Liga for the first time since 2019.

However the victory should help Real finish above city rivals Atletico, who host Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Sevilla started the season disastrously but, after sacking coach Julen Lopetegui and then Jorge Sampaoli, Mendilibar has steadied the ship.

The Spaniard has steered Sevilla to 10th, away from the relegation battle and into the Europa League final.

“We’re a family, we’ve showed it, we’ve had some very bad moments but the last quarter of the season has been spectacular,” Mir told DAZN.

“Now we have the prize of the final, we want to come back here with the cup.”

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