That is it, folks. It is a wrap for the 2025/26 Premier League season. While the ‘Final Day’ was built up to be a day full of drama, it did not materialise, as many permutations were decided midweek.
Arteta finally became the bride rather than the bridesmaid, as Arsenal pipped Manchester City to the title by having the meanest defence in the league, a resilient midfield presence in Declan Rice, and enough corners being awarded to score from. Is this a vintage season for the neutral? Definitely not, but at least we have a new champion rather than the usual suspects like City.
This is good for football and shows how competitive the Premier League is.
The Gunners beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park before lifting the trophy. It is surprising that Arteta did not use this match as a dress rehearsal for the Champions League final against PSG.
Instead, Arteta used this game to give fringe players a chance to stake their claim for the final squad next Saturday.
The celebrations will be short-lived, as this squad need to focus on bringing home a European trophy to make this truly a season to remember.
There was also cause for celebration for the white half of North London, as Tottenham Hotspur survived a relegation battle to continue playing in the Premier League for another season, finishing 17th – just as they did last season when the club also finished in that position.
Credit must be given to Roberto De Zerbi for steadying the ship after Igor Tudor.
Had Spurs kept Tudor at the helm, the club would have been relegated.
De Zerbi secured 11 points just to ward off West Ham for survival. It is now time to conduct a post-mortem and fix what is necessary to ensure this does not happen for a third consecutive season.
Newly crowned Europa League winners Aston Villa showed the public that their success this season was no fluke, as Unai Emery’s men did the double over Manchester City.
It was supposed to be a coronation for Pep Guardiola, Bernardo Silva and John Stones, but Ollie Watkins had other ideas.
Villa finished fourth and prevented the sixth-place club from qualifying for the Champions League.
Perhaps Emery did not receive the call from Richard Scudamore to lose this game and give Guardiola a fitting farewell while having six clubs represented in Europe next season. This shows that perhaps football is not run by the bookies after all.
It was an emotional scene at the Etihad as Guardiola called it quits after 10 years with the club. Twenty major trophies, including six Premier League titles, place Guardiola among the greatest managers the game has seen, second only to Sir Alex Ferguson.
Many Premier League fans will be deeply saddened, as Guardiola has given us some of the most entertaining battles the game has produced.
Thank you, Guardiola – you will be missed!
At Anfield it was equally emotional, as Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson played their last game for the club.
Salah left the game in the 75th minute to a standing ovation, his song sung by the Anfield faithful. What an illustrious career Salah has had, and his contributions will definitely be missed. If Slot is still the manager by the end of May, he has to figure out how he can replace Salah within the squad – definitely not an easy task.
Slot ended the season with a whimper and created more questions than answers.
With the 1–1 draw against Brentford, Liverpool did not win a single match in May. This trend cannot continue and could be damning for the future.
Finally, congratulations to Bruno Fernandes – the record breaker! Fernandes now stands alone at the top of the all-time assists record for a single Premier League season, with 21.
The record was secured when Patrick Dorgu headed in from Fernandes’ corner.
I believe this record will never be broken, and it is something to cherish as he carries this positive momentum into the World Cup.
Manchester United are definitely heading in the right direction under Michael Carrick, and many of the fans hope the squad can challenge for the title with a few additions in the summer.
Another season in the bag and the Premier League is better than ever! The middle section is getting stronger as many teams continue to vie for European football, and kudos to Sunderland for qualifying for European football this season.
This shows how competitive the league is, and hopefully this will continue for years to come. Until then, there are 16 days until the FIFA World Cup.
Get some rest before another round of footballing drama begins!
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