The 2022/23 season of the Premier League has been filled to the brink with action, an astonishing title race, huge upsets, and a nail-biting finish to the relegation battle. this post will provide an overview of Gameweek 38 which was the final set of games this season.
The Premier League Champions
Manchester City had already won the league coming into their final game, after sitting relatively comfortably at the top of the table for 248 days, Arsenal then had a dreadful run of form opening up an opportunity which Pep Guardiola's team weren't going to miss. Arsenal's fate was officially sealed after their loss to Nottingham Forest, for Nottingham Forest, those 3 points secured them a place in next year's Premier League. On the final matchday, Manchester City suffered a defeat against Brentford following a very late goal from Ethan Pinnock. In doing so Brentford became the only team this year to win both their fixtures against the champions. Arsenal dispatched Wolves with a 5-0 thrashing at the Emirates, they'll surely be back next year to challenge for the title again.
The Fight For European Football
The top 4 had already been decided going into this game week, it included City, Arsenal, United, and Newcastle. Likewise, the Europa League spots had been secured by Liverpool and Brighton. However, the fight for 7th, a spot in the recently created Conference League, was still ongoing. The contenders included Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Brentford. Brentford needed the fixtures of the other two teams to go a certain way, unfortunately for them, both other teams won their respective games. Tottenham beat Leeds 4-1, despite this they won't be playing European Football next season because Aston Villa also won their game and in doing so went above Tottenham by just 1 point.
The Relegation Battle
Perhaps the most enticing feature of the final matchday was the fight to stay in the Premier League. Everton, Leicester City, and Leeds were all battling to avoid relegation. However only one of them could stay up. The hopes of Leeds faded as they lost 4-1 against Tottenham. Leicester did their part by getting 3 points in the match against West Ham. But for Leicester to go through they needed Everton to either lose or draw. A goal from Doucouré in the 57th minute ended up being the one which kept Everton in the Premier League whilst sending the 2015/16 Champions, Leicester city, back into the Championship.
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