Premier League Predictions, Week 38

Welcome to the FINAL weekly predictions, Premier League fans! That's right, after tomorrow, a long, hard, weird, confusing, unique season finally comes to an end. Though the champions and the 3 relegated teams have all been decided for a while, there is plenty of Champions League drama, Europa League drama, and club pride to go around this final week. And the best part is, it will all take place in front of fans at the various grounds! When it comes to hearing the various teams' anthems and individual players' songs ring out across the hallowed grounds of English football, better late than never.

You may have noticed that there were no Week 37 picks. I own that. I feel bad about that. Blame the fixture calendar for plopping the pivotal, penultimate matches in the middle of a wild personal week for yours truly. But if we go back to my picks from Week 36, I think you'll understand why I wasn't particularly eager to get back out there. Whiffing on both of Manchester United's losses, Arsenal's stunner of Chelsea, and Brighton drawing West Ham led to a pretty bad week on the whole. The only saving grace? Getting the Liverpool victory over West Brom correct in the most unlikely fashion, courtesy of the most dramatic post-Agüero Premier League moment in history.

Still, Alisson heroics were only enough to salvage a 2/6 week, which puts me at 80.5/160 heading into the final slate of games. But, the final matches are less than 24 hours away from kicking off, so let's not waste any more time mourning a lost season. Here are your (last) 5, for Week 38!

Manchester City vs. Everton

This is the only matchup of this slate where all parties involved have their fate solidified. Manchester City will win the Premier League title after today, and will lift their trophy (in front of fans!). Everton will finish out of the European spots even with a win over Manchester City, unless Tottenham and West Ham both lose, and the latter by a massive margin. With no real stakes at play here, it's tempting to expect a demotivated City to fall victim to an undeniably talented Everton side. But, it's poor form to expect Manchester City to lose in general, and especially when they're playing for a trophy in front of their fans.

The Pick: Man City, 3-2

West Ham United vs. Southampton

West Ham will be saddened to have missed out on the Top 4, after giving it such a good go from January through April. However, all is not lost. Simply a draw tomorrow will see the Hammers into the Europa League, which is a fine reward for a fine season. They'll get more than the draw, too; Southampton's open play will suit the high-risk, high-reward attack of West Ham just fine.

The Pick: West Ham, 4-2

Aston Villa vs. Chelsea

Between the loss in the FA Cup Final to Leicester City, the shock Premier League loss to Arsenal, and Liverpool's stunning victory from the jaws of defeat, things suddenly looked a little dire for the Blues. Sitting in a precarious 4th place (having played one more match than Liverpool), they were faced with a sudden possibility of needing to stun Manchester City in the Champions League Final to just return to the tournament next season. Fortunately for the London faithful, in a thrilling FA Cup rematch, they were able to get a crucial victory and sink Leicester to the bubble. Now, a win over Aston Villa seals Chelsea's fate for next season, regardless of what happens in next weekend's Champions League Final. It won't be an easy 3 points-- just ask Liverpool, Tottenham, and Leicester City. But it's hard to imagine Thomas Tuchel's side not responding with their backs against the wall.

The Pick: Chelsea, 2-1

Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace

Some way, somehow, Liverpool have a chance to get into next season's Champions League. This would have been an absurd sentence to utter before the season, or after Christmas Day, when Liverpool sat 4 points atop the table. But it would have seemed equally absurd to say less than 2 months ago, when they sat in 8th place amidst an absolutely atrocious turn of form. For all the injuries, all the COVID cases, all the egregious ref decisions, the Reds control their own fate: beat Crystal Palace (and, I suppose, hope Leicester doesn't absolutely blow the doors off of Tottenham), and they will be back in Europe's biggest competition next season. Between this being a Roy Hodgson farewell tour and the absolutely cursed season Liverpool has had, I can't help but feel as if all Scousers will be on edge from start to finish tomorrow. But Liverpool's form of late is no joke: no league losses in over 2 months. Plus, they don't lose crucial matches at Anfield in front of fans, and surely won't start now. Right?

The Pick: Liverpool, 3-1

Leicester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur

For the second year running, Leicester City have finished an otherwise stellar season by drastically slipping in form at the absolute worst time, and again have a significant chance of missing out on the Top 4. The good news is loss or draw by just one of Chelsea or Liverpool opens the door wide for them to jump into Champions League qualification at the 11th hour. The bad news is wins by both of those teams means Leicester would need to win their match by at least 5 goals, and oh by the way, their opponent is Big Six club Tottenham, who themselves will be gunning to snag a Europa League spot. It seems unfortunately like this will be too big a mountain to climb for the Foxes. I do think they end up getting the win in front of their home fans, but barring a massive upset at Anfield or Villa Park, it won't be enough to see them into the Champions League.

The Pick: Leicester City, 2-1