Arsenal may have already clinched the 2025-26 Premier League title, but there is plenty still to play for in several hotly contested fixtures across the country today as another enthralling season in England’s top flight reaches its final act.
Multiple spots in Europe are still up for grabs, some between clubs going head to head this very afternoon, while at the other end of the league table Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham take to the field in their respective homes knowing only one of them will survive relegation.
There is a full slate of games kicking off at the same time, as is customary for the last day of the campaign, and we’ll have eyes on the action across the country to deliver all the latest updates and expert analysis, right here.
Follow The i Paper’s live blog for updates from the final day of the 2025-26 Premier League season.
Breaking: Bolton promoted to Championship
Taking a very quick break from our Premier League build-up, we can now report that Bolton Wanderers have just secured promotion to the EFL Championship!
The Wanderers thumped Stockport County 4-1 in today’s League One Promotion Play-off final at Wembley.
Ruben Rodrigues opened the scoring in the third minute and capped off the rout with a 94th-minute penalty after Stockport were reduced to 10 men in the closing stages, with a Kyle Wootton own goal and a scissor kick from Sam Dalby in the second half cancelling out Adama Sidibeh’s equaliser.
Arsenal team news: Arteta makes wholesale changes
Arsenal will officially be crowned Premier League champions at Selhurst Park this afternoon, where they face Crystal Palace, and Mikel Arteta has elected to ring the changes when it comes to his starting line-up…
Look away now, Fantasy Premier League owners of Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, David Raya or Viktor Gyokeres – four of them are on the bench, and Raya is not even in the matchday squad!
Arsenal XI: Kepa; Mosquera, Norgaard, Hincapie, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly; Madueke, Dowman, Martinelli; Jesus
Subs: Setford, Gabriel, Saka, Odegaard, Eze, Gyokeres, Merino, Havertz, Rice
West Ham team news: Irons at full strength
Elsewhere in the capital, West Ham begin this afternoon’s home match against Leeds two points from safety.
Nuno Espirito Santo knows only a win will do for the Irons to remain in this division, so there was never going to be any rotation or experimentation as we’re seeing at some grounds today.
Jarrod Bowen captains the side as usual, with Taty Castellanos, Pablo Felipe and Kyle Walker-Peters returning to the line-up.
West Ham XI: Hermansen; Walker-Peters, Disasi, Mavropanos, Diouf; Soucek, Fernandes, Summerville, Pablo, Bowen; Castellanos
Subs: Areola, Kilman, Wilson, Lamadrid, Magassa, Wan-Bissaka, Scarles, Potts, Kante
Leeds XI: Darlow; Bogle, Justin, Rodon, Struijk, Bijol; Ampadu, Tanaka, Aaronson; Calvert-Lewin, Nmecha
Subs: Perri, Byram, Bornauw, Cresswell, Chadwick, Buonanotte, James, Piroe, Gnonto
Relegation scrap: Spurs vs West Ham
This is, as our Kat Lucas alluded to earlier, a pivotal game for Tottenham.
Win against Everton, and Spurs will live to fight another season in the Premier League.
Draw, and their superior goal difference means they should still be safe regardless of what West Ham can muster against Leeds.
But if they are beaten by the Toffees and West Ham beat Leeds, Spurs would be heading to the Championship while the Hammers would narrowly avoid the drop instead.
Tottenham team news: Spence starts
In terms of the team news from north London, Djed Spence in for Randal Kolo Muani marks the sole personnel change for Tottenham from the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea earlier this week.
It appears that Pedro Porro will start on the right wing, with Spence the full-back behind him, as Kevin Danso partners Micky van de Ven in central defence as Cristian Romero misses out.
In-form man Richarlison leads the line again, with Dominic Solanke only fit enough for the bench.
Tottenham XI: Kinsky; Spence, Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie; Palhinha, Bentacur, Gallagher; Porro, Richarlison, Tel
Subs: Vicario, Draguin, Bissouma, Maddison, Gray, Bergvall, Solanke, Sarr, Kolo Muani
Everton XI: Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Iroegbunam, Garner; Rohl, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye; Barry
Subs: Travers, McNeil, Beto, George, Dibling, Coleman, Alcaraz, Aznou, Armstrong
‘Strangely festive mood at Spurs’
Reporting from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
There is a strangely festive mood at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the baking heat.
Thousands of fans are gathered in the Park Lane square singing about Brennan Johnson and their Europa League triumph a year ago.
An hour to go until the current players have to do the business.
Team news incoming
Next up, we’ll have confirmed team news coming your way within minutes!
The focus will be on some of the pivotal matches we’ve just been discussing, but we will deliver any eye-catching updates from around the grounds as they come in.
The race for Europe
If Aston Villa finish fifth…
As the table below shows, Aston Villa could end up finishing fifth if they lose to Man City and Liverpool beat Brentford to leapfrog Villa into fourth on goal difference.
If that were to happen, whoever finishes sixth would qualify for the Champions League given Villa have already secured their own berth by winning the Europa League earlier this week.
Bournemouth are in that spot currently and would remain there with at least a point against Nottingham Forest, or even a loss if Brighton and Hove Albion fail to beat Manchester United.
The Seagulls will want to win regardless, though, as doing so would ensure they qualify for at least the Europa League.
Below them at the moment are Chelsea, who would be virtually assured of a spot in either the Europa League or Conference League if they beat Sunderland, who are a point below the Blues at present.
The Black Cats have a chance of reaching Europe themselves, if they beat Chelsea and other results go their way, while ninth-placed Brentford could still reach the Europa League, too, if they defeat Liverpool and better Chelsea’s result at Sunderland.
If Aston Villa finish fourth…
If Villa stay where they are in fourth, there are still four European spots up for grabs in total.
The only difference is that sixth place earns a Europa League spot in this instance, as does seventh, while eighth stills gets you into the Conference League and fifth the Champions League.
Bournemouth could theoretically finish above Liverpool if they are able to overturn the Reds’ goal difference advantage.
Premier League table as it stands
And here’s a quick reminder of how things stand ahead of kick-off…
2025-26 Premier League table
Final day fixtures in full
Here is this afternoon’s full slate of Premier League fixtures.
All 20 top flight clubs are in action from 4pm BST.
Premier League: Live updates from 2025-26 season’s final day
Hello and welcome to The i Paper‘s live coverage of the final day of the 2025-26 Premier League season.
Arsenal may have already clinched the 2025-26 Premier League title, but there is plenty still to play for in several hotly contested fixtures across the country today as another enthralling season in England’s top flight reaches its final act.
Plenty of eyes will be trained on London, specifically the north and east of the capital as Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham aim to avoid the dreaded drop. A win and even a draw against Everton should save Spurs from relegation, while the Hammers’ latest slip-up last weekend means they must beat Leeds United and hope the Toffees do them a favour up the road.
Meanwhile, Manchester City will aim to send outgoing manager Pep Guardiola off with a home victory over an Aston Villa side likely still revelling in Europa League-winning delight. That match, while largely meaningless in terms of the two participants’ own fortunes, could have serious implications on the race for the remaining four spots in next season’s European competitions.
Bournemouth, currently riding a 17-match unbeaten run, will hope City batter Villa as that could help the Cherries qualify for the Champions League provided they beat Nottingham Forest and Liverpool also see off fellow European contenders Brentford in departing duo Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson’s final fixture for the Reds.
All that stands between Brighton and Hove Albion and a guaranteed Europa League place is Michael Carrick’s Manchester United, while Chelsea and Sunderland will clash on Wearside with Conference League qualification still on the cards for each club.
With kick-off fast approaching, stick with us as we build up to what promises to be a frenetic afternoon of football with all the latest team news, expert analysis and more, plus updates from our reporters around the country once the action begins.
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