Game of the weekend: FA Cup Final - Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace (Saturday, 11:30 am. EST)
Yeah, I know. Not technically a Premier League game. But the PL is vacating Saturday to give the final its proper island status. It's the FA Cup final, after all. Depending on the result, it will have a major bearing on what the Premier League slate looks like come Sunday, as well.
Whereas the FA Cup final has played an ancillary role for City the past couple seasons, the hot sauce on top of league and Champions League titles, this one carries a little more weight. While City are still very likely to qualify for the Champions League, the season will look much less like a disaster if it still comes with FA Cup glory. Simply finishing third or fourth without a shiny bauble will hit very differently. They need this in a way they haven't really previously.
For Palace, well, you could just read this. There's never really a great time to play City in a final, and had this come earlier in the season Palace might have felt better about their opponent. But they can't feel much better about themselves, They rode out a bumpy start to the season, got through some injuries, and have been one of the form teams of late. They've won their last three FA Cup games to get to the final by a combined 9-1. They basically destroyed Villa in the semifinal without the ball. They'll attempt to do the same to City, and they can.
Palace, when they can counter at pace, can really do damage to what is still a plodding City at times. Eze, Sarr, Mateta, Mitchell, Munoz live to sprint behind teams they've caught too far up the field. This is setting up for them.
City have been sort of grinding out wins lately, and didn't even do that against Southampton, looking a little labored there, the previous week against Wolves, and Villa before that. The last time they looked like the monster they used to be...well, it was against Palace at home. The question is can Palace hold City out long enough to get out on the break.
There will be some very interested observers, namely Brentford, Brighton, and Bournemouth. Should City win, eighth place in the league will be good enough for the Europa Conference, which would be a boon to any of those three clubs. Should Palace win, then only seventh would do, and that spot is long sewn up by the Champions League chasers.
Everyone else will decked in red and blue, obviously. Because are you going to go against Rebecca Lowe? Of course you aren't, you aren't a ghoul.
The rest of the slate.
Aston Villa vs. Tottenham (Friday, 2:30 p.m. EST)
Chelsea vs. Manchester United (Friday, 3:15 p.m. EST)
Two matches of the same type, as the league is giving the two Europa League finalists are being given extra time to get ready for "Car Crashico" next Wednesday. Neither Spurs nor United are going to care at all about these matches, while both their opponents are trying to secure a top five spot. Villa need to win to be in position to capitalize on whatever happens in the season's last week with Forest playing Chelsea. Chelsea need to win to give themselves the out of possibly only needing a draw in their closer at Forest. Considering that both Spurs and United gave up on their league seasons long ago, expect multiple-goal wins for both Villa and Chelsea. UEFA will simply love the lead-in to a final of theirs, already being contested by the two worst Premier League teams that aren't getting relegated.
Everton vs. Southampton (Sunday, 7 a.m. EST)
This is all Everton's season has been about since they pulled themselves clear of relegation in the middle of winter, and that's closing out their stay at Goodison Park. It'll be emotional and raucous, and with Southampton accomplishing their last goal of avoiding of being the worst Premier League team ever, they'll be satisfied to just add to the party.
West Ham vs. Nottingham Forest (Sunday, 9:15 a.m.)
It's all coming unraveled for Forest, both on and off the field. All they had to do last week was fill out their name to get 400 points on the SAT (does it still work that way?) with a home game against Leicester, and they blew that. West Ham shouldn't be any tougher, but everything is tough for Forest now, given that teams are simply giving them the ball. Even winning their last two, including beating Chelsea on the last day, might not be enough to get into the top five if Villa also run the table. That's what Forest lost by not closing out the already doomed Foxes last week. Easy to see why things are so tense around the City Ground. West Ham were at least competent enough to beat a completely disinterested Man United last week.
Brentford vs Fulham (Sunday, 10 a.m. EST)
This one could be huge, or rendered completely filler by the FA Cup final. Should City win, then Brentford have to hold onto 8th for a European spot they never would have dreamed of just three or four years ago when they were in the Championship. Fulham still technically have a shot at 8th, but have basically pissed it away by losing five of their last seven in the league. They'll need major collapses from the three teams in front of them, which they could start to engineer by beating Brentford. Though should Palace with the FA Cup, then this one is just a day out in the park between neighbors.
Leicester vs. Ipswich (Sunday, 10 a.m. EST)
When descending back to hell, it's always nice to do it with a friend.
Arsenal vs. Newcastle (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. EST)
In the grand scheme, there really isn't much difference in finishing second or third or fourth. Don't tell either of these clubs that, though. Arsenal would feel awfully sheepish about watching Newcastle not only leapfrog them into second while Mikel Arteta is still claiming they're the best team in Europe, but also beat them for a fourth time this season (once in the league, twice in the League Cup). Newcastle certainly would love to finish second. They haven't done it in nearly 30 years and it would be something of a kickstart to next season. They still have Champions League to clinch either way. Arsenal showed some life in the second half against Liverpool last week, even if it was stop-getting-run-over life. They'll need more of that.
Brighton vs. Liverpool (Monday, 3 p.m. EST)
Brighton may or may not have a Conference League spot to try and chase down. Liverpool...may or may not be sober.