Spurs need a point against Everton and West Ham need a miracle: the Premier League final-day relegation math
The Premier League title was settled five days ago. Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the London Stadium is where the other end of the table gets settled, with Tottenham and West Ham the last two clubs still unsure about where they will be playing in August.
Two points clear, 12 goals better off
Spurs go into the 38th round on 38 points from 37 games, West Ham on 36 from the same number. The maths is short. A draw at home to Everton on Sunday and Tottenham are safe, with the goal-difference cushion sitting at 12 in their favour, so even a level scoreline would leave the two clubs tied on 39 points and Spurs comfortably ahead on the second tiebreaker. Win and the question never enters the conversation.
The only way West Ham stay up, then, is to beat Leeds at the London Stadium while Tottenham lose at home to Everton. Two results, both required at once. West Ham have lost their last two against Arsenal and Newcastle and have not won in the league since April. Tottenham have lost only one of their last three, the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea last Tuesday, with a home draw against Leeds and a 2-1 win over Aston Villa in between.
All 10 games at the same time
Every Premier League final-day fixture kicks off at 16:00 BST so the standings cannot be sandbagged by an earlier result, which means the survival battle plays out in real time in two stadiums on opposite sides of London. Spurs need a result they can read off the scoreboard at one end; West Ham need Spurs to slip up at the other.
Wolves went down in April. Burnley joined them on the 22nd of that month, beaten 1-0 at Turf Moor by Manchester City. The third relegation seat has waited until the last possible afternoon, and the goal-difference gap means it almost certainly has Tottenham's name above the door at kick-off and almost certainly has West Ham's by the time anyone is allowed to clear it.
What's at stake beyond survival
For Tottenham, staying up keeps the broadcast money and the league prestige attached to the rebuild under their current head coach. They have not been relegated from the top flight since 1977 and have been ever-present in the Premier League since the competition began in 1992. Dropping out now would end a 48-year run in the top division of English football.
For West Ham, the drop would be a first since 2003, the season they went down on 42 points and gave away the highest-ever total for a relegated team in a 38-game Premier League. That history is the only piece of consolation a West Ham fan can draw from this weekend: a team can be too good to go down, and still go down anyway.
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