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The English Premier League has reached the season’s final day, as Matchday 38 features all 20 squads kicking off at 11 AM ET on Sunday, May 25. Although Liverpool have already been crowned champions, they won’t get to lift the trophy until the final whistle against Crystal Palace. Additionally, there are still plenty of storylines to make, as mid-table teams will fight for a chance to play European soccer next season.
Let’s dive into my DFS soccer picks and break down the main storylines from the 2024-25 English Premier League season.
As mentioned, Liverpool are the champions this year, as the Merseyside club captured their 20th title after taking down Tottenham 5-1 on Matchday 34. First-year manager Arne Slot will likely take home the Manager of the Season award, and Mohamed Salah is the front runner for the EPL Player of the Season. However, Salah wasn’t the only Liverpool player on the shortlist, as a pair of Dutchmen, Virgil Van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch, joined him. Gravenberch also made the shortlist for Young Player of the Season, showcasing how good the holding midfielder was for Slot’s squad.
Although the main story from this season centered around Slot’s success in his first season, Nottingham Forest contending for a top-four spot was a huge headline. However, they’ve fallen off down the stretch and sit one point outside of a Champions League spot for next season. In addition to Nottingham, Brighton and Brentford will all fight for a final European spot.
Champions League soccer is already a sure thing for Liverpool, Arsenal (2nd place in the EPL) and Tottenham (Europa League Champions), a Europa League spot is secured for Crystal Palace (FA Cup Champions) and Newcastle has a spot in the Europa Conference League (EFL Cup Champions), but there could be up to 10 teams from England playing in Europe next season when everything is said and done.
So, while some EPL fans (non-Liverpool fans) have said this year’s EPL has lacked excitement, there are still plenty of headlines entering the final matchday of the season.
Every team plays on Sunday with identical kickoff times: 11 AM ET. Here is every matchup for the final EPL slate:
When looking at the slate, my main goal is to target games featuring teams still playing for something. Thus, my eyes are set on Brentford traveling to Wolverhampton for a matchup with Wolves and Manchester City visiting Fulham. Starting with Brentford, I love the matchup for Bryan Mbeumo. He has been one of the best attackers in the league this year and, like Salah, was on the shortlist for player of the season.
The Cameroonian has 19 goals and 7 assists this season and has been integral to Brentford’s attack. He had been on a four-game goalless streak entering last week before finding the back of the net against Fulham, and I expect him to score again on Sunday. Mbeumo scored against Wolves when these teams met earlier in the season, and if Brentford gets a penalty kick, he’ll be taking it from the spot. Whether from open play or the spot, expect Mbeumo to finish the year with at least 20 goals.
The second game on my radar features the reigning champions, Manchester City, traveling to London with a chance to secure a spot in the Champions League. So long as Pep Guardiola’s men pick up at least one point, they should have a spot, and I expect Erling Haaland to help them do just that. The Norwegian ST has had a down season based on his previously set standards but still has 21 goals and 3 assists this year.
However, he recently returned from an ankle injury and has failed to score in three straight games since. I don’t expect this to continue and expect him to pepper the net with shots. Before he was injured, Haaland had 2+ shots on target in five of the previous seven games, and I expect him to put in a similar performance with Man City’s UCL hopes on the line.
Luke Lindholm is an avid basketball, baseball, football, hockey and soccer fan who specializes in writing promotional content for multiple sportsbooks and prediction-based articles across a variety of sports. His work has been featured on prominent websites including Sports Illustrated, Pickswise, Men’s Journal, TheStreet, Athlon Sports and more. He started as a college football handicapper for Pickswise in 2016 and is a current member of the Pickswise NFL handicapping team.