Aston Villa’s win over Liverpool on Friday night has given them little to play for against Manchester City next week, but the same isn’t true for Bournemouth.
Ross Barkley of Aston Villa runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park on May 15, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Aston Villa’s 4-2 win over Liverpool on Friday guaranteed their spot in next season’s Champions League, taking a lot of pressure off the club ahead of their final week of matches.
Villa will travel to compete in the Europa League final against Freiburg on Wednesday, but they no longer need the Champions League qualification that winning the competition provides. Instead, their full focus will be on just lifting the trophy.
Unfortunately, that gives them significantly less to play for in their final game of the Premier League season, with the only thing at stake being the prize money for finishing fourth versus fifth (the only positions realistically open to them).
So if any Arsenal fans were hoping for a favour from Villa against Manchester City on the final day, they’re unlikely to get one.
Unai Emery, Manager of Aston Villa, reacts during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Leeds United at Villa Park on February 21, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images
Conversely, Bournemouth still have plenty to play for ahead of their match at home to City on Tuesday. The Cherries still have two possible paths to Champions League football, and both of them will likely require getting results in their final two games.
The first path is the simplest, win their final two games and hope Liverpool drop points to Brentford, allowing Bournemouth to leapfrog Liverpool into fifth on the final day.
The other path is more complicated, as it requires Villa to win the Europa League and finish fifth (specifically fifth, not fourth), which would make sixth place a Champions League spot.
That’s still very possible if Liverpool beat Brentford, Villa lose to City, and Villa win the Europa League. At that point, Bournemouth could qualify for the Champions League in sixth.
Eli Junior Kroupi of AFC Bournemouth celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bournemouth at Molineux on January 31, 2026 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
The good news for Bournemouth is that this makes the Liverpool result against Brentford largely irrelevant.
Assuming Villa win the Europa League (which is likely), and lose to City (also likely), Liverpool could lose/draw to Brentford and give Bournemouth the chance to overtake them, or they could beat Brentford and drop Villa to fifth, making sixth a Champions League spot.
Bournemouth just need to get results in their own games, hope Villa win the Europa League, and their Champions League hopes will remain very much alive.
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 11: Ryan Christie of AFC Bournemouth passes the ball while under pressure from Viktor Gyoekeres of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on April 11, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
More than that, Bournemouth are also still playing for Europa League or Europa Conference League football. A couple of results in their final games would at least guarantee some form of European football, even if everything else happens to go against them to deny them the Champions League.
Bournemouth won’t be looking to do Arsenal any favours on Tuesday, but they have every motivation to try and take points off the Gunners’ title rivals.
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