Ten whistles will sound across the country at 4pm on Sunday, as the 20 Premier League teams bring the curtain down on a gripping 2023-24 campaign packed with goal-laden thrillers, memorable moments and - of course - some unsavoury VAR-related controversy.
For many teams competing in England's top division, gameweek 38 will be nothing but a dead rubber. Liverpool and Aston Villa may have relinquished their title dreams, but they have already been assured of respective third and fourth-placed finishes en route to the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Sheffield United and Burnley are already gearing up for life back in the Championship for 2024-25, while in the middle of the pack, there will be no movement at all from ninth-placed West Ham United.
However, many tales are yet to be written, and here, Sports Mole looks at what is still left to be decided on the final weekend of the Premier League season.
Title fight
Many Premier League fans - especially those of an Arsenal persuasion - may already be brushing off the two-horse title scrap as a foregone conclusion, but Mikel Arteta's Gunners are mathematically still in with a chance of ending their 20-year top-flight drought.
There was always an asterisk next to Arsenal's name while the North London crop led the way due to Manchester City's game in hand, and true enough, the Citizens' midweek beating of Tottenham Hotspur - some of whose fans were only too happy to see their side submit - leaves the champions two clear at the summit.
As such, Pep Guardiola's men need only beat an out-of-sorts West Ham this weekend to win the Premier League for the fourth season running - a feat never previously achieved - but a draw or defeat will open the door for Arsenal, who boast a marginally superior goal difference.
The Citizens slipping up coupled with an Arsenal home win over Everton will lead to those in red and white lifting the crown aloft, but any points dropped against the Toffees and the Poznan-loving crowd - no, not the small crop of Tottenham supporters - will be revelling in glory.
Battle for Europe
Tottenham's peculiar loss to Man City in midweek extinguished their already faint hopes of sneaking into the Champions League places during the season's closing act, and the fifth-placed Lilywhites are certain of at least a spot in the Europa Conference League for next year.
Just the one point for Ange Postecoglou's men at home to whipping boys Sheffield United will propel them into next year's Europa League, but below them, fallen titans Chelsea and Manchester United are jostling for continental position alongside Newcastle United.
The rejuvenated Blues also require just the one point against Bournemouth to finish sixth - currently enough for Europa Conference League football - but eighth-placed Man United and seventh-placed Newcastle are locked together on 57 points after the Red Devils' midweek success over the Magpies.
Both sides face winnable away matches in their finales - Man United face out-of-sorts Brighton while Newcastle make a pit stop at Brentford - and thanks to their superior goal difference, Eddie Howe's men need only match or better the Red Devils' result to snatch seventh.
However, the Magpies would be watching the FA Cup final with bated breath in that scenario, as Man United besting Manchester City at Wembley would send them into the Europa League, the sixth-placed side into the Conference League and leave seventh without any form of continental football.
Top-half finish
Not exactly the most prestigious of permutations, but an interesting four-way battle for the final top-half spot will also materialise on Sunday afternoon, as Brighton, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers are all capable of finishing 10th.
The two former South Coast outfits are neck-and-neck on 48 points, although the Seagulls' goal difference is keeping them in the medial point of the standings for now, while Palace and Wolves boast identical tallies of 46 with 37 games gone.
As such, the destiny of 10th place is firmly in Brighton's hands, but all four sides face daunting gameweek 38 assignments; as already mentioned, the Seagulls clash with Man United while the Cherries head to an in-form Chelsea crop.
Meanwhile, Palace host Champions League-bound Aston Villa, while Wolves are the visitors for Jurgen Klopp's Anfield farewell, so all four sides ending the campaign in their current positions with their current tallies is not beyond the realm of possibility.
Relegation dogfight
Sheffield United and Burnley are already be mourning their top-flight status, and either one of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest or 18th-placed Luton Town will drop through the trapdoor with them, but the odds are well and truly stacked against the Hatters.
After Luton's loss to West Ham last weekend, Forest's late collapse against Chelsea denied them the chance to secure survival with a match to spare, but the Tricky Trees boast a three-point advantage over Rob Edwards's men with just three left to fight for.
As a result, Nuno Espirito Santo's side will stay up if they either beat or draw with Burnley at Turf Moor, and the outcome of their match will pale into insignificance if Luton cannot earn maximum points at home to Fulham.
Even if Edwards's side prevail and Forest lose on Sunday, Luton would require a mammoth 12-goal swing in their favour to pull off a miraculous escape - a far-fetched scenario that even their most ardent supporters can surely not envisage.
body check tags ::
