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Chelsea top-4 hopes damaged, Huddersfield secures EPL status

All that is left to decide on the final day of the Premier League is whether Liverpool or Chelsea takes the final Champions League place.

And it is advantage Liverpool - by two points and a vastly superior goal difference.

Juergen Klopp has friend David Wagner to thank for Liverpool only requiring a draw against Brighton to hold onto a top-four finish on Sunday when Chelsea is at Newcastle.

Wagner's Huddersfield held dethroned champion Chelsea to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, ensuring the northern English team will have a second-ever season in the Premier League.

"This is the least you can do as a friend," Wagner said of Klopp, "to do him a favor."

Since Brighton and Newcastle were already safe, all three promoted teams this season have avoided the drop.

Newcastle's 1-0 loss at Tottenham allowed the north London club to complete its season at its temporary Wembley home by securing a place in the top four.

Harry Kane's winner guaranteed Tottenham will open its new stadium in the Champions League for a third consecutive season.

The three teams going down are Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and, almost certainly, Swansea. Although the south Wales club can still catch Southampton on points on the final day, its goal difference is inferior by nine.

Sunday will be the final time Arsene Wenger manages Arsenal after 22 years. The Frenchman's penultimate game ended in a 3-1 loss at Leicester on Wednesday.

On a miserable night for Chelsea, three of its Premier League records were broken by Manchester City after the title-winners beat Brighton 3-1.

City moved onto 97 points, two more than Chelsea's final total from the 2004-05 season, and 105 goals, two more than Chelsea's previous record haul from the 2009-10 season.

Pep Guardiola's team also now has 31 wins, surpassing the previous record of 30 set by Chelsea last season.

 

 

Chelsea's Marcos Alonso, second left, celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game against Huddersfield Town with teammate Olivier Giroud during the English Premier League soccer match at Stamford Bridge, London, Wednesday May 9, 2018. (John Walton/PA via AP) The Associated Press
Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium, in London, England, Wednesday, May 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) The Associated Press
Manchester City's Fernandinho celebrates scoring his side's third goal of the game against Brighton & Hove Albion during the English Premier League soccer match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England, Wednesday May 9, 2018. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP) The Associated Press