Premier League title: Manchester City and Liverpool face fitting final day

One point separates the cumulative tallies of Liverpool and Manchester City over the past four Premier League seasons, so there is little surprise that they head into the final weekend of the current campaign with all still to play for. The final day of the season promises some blockbuster action as Champions League qualification and relegation go down to the wire on Sunday, but the title race is where most eyes will be trained. The battle for supremacy between City and Liverpool has been a repeating storyline over recent seasons and the two sides go into the final weekend with Pep Guardiola’s champions one point ahead of their rivals on Merseyside. And to illustrate just how evenly matched the sides are, City have amassed 355 points since the start of the 2018-19 season and Liverpool 354. Guardiola will go one better than any club he has been at previously if he wins his fourth Premier League trophy when his City side take on Aston Villa. The Spaniard has won three league championships in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City but will reach uncharted territory at the Etihad if his side get over the line and clinch their sixth Premier League title overall. They top the standings on 90 points, with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who finish at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, on 89. The situation has echoes of the 2018-19 season, when City pipped Liverpool to the title by a single point. “We know what we have to do. Be ourselves and give everything we have to win the game,” Guardiola told a press conference on Friday. FA Cup winners Liverpool have a favourable home game against Wolves, who have not won in six games. However, with the chances of City slipping up considered slim, Klopp’s players may have one eye on their Champions League final date against Real Madrid next weekend. Relegation fight for Burnley, Leeds At the bottom, Everton secured their Premier League survival with a comeback win over Crystal Palace on Thursday, meaning one of either Leeds United or Burnley will be the third team to be relegated. Both gambled on changing their manager in a bid to remain in the top flight – Leeds brought in Jesse Marsch in February while Burnley have Mike Jackson in temporary charge after sacking Sean Dyche in April. Leeds travel to 11th-placed surprise side of the season Brentford, while Burnley host Newcastle United looking to avoid dropping to the second tier for the first time since 2015. Champions League spot for Spurs or Arsenal Striker Harry Kane had an illness scare but should be fit to face already relegated Norwich City as Tottenham Hotspur seek to seal fourth place, manager Antonio Conte said. Media reports said the England captain pulled out of an event on Friday with a stomach virus that had affected some of the members of the Spurs squad in their previous game against Burnley, which they won 1-0. Conte said the virus had moved its way through some members of staff, too, but that it was not a concern heading into the final game of the season, where Spurs can seal their return to the Champions League by avoiding defeat at Carrow Road. “Yes for sure [Kane will be fit], and because in the last game we had [Dejan] Kulusevski and he didn’t train on Saturday but was good to play. Harry doesn’t want to miss this type of game,” Conte said. “If you remember the last game, we had three or four cases of stomach problems,” he added. “In this week, I have to be honest, we had a couple of cases, but we overcame the situation. Also members of the staff, one day they were not feeling so good. I don’t know why, the last week but also this week we faced this situation. “In this moment, though, this virus is the last of our problem. We are close to a big achievement and we are totally focused.” Spurs sit fourth in the league standings on 68 points, two ahead of north London rivals Arsenal, who face Everton at home at the same time on Sunday. Tottenham have a far superior goal difference, meaning a draw would suffice. Xhaka blasts Arsenal teammates, says some should have ‘stayed at home’ The illness scare revives memories of when Tottenham suffered a sickness outbreak on the final day of the season in 2006 when they lost to West Ham United and were pipped to the final Champions League spot by bitter foes Arsenal. However, Conte laughed off any suggestion of a similar situation occurring. “I’m not interested to go deeper into this story. I think that we are in a good moment of form. We have worked well this week and prepared very well. We have to be concentrated,” the Italian said. “There is the whole season behind this game and we can reach something amazing for us because I think no one can imagine top four this season. Now everything is in our hands.” There is no place in the team for defender Cristian Romero, who is out through injury, and Conte said the squad was the same as that which beat Burnley.