From title fates to great escapes, the final day of the Premier League can be trusted to throw up an abundance of twists and turns season after season, even if the first and the worst have already been confirmed in 2024-25.
While Liverpool are sailing off into the title sunset as Ipswich Town, Southampton and Leicester City take their leave, five sides are still fighting for three precious places in next season's Champions League, while eighth and a potential Conference League berth is up for grabs.
Technological advancements mean that fans no longer need to whip out their old Nokia 3210 and phone in to hear the results elsewhere - an iconic shot of final days past - but supporters of Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Manchester City will no doubt scroll and refresh endlessly between 4pm and 6pm on Sunday.
Ahead of a jam-packed gameweek 38, Sports Mole looks back at the 10 most dramatic games and moments of previous Premier League final days, with perhaps the most obvious number one imaginable.
10. Five-team relegation scrap (2010-11)
© Imago
By the end of gameweek 37 in the 2010-11 Premier League season, West Ham United were already down and out, but any two of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic, Birmingham City, Blackpool and Blackburn Rovers could have joined them.
Blackburn and Wigan did what they needed to do, as the Latics overcame Stoke City 1-0 while Rovers prevailed in a five-goal thriller away to relegation rivals Wolves, who were ostensibly heading back to the Championship after falling 3-0 down.
However, second-half strikes from Jamie O'Hara and Stephen Hunt lifted Wolves back above Birmingham on goal difference; at the time, the 2010-11 League Cup winners were drawing with Tottenham Hotspur.
Birmingham's fate was sealed by a Roman Pavlyuchenko sucker punch in injury time as Spurs won 2-1, while Blackpool could not hold onto a 2-1 lead at champions Manchester United, losing 4-2 and joining Blues in tier two.
9. Fulham stay up (2007-08)
Sticking with the theme of dramatic demotion dogfights, Birmingham, Reading and Fulham were all fighting for survival on the final day of the 2007-08 campaign, which the Cottagers began in 17th place thanks to their superior goal difference.
Heading into the final 15 minutes of the season, Reading were cruising to victory at basement boys Derby County, while Birmingham had just gone 2-1 ahead at home to Blackburn Rovers, plunging Fulham into the drop zone as a result.
However, mere moments after Birmingham had taken the lead in their game, Jimmy Bullard whipped in a delicious free kick into the box, which Danny Murphy met with a pinpoint header to preserve Fulham's top-flight status.
8. Carlos Tevez saves West Ham United (2006-07)
Watford and Charlton Athletic were already condemned to the drop before the last day of the 2006-07 campaign, and all of Wigan, West Ham United and Sheffield United were fighting to avoid the same fate.
The Blades and the Hammers sat three points better off than the Latics at the start of the final gameweek, where Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic battled one another, while West Ham faced a seemingly impossible task away to champions Manchester United, or so it seemed.
Wigan eked out a 2-1 win over Sheffield United, which left West Ham in deep trouble, but Carlos Tevez silenced the Theatre of Dreams to keep the Irons up at the Blades' expense.
7. Leeds United survive (2021-22)
One of two unforgettable final matches of the 2021-22 season - more on the other later - Leeds United hit the road for a trip to Brentford in gameweek 38, occupying 18th place in the standings but only below Burnley on goal difference.
The Whites therefore needed to better the Clarets' result against Newcastle United to clamber above the dotted line, and the Magpies gave Jesse Marsch's side a huge helping hand by defeating Sean Dyche's team 2-1 at Turf Moor.
The players had no idea what was happening, though, and while the 1-1 scoreline in the closing stages would have sufficed, Jack Harrison's deflected winner deep into added time made absolutely sure of their top-flight status for another year.
6. West Bromwich Albion avoid relegation (2004-05)
Christmas 2004 was not a merry time whatsoever for West Bromwich Albion supporters, whose side were sat at the foot of the rankings on December 25, which meant relegation was inevitable in every previous Premier League season.
However, while the Baggies were still bottom at the start of gameweek 38, they found themselves just one point worse off than Southampton and Crystal Palace, while Norwich City were only two points clear; cue the greatest final-day escape of its time.
Norwich were hit for six at Fulham, Southampton lost at home to Man United and Crystal Palace could only draw with Charlton, allowing West Brom to miraculously survive thanks to a 2-0 triumph over already-safe Portsmouth.
Geoff Horsfield and Kieran Richardson's second-half strikes saw West Brom become the first side to ever avoid relegation from the Premier League after being bottom of the table on Christmas Day, although Sunderland, Leicester and Wolves have since pulled off that feat too.
5. Manchester City pip Liverpool to title (2021-22)
Leading Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool by just one point heading into the final day of the 2021-22 campaign, the script was written for defending champions Man City to lose their grip on the crown at the hands of Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.
The Reds' fantasy appeared to be coming to fruition when Villa raced into a 2-0 lead at the Etihad, although Liverpool were also struggling to get over the line at home to Wolves until two late goals in the final 10 minutes.
However, City had already completed a sensational turnaround by that time, as Ilkay Gundogan's two strikes either side of a Rodri equaliser led to the second-most dramatic title win the Etihad has seen so far.
4. Jonas Gutierrez scores for Newcastle (2014-15)
A story that fans of any club cannot help but shed a tear at, Jonas Gutierrez made the most emotional of emotional returns to Newcastle in early 2015, several months on from being diagnosed with testicular cancer and making a full recovery.
The Magpies were in danger of demotion ahead of the last day, sitting two points above Hull City in 18th place, although the Tigers failing to beat Manchester United at home meant that Newcastle were home and dry.
Regardless, John Carver's men left nothing to chance as they took down West Ham 2-0 at home, with the second goal coming from none other than Gutierrez, whose deflected strike sailed into the bottom corner before he let raw emotion take hold.
3. Everton avoid relegation (1993-94, 1997-98 and 2021-22)
One of a few unforgettable final days involving the blue half of Merseyside, Everton were one point adrift of safety with one game to go in the 1993-94 campaign, aiming to usurp one of Southampton, Ipswich or Sheffield United.
Welcoming Wimbledon to Goodison Park in gameweek 42, Toffees fans may have been resigning their side the drop after the Wombles surged into a 2-0 lead, although a Graham Stuart penalty midway through the first half presented a sliver of hope.
Faced with the biggest half-time team talk of his life, manager Mike Walker's words went down an absolute treat, as Everton dramatically turned the tide to win 3-2 and send down Sheffield United, who lost by the same scoreline at Chelsea.
Many times Everton's perennial Premier League status has been put to the test, but they are yet to shirk the challenge, also staying up on the final day in 1997-98 on goal difference and surviving by the skin of their teeth in 2022-23.
2. Blackburn Rovers win the Premier League (1994-95)
Pushed all the way by a relentless Man United side in the 1994-95 campaign, the final-day formula for Blackburn Rovers was simple; win at Liverpool and they would hoist the Premiership trophy aloft, having started the day two points above the Red Devils.
Alan Shearer's strike put Rovers on the path to doing just that, but John Barnes and Jamie Redknapp had other ideas; the latter's 90th-minute free kick propelled Liverpool to a 2-1 win and left the door ajar for Man United in the final few minutes of the campaign.
However, the Red Devils were being held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham United at that exact moment, and the full-time whistle soon went at Upton Park, triggering Blackburn bedlam at Anfield as Kenny Dalglish's men shocked the land.
1. Aguero (2011-12)
Martin Tyler was right. We would never see anything like this ever again.
The culmination of years of squad building and the right recruitment under their new regime, City were poised to enjoy a stress-free final day, knowing that victory over relegation-battling Queens Park Rangers by any scoreline would do the trick thanks to their superior goal difference over Manchester United.
The visitors to the Etihad had plenty to fight for themselves, though, and City fans cut crestfallen figures when QPR took a surprise 2-1 lead in Manchester, albeit with both goals coming either side of a Joey Barton meltdown.
Roberto Mancini's side found no way through a 10-man QPR wall, until Edin Dzeko nodded in an injury-time corner to spark renewed hope, and Sergio Aguero finally breached Paddy Kenny's goal for a third time to forever immortalise himself in Man City folklore.
Man United did what they had to do at Sunderland, but as a stone-faced Sir Alex Ferguson and bewildered Phil Jones realised what had just happened at the Etihad, sky blue tears were flowing.
Ben Knapton
