Aston Villa stay in Premier League as Manchester United and Chelsea get top four

Aston Villa completed the great escape on the final day of the Premier League season as their 1-1 draw at West Ham was enough to maintain their top-flight status.

The point condemned Watford and Bournemouth to life in the Sky Bet Championship next season as Villa clawed their way back from a seemingly impossible position with just a few matches remaining.

Villa were just 1-20 for the drop a fortnight ago, but Dean Smith's side went into the final day in pole position to survive thanks to a tally of seven points in three matches and they made sure with a draw at the London Stadium.

Jack Grealish put Villa ahead late on and not even a quick equaliser from Andriy Yarmolenko could derail Villa.

The point was bad news for Bournemouth, who were down despite a 3-1 win at Everton, while Watford's late-season collapse continued with a 3-2 reverse at the hands of Arsenal.

Manchester United and Chelsea made sure of Champions League qualification with 2-0 victories against Leicester and Wolves respectively to join Manchester City and champions Liverpool in Europe's premier club competition next season.

A Bruno Fernandes penalty and a Jesse Lingard goal ended Leicester's own hopes of finishing in a Champions League spot. They had been 1-25 at the start of 2020 to secure a top-four finish but must settle for a Europa League spot.

Foxes forward Jamie Vardy won't feel like celebrating but he held off the challenge of Aubameyang and Southampton's Danny Ings to win the Golden Boot by one to the delight of his 20-1 ante-post backers.

Two goals just before half-time gave Chelsea victory over Wolves - Mason Mount and Olivier Giroud were on target for Frank Lampard's side.

The result meant Wolves dropped out of the top six, below Tottenham who took the last automatic Europa League spot.

Spurs drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace to take sixth, although Wolves could still claim a Europa League place if Chelsea beat Arsenal in Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley.

Bookmakers are not expecting a dramatic change in next season's order with City and Liverpool long odds-on for top-four spots. United are 2-5 with Sky Bet and Chelsea can be backed at 10-11 with Betway.

Liverpool, who finished the season with 99 points, were 3-1 winners at Newcastle and are 15-8 with Betway to retain the Premier League title. City, 5-0 victors over Norwich, are favourites at 21-20.

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