We have to come to the end of another rollercoaster of a Premier League season, but there is still plenty to play for. That is partly due to how tight it currently is in the top-half of the table and partly due to the UEFA’s new coefficient rules, which mean the Premier League has five Premier League places available this season. On top of that, there is still the matter of Chelsea, who are currently fifth in the league (tied with Newcastle in fourth) and who still have a Conference League final coming up next week. We will explain the repercussions of all of this in this article.
As a result of the current situation, we have also decided, as an exception, to adapt our FPL Gameweek preview and format for this one. For Gameweek 38, we are taking a look at which teams still have something to play for, followed by what the fixtures are and which of their players are in good form. For example, while Liverpool are playing at home to Crystal Palace and might very well book a convincing victory in front of their fans, we will not be including much of the Reds in this article. Instead, we will focus on the fixtures in which at least one of the teams still has everything to play for in GW38 and take it from there.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 38 is set at 14h30 (UK time) on Sunday, May 25th, 2025. The free to play FPL or pay to play season/weekend/daily games like FanTeam are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per May 23rd, 2025)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Sels (NFO), Pickford (EVE), Henderson (CRY) | Raya (ARS), Kepa (BOU), Martinez (AST) | |
| DEF | Saliba (ARS), Muñoz (CRY), Robinson (FUL) | Kerkez (LIV), White (ARS), Kiwior (ARS) | Saliba injury |
| MID | De Bruyne (MCI), Salah (LIV), Fernandes (MUN) | Bowen (WHU), Saka (ARS), Eze (CRY) | Bowen and Eze form + fixture |
| FOR | Isak (NEW), Wood (NFO), Marmoush (MCI) | Watkins (AST), Evanilson (BOU), Wissa (BRE) | Wissa and Watkins form, Isak injury doubt |
Teams to focus on
It has been weeks now that Liverpool were crowned champions of England for the twentieth time in their history, which is why, as we wrote earlier, we won’t be looking much at Mo Salah and friends for our Gameweek 38 preview. The same in a way goes for Arsenal, who all but secured second place in the league against Newcastle in Gameweek 37. The relegation battle will not be part of our Gameweek 38 preview either, as the relegations of Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City were all confirmed well before Gameweek 38.
Instead, we are starting with a quick overview of the teams who do still have something to play for in Gameweek 38:
Champions League spots
The Premier League has gained a fifth Champions League spot, a so-called European Performance Spot, thanks to the results of English clubs across UEFA competitions this season. This is a new rule from the UEFA which has come into effect this season. On top of that, Spurs will be in the Champions League next season as well, thanks to their recent Europa League victory.
With Liverpool and Arsenal already assured of Champions League, that means there are three qualification spots left with five candidates to fill those spots: Manchester City (3rd, 68 points), Newcastle (4th, 66 points), Chelsea (5th, 66 points), Aston Villa (6th, 66 points) and Nottingham Forest (7th, 65 points).
Manchester City need a victory (or a draw, realistically) at Craven Cottage to claim Champions League football by themselves. Defeat at the hands of Fulham will see them in the Champions League if at least one of Newcastle, Chelsea or Villa loses. If those teams all win though, Man City misses out on the Champions League for next season.
Newcastle (who won the League Cup this season and therefore already have a Conference League ticket) need a home victory over Everton to seal Champions League football for next season in their own right. If the Magpies draw or lose in Gameweek 38, victories by Chelsea and Aston Villa will see them finish outside of the Champions League spots.
Chelsea need an away win at Nottingham Forest to remain in control of their Champions League destiny. A loss at the City Ground will see Forest leapfrog them and Chelsea drop out of the top five. A draw will mean Champions League football depends on either Villa not winning or Newcastle losing. The Blues still have a Conference League final against Real Betis to go as well, in which victory equals qualification for the Europa League. In that case, the Conference League spot in the Premier League drops to the team in eighth place.
Aston Villa are tied on points with Newcastle and Chelsea, but they have a vastly inferior goal difference. Therefore, they need to win at Old Trafford in Gameweek 38 to keep any chances of Champions League alive. In that case, either Newcastle or Chelsea would need to drop points, or Manchester City would need to lose against Fulham. If the Villans draw against Man United, Newcastle needs to lose at home to Everton for them to have a chance of finishing in the top 5 on goal difference.
Nottingham Forest, this season’s Premier League sensation, have a home game against Chelsea to try and secure Champions League football. They are not fully in control though, as even a victory would need to be accompanied by a draw or a loss from either Newcastle or Aston Villa. A draw sees the Tricky Trees go into the Europa League next season, if Villa lose at Old Trafford.
Europa League spots
Thanks to Crystal Palace’s historic FA Cup triumph against Manchester City, the Europa League situation is considerably simpler than the Champions League one. Their 1-0 victory in the final has given them a Europa League spot, which means there is one spot left for a Premier League side. This ticket will be for the team that finds itself in sixth place by the end of Gameweek 38.
However, there is a small caveat here. The winner of the Conference League final this coming Wednesday qualifies for the Europa League. If Chelsea win it and they finish in the top five in the Prem, that ticket does not move to another Premier League side. If Chelsea beat Betis though, and finish in sixth place in the league, with Newcastle in seventh, the Magpies would get the extra Europa League ticket. As a result, the number eight in the Premier League would qualify for the Conference League.
If Chelsea win the Conference League and finish seventh in the Premier League, the additional spot for the Europa League would move to the Premier League’s number six, while the number eight in the league would go to the Conference League. That’s really quite simple, right?
Conference League spots
Because of the above situation, which will only be decided after Chelsea’s Conference League final next Wednesday, the battle for eighth place in the Premier League is very much still on as well. As it stands, Newcastle are playing Conference League next season, thanks to their League Cup triumph, but in some of the scenarios described above, current number eight Brighton and number nine Brentford can still hope for European football next season.
Brighton need to win at Spurs, first of all. If Chelsea then win the Conference League and finishes seventh in the Premier League, the Seagulls qualify for the Conference League. This also happens if Chelsea finishes sixth and Newcastle seventh.
Brentford can get into the Conference League if they win away at Wolves and if Chelsea lose at Nottingham Forest on Sunday and then win against Real Betis on Wednesday, and at the same time Brighton lose away to Spurs.
Now with that all out of the way on to the fantasy picks for Gameweek 38
Based on the premise that Gameweek 38 generally sees a lot of rotation that we would like to avoid, we have compiled a succinct list of fantasy picks based on the above information.
Best premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 38: this is the only category in which we are kind of disregarding the “everything still to play for” approach, as Mo Salah (at home to Crystal Palace) and Bukayo Saka (away at Southampton) look great. At Manchester City, it’s obviously Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne.
Best non-premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 38: Ollie Watkins (at Man United), Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa (away at Wolves), Anthony Gordon (at home to Everton) and Chris Wood (at home to Chelsea).
Best budget fantasy picks for Gameweek 38: Morgan Rogers (away at Man United), Kaoru Mitoma (away at Spurs), Justin Kluivert (at home to Leicester), Kevin Schade (away at Wolves), Harvey Barnes (at home to Everton).
Best differential fantasy pick for Gameweek 38: Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier (at home to Leicester), Cody Gakpo (at home to Crystal Palace), Bernardo Silva (away at Fulham), Marcos Asensio (away at Man United).
Best captain for Gameweek 38: Mohamed Salah (home to Crystal Palace), Ollie Watkins (away at Man United), Bryan Mbeumo (away at Wolves), Alexander Isak (if fit, at home to Everton).
For further thoughts and discussions (including minleagues and side games) on the FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.