Welcome back to the last Hive FPL head to head post of the 23/24 season!
It's been a mammoth first season of our head to head league, split into 2 divisions of teams chasing glory and the promise of weekly Hive rewards.
As with the Premier League real, there is still plenty to play for in this final round of fixtures not least of all the prize of promotion to Division 1 and the chance to double a side's earning potential.
Added to that we also have the Hive FPL Cup Final contested by 2 teams who also won silverware last season. In such a competitive league, managing to achieve back to back successes would surely earn either manager legendary status.
Who is it then that teams will be looking for in this final GW to get them that last big points haul?
The obvious matches to look at will be the home ties for Man City and Arsenal who are neck and neck coming into the home straight. This will be the 10th time in the Premier League's history that the title is decided on the final day.
The bad news for Arsenal is that in all previous occasions where the title is decided on the last day, the side going into the final round of fixtures in 1st place has gone on to claim it.
The good news for Arsenal is that the last team to snatch a title back on the last day having started it in 2nd place was the Gunners back in 1989 and the pre-EPL days of Division 1. Michael Thomas' goal at Anfield will forever remain in the annuls of footballing history and of course prompted the classic Nick Horny book 'Fever Pitch' which was ultimately made into a movie.
City were fairly poor against Spurs in midweek and had Tottenham taken their chances and had the home support behind them then it might have been a different outcome. Expect a very different atmosphere and a far more pumped up City side to come out and attempt to close out the title.
Their opponents, West Ham, have had an up and down season prompting a change of management with this fixture being David Moyes' last in charge. Defensively, the Hammers have been poor this year with just a single clean sheet in the league since the turn of the year and that coming all the way back on 2 January. If City score early in this one then things could well open up and they might end up enjoying themselves in the May sunshine.
By contrast, Arsenal face a far more organised and in form Everton team. Outside of the top 2, Everton are the form team in the league at the moment with 13 points from their last 5 matches, a period in which they've conceded just once.
Arsenal will be hoping to inflict a similar result as the last time Everton visited London when they lost 6-0 against Chelsea. That game saw the West London side 3-0 inside 30mins and you can bet that the Gunners will look to get an early goal in this match to put them back on top and crank the pressure up on City. While that might leave them exposed at the back, this is hardly an Everton side that scores many goals. Only bottom placed Sheffield United have fewer this season.
With the relegation battle and Champions League positions already decided there are 4 matches which are essentially dead rubbers. It's difficult to know what kind of performance you might get and whether a few sides might to the handbrake off and starting playing in a care free manner or whether some of the players will already be thinking of their summer holidays.
The other contests then become about the hunt for European football with Spurs, Chelsea, Newcastle and United all looking for final day victories to secure their league positions.
Spurs travel to Sheffield United, the only side who have endured a worse run of results than they have of late. Ange Postecogulu had some strong words for his squad after the City game, will that prompt a response from the side?
Chelsea are they only side of those 4 who have a home game and they know if Spurs slip up again in Sheffield that a win against Bournemouth would take them 5th. That would be some achievement for a team that at one point, looked like it might struggle to finish in the top half!
United's win over Newcastle in midweek means that they will have to better the Magpies result away at Brentford to climb back to 7th. We know that this will be De Zerbi's last game in charge of Brighton, will it also be the final Premier League match in which Ten Hag is in the United dugout?
Division 1
Headlines: Izanagi FC and Blockchain FPL relegated!
A few weeks ago, it looked for all the world that the relegation battle would go down to the very wire with this final game week seeing the likes of I Feel Qatari, Legion FC, Izanagi FC and Espada Numero Uno all playing against each other.
Alas, results last week mean that relegation for Izanagi FC was confirmed as they lost to Legion FC while Espada Numero Uno's defeat of Suffragette City means that despite BlockchainFPL's win, they too going to be playing Division 2 football next season.
GW37 Results
GW38 Fixtures
As far as league standings in the head to head are concerned, there is very little to play expect bragging rights and of course an extra Hive in your wallet. However, a few teams are still involved in other competitions including Hungry Lions who moved into 1st place in the classic league and I Feel Qatari and thoth442 who face each other in the cup final (see below).
Division 2
Headlines: Skander TN are champions!
Uwabbs FC have pushed them pretty hard in recent months but Skander TN have finally claimed the Division 2 title after a great first half of the seasom. Both teams are going to be good to watch in Division 1 next year but who will be joining them?
Of the 7 teams we previewd last week as being in with a chance of promotion, only 1, Solat, lost in GW37 to end their promotion dreams. It is therefore very much a 6 horse race for the final 3 promotion places!
GW37 Results
GW38 Fixtures
While Solat are now out of the running for promotion, they could still have a massive bearing on who goes up as they face Stevelight (Herbae) this weekend.
With 3rd placed Formidable Milano, the highest overall point scorers in Division 2, facing what looks like an easy opponent in Rubilu this weekend then surely it's a case of just 2 places for the other 5 teams.
Simcard FPL are up against the 'average' score this weekend and on current form, you'd be surprised if they didn't get 3 points from that. Simcard FPL have only failed to beat the average score once in their last 16 gameweeks.
With Tequenos United also facing an opposition that they should beat then much will depend on the result in the final game between Beyond Horizon (8th) and Happy Boys (4th).
I would have previewed these 2 squads in much greater details expect for one fact, they both have a wildcard left to play! Happy Boys FC ended a recent run of defeats by claiming victory in GW37 during which they played their first WC of the season!
It's an interesting tactic to leave both WCs until the 2 last weeks of the season but I guess they've gone by the old saying of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
Meanwhile, Beyond Horizon squeaked past Tengo Rangers in GW37, a win that means they are unbeaten in their last 5 matches. They'll need to use their wildcard well and hope for other results to go their way if they are to claim promotion.
GW38 Fixtures
Hive Cup - The Final
And so we get down to the final 2 in the Hive Cup!
Thoth442FC won the cup last season and have generally enjoyed a successful 23/24 sitting 4th in Division 1 and 3rd in the Classic League. In fact, a really good GW38 could see them do a the double!
The same can't be said of I Feel Qatari who after winning the inaugural classic league have now been relegated in the H2H and will fail almost certainly fail to get a top 10 finish in the classic league too.
For I Feel Qatari, managed by a self-confessed United fan, there is a certain symmetry between the 2 sides performances. Over achievement in season 1 followed by a disappointing 2nd season that rest entirely on success in the cup.
Both sides have now used all their chips so it's a straight out fight between what they've got and who they choose to bring in.
To say this one is going to be close would be the understatement of the season with just 5 differentials across the 30 players involved.
Thoth442FC may look to bring in a replacement for the injured Ederson and if they do so then Ortega, the hero of Wednesday night for City might be their best bet.
Otherwise, it's a straight up battle between 2 centre backs who are likely to play left-back in Gvardiol vs Van de Ven. Both have been putting up good offensive numbers of late with Gvardiol having 6 goal involvements in his last 6 games having previously failed to register a single goal involvement since moving to the Premier League.
Micky Van de Ven has scored 3 times for Spurs this season including 2 in his last 7 appearances and given his sides injury problems at left-back he may well find himself given the opportunity to get forward from that flank and utilise his incredible pace in the final third.
Other than that, it's a fight between 2 United midfielders in Fernandes and Garnacho. The young Argentine has been one of the few bright sparks for Ten Hag's team this season but has not had a goal involvement in his last 4 outingss
Fernandes meanwhile was looking in great form until a injury saw him miss a couple of matches. He did return to the side for the Newcastle game on Thursday and contribute an assist. United will be keen to ensure that he is fully fit for the Cup Final next weekend so we wait to see how much of a role he'll play at Brighton.