West Ham and Tottenham fight to avoid Premier League relegation as Guardiola and Salah bid farewellBy STEVE DOUGLASAP Sports WriterThe Associated Press

From left, West Ham United's Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jarrod Bowen and Valentin Castellanos applauds the fans following their English Premier League soccer match against Newcastle United in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

From left, West Ham United's Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jarrod Bowen and Valentin Castellanos applauds the fans following their English Premier League soccer match against Newcastle United in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

West Ham and Tottenham are battling to avoid the final relegation spot heading into the last round of the Premier League on Sunday, when English soccer will bid farewell to Pep Guardiola and Mohamed Salah.

West Ham has it all to do to maintain its 14-year top-flight status, with the team from east London in third-to-last place and two points behind Tottenham with a goal difference deficit of 12.

West Ham must, therefore, beat Leeds at home and also needs Tottenham to lose at home to Everton.

Tottenham last played in the second tier in the 1977-78 season and would be the biggest team to be relegated from England's top flight in a generation.

With the title already clinched by Arsenal, the other sporting focus is on the race to seal the final European spots.

Sixth place will be enough to get Champions League qualification this season if Aston Villa — the newly crowned Europa League champion — finishes in fifth place.

For Villa to drop from fourth to fifth and Liverpool to climb from fifth to fourth, Villa needs to lose to Manchester City and Liverpool has to beat Brentford.

Bournemouth, which visits Nottingham Forest, is currently in sixth — three points ahead of seventh-place Brighton, which hosts Manchester United.

Big-name exits

Guardiola will take charge of his final game at Man City after a record-breaking 10-year spell. Also leaving City at the end of the season are stalwarts Bernardo Silva and John Stones, so it promises to be an emotional afternoon at Etihad Stadium.

Salah will play his last game for Liverpool after nine years, but manager Arne Slot hasn't confirmed that the Egypt winger will start after a critical recent social-media post.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer