Chelsea: Four things to look for on final day against Wolverhampton

3. What are Wolves playing for?

Mathematically speaking, the race for Champions League spots is a bit confusing. The permutations for Europa League qualification, however, are a whole different level of complexity.

Wolves are teetering right on the edge of securing a second straight season of European football, but have Tottenham breathing down their necks for that coveted sixth spot in the table. A loss against Chelsea and a draw or win for Spurs would see Jose Mourinho’s side leapfrog Wolves for a Europa League play in spot.

Were that to happen though, all would not necessarily be lost for Wolves. If Chelsea go on to win the FA Cup against Arsenal next weekend (which would be awesome) a seventh place finish would be good enough to squeak into the Europa League. Since winning the FA Cup comes with a free Europa League place, a victory by a team who is already in the top six automatically pushes that extra European spot down to the seventh place side.

In that sense, it’s fairly simple: if Chelsea wins, seventh place is good enough; if Arsenal wins, they get that final Europa League berth, even though they’ll finish eighth at best.

Simply put, a Wolves victory on Sunday guarantees their European spot. Anything else comes down to Tottenham versus Crystal Palace and Chelsea versus Arsenal. That being the case, Wolves will go from being Chelsea’s biggest enemies on Sunday to being their biggest fans a week later. It’s an awkward position to be in, but the task is the same as ever: win.

In the same way that Chelsea’s backroom staff will have an eye on Manchester United versus Leicester City, Wolves’ will be watching Tottenham’s match against Crystal Palace with great interest. If United and Palace are both up 4-0 with ten minutes left, both teams at Stamford Bridge can kick the ball into the stands and start dancing in the middle of the pitch (abiding by social distancing or course). Everybody wins! Except Spurs and Leicester.

Reality will almost certain be a bit sketchier than that though. It’s in Chelsea’s and Wolves’ best interests to go all out for three points, to render any reliance on other results null and void. That’s equal parts exciting and terrifying.

I would be lying if I said my palms weren’t a bit sweaty just imagining that playing out Sunday afternoon. Wolves are consistently who they are, while Chelsea are consistently God knows what. The first time the sides met, Chelsea frolicked to a 5-2 win. That seems unlikely this time around, but things get wild on match day 38. Here’s hoping it’s a carbon copy.