Matt Maher: Bored of the Premier League? Fear not, there's plenty of drama elsewhere

A decent number of broadcasting and marketing executives will be hoping they do too.

Victory for Unai Emery’s team would ensure they remain firmly in the race for a top-five finish and Champions League football. Defeat, however, would leave them at very real risk of dropping out of the last remaining contest the Premier League has left to sell in a season where the biggest decisions are already known.

Liverpool clinched the title before April was finished, one day after Ipswich Town were confirmed as the third and final club to be relegated. In reality the contrasting fates of the Reds, Tractor Boys, Leicester and Southampton had been clear from weeks, if not months, before. 

Thrilling? Not exactly. A quick glance at this weekend’s fixtures throws up a host of match-ups where not much at all is on the line. 

Everton v Ipswich, Leicester v Southampton, Brentford v Manchester United, West Ham v Spurs. Interesting, of course, to supporters of those teams but few others.

Granted, there’s a decent whack of prize money available for every place you finish higher up the table, so it would be wrong to call these games complete dead rubbers. On the other hand, it’s not exactly the kind of thing to grasp the imagination. 

Some might point out there’s the potential for a tight battle between the likes of Fulham, Bournemouth and Brentford for eighth place which may yet be enough to secure a place in the Conference League (we won’t know until after the FA Cup final). But the Battle for Eighth? That isn’t the reason the Premier League attracts a multi-billion pound TV deal.

The battle for the Champions League does have the potential to be exciting and the dream scenario for the league is we enter the final day with the five teams currently fighting over three places still with something to play for. Nottingham Forest v Chelsea has the potential to be the main attraction of the last weekend.

Even then, it might be tough for any neutrals to get too enthused. For the clubs involved the outcome of the race has the potential to define the next few years, such are the relative riches sloshing around in Europe’s elite club competition. 

But for those without a skin in the game? Forest’s presence brings a freshness but the other four contenders have either won the Champions League in the last four years (Chelsea and Manchester City) or played in it the previous two and are likely to do so again in the near future. There’s no point pretending the stakes are anywhere close to the levels they are in a title or survival race.

No, if you’ve wanted drama and intrigue this season, the Premier League hasn’t been the best place to look.

Thankfully, there is plenty going on elsewhere, not least the Championship where nine of Saturday’s 12 last day fixtures still have something big riding on them for at least one of the teams.

This has not been a vintage season for the second tier, which for the second year running has been dominated by clubs recently removed from the Premier League. Leeds and Burnley enter the final weekend 31 points clear of those teams battling to make the play-offs. Both would hit the century mark by winning their final fixtures. The impact of parachute payments in distorting the competition has never been clearer.

Yet the rather average nature of the rest of the division has helped set up a thrilling conclusion. When the final matches kick-off at 12.30pm it will be difficult to know where to look. At the top end, five teams are battling for the two remaining play-off places. At the other, five are fighting to stay out of the final relegation spot, currently occupied by Hull. The Tigers must avoid defeat at Portsmouth to stand any chance of making an escape but Luton, Preston, Derby and Stoke cannot rest easy.

Things are a bit quieter in League One, where automatic promotion and relegation were sealed last weekend. But the fight for the final play-off place could hardly be tighter, with Leyton Orient only ahead of Reading on goal difference. The fact the latter are playing under the very real risk of being booted out of the league entirely only adds to the story.

Then, of course, there is League Two. Can Walsall find the win required to avoid the nightmare scenario of missing out on automatic promotion? Will they get the fortune they need with Fleetwood picking up a result at Bradford.

For the Saddlers, 15 points clear in a promotion slot in January, it should never have come to this. In many respects, such has been their dreadful form since, they are lucky it has. Only the stumbling pursuit from their rivals has kept them in with a chance. In the meantime, five teams will battle it out for the remaining two play-off places and a potential trip to Bescot in the semi-finals.

There will be nerves too at Aggborough on Sunday, where Kidderminster Harriers will look to move within one win of promotion back to the National League Premier when they host Chester in a play-off semi-final. Phil Brown’s team entered the final day of the regular season top of the table but in a three-way tilt for the title. They ended it third after going down 2-1 at Southport. 

Yet hope remains, just as it does for Hednesford Town, who host Congleton Town on Saturday looking to secure a return to the third tier of non-league. So too AFC Telford United, who travel to Kettering on Monday one step above.

Such stages might not have the same glamour as the Premier League. In terms of pure entertainment, however, there is no contest.