City's David Silva opens the scoring for his side against Leicester at Etihad Stadium REUTERSWith Chelsea having wrapped up the title on Friday and Sunderland and Middlesbrough already relegated, the final flurry of matches will decide which two clubs join the champion and second-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League and who becomes the third side to slide through the trapdoor.
For much of a season in which they sacked two managers, Swansea have looked destined to return to the second tier after a five-season stay in the top flight.
But under Paul Clement they have improved dramatically and Saturday's 2-0 victory at hapless Sunderland means they will be safe if Hull City lose to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton were both on target for the Swans who have 38 points with one game left, the same as Crystal Palace who have a superior goal difference.
Hull have 34 with two games left.
In the battle for south coast bragging rights Southampton beat Middlesbrough 2-1 on Saturday with goals by Jay Rodriguez and Nathan Redmond keeping them above Bournemouth who beat Burnley 2-1 thanks to Joshua King's late winner.
Southampton are ninth and Bournemouth 10th with both clubs on 45 points.
Liverpool are away at West Ham United on Sunday.
City, who have 72 points to Liverpool's 70 and Arsenal's 69, have their destiny firmly in their own hands although there were nerves aplenty on Saturday against Leicester.
David Silva's controversial opener, allowed to stand despite Raheem Sterling apparently being offside and interfering with play, and Gabriel Jesus's penalty should have made it a routine afternoon for Pep Guardiola's side.
Shinji Okazaki's stunning volley just before halftime re-energised Leicester though and City could have had few complaints had Mahrez's penalty earned the visitor a draw.RESULTSStoke 1 (Crouch 66) Arsenal 4 (Giroud 42, 80, Ozil 55, Sanchez 76)Middlesbrough 1 (Bamford 73) Southampton 2 (Rodriguez 42, Redmond 57)Sunderland 0 Swansea 2 (Llorente 9, Naughton 45+2)Bournemouth 2 (Stanislas 25, King 85) Burnley 1 (Vokes 83)Man City 2 (Silva 29, Jesus 36-P) Leicester 1 (Okazaki 42)
SUNDAY'S MATCHESPalace v Hull, West Ham v Liverpool, Tottenham v Man Utd
POINTS TABLETeams P W D L GD PtsChelsea 36 28 3 5 47 87Tottenham 35 23 8 4 48 77Man City 36 21 9 6 34 72Liverpool 36 20 10 6 29 70Arsenal 36 21 6 9 29 69Man Utd 35 17 14 4 24 65Arsenal maintained their pursuit of a top-four finish with an impressive 4-1 victory at Stoke City but the Gunners still need other favourable results if they want to play in the Champions League for a 21st consecutive season.
Restored to the starting line up, Olivier Giroud opened the scoring from close range after 42 minutes and Mesut Ozil doubled the advantage after the break. He collected Alexis Sanchez's defence-splitting pass before beautifully chipping Jack Butland.
Peter Crouch set up a potentially nervous finish with a 66th-minute goal - though replays appeared to show the ball going in off the forward's hand - but Sanchez and Giroud, with his second, sealed an impressive victory with scores in the 76th and 80th minutes.
With two matches remaining, Arsenal, winners of five of their past six games, have 69 points - one fewer than Liverpool in fourth. Stoke, who have won just one of their previous 10 league games, sit in 13th with 41 points.
Earlier on Saturday, Manchester City enjoyed a huge let-off in their quest for a top-four finish in the Premier League and Swansea City edged to within sight of survival with a crucial victory.
A freakish penalty "miss" by Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez at the Etihad Stadium allowed Manchester City to squeeze out a 2-1 victory that lifted them to third place, above Liverpool.
Mahrez beat Willy Caballero with 13 minutes remaining but had slipped in his run-up and inadvertently struck the ball twice, once with each foot, to send it spinning into the net.
Eagle-eyed referee Robert Madley correctly applied the law and City breathed deeply before seeing out the remainder of the game to stay on course for Champions League qualification.
City's David Silva opens the scoring for his side against Leicester at Etihad Stadium REUTERSWith Chelsea having wrapped up the title on Friday and Sunderland and Middlesbrough already relegated, the final flurry of matches will decide which two clubs join the champion and second-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League and who becomes the third side to slide through the trapdoor.
For much of a season in which they sacked two managers, Swansea have looked destined to return to the second tier after a five-season stay in the top flight.
But under Paul Clement they have improved dramatically and Saturday's 2-0 victory at hapless Sunderland means they will be safe if Hull City lose to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton were both on target for the Swans who have 38 points with one game left, the same as Crystal Palace who have a superior goal difference.
Hull have 34 with two games left.
In the battle for south coast bragging rights Southampton beat Middlesbrough 2-1 on Saturday with goals by Jay Rodriguez and Nathan Redmond keeping them above Bournemouth who beat Burnley 2-1 thanks to Joshua King's late winner.
Southampton are ninth and Bournemouth 10th with both clubs on 45 points.
Liverpool are away at West Ham United on Sunday.
City, who have 72 points to Liverpool's 70 and Arsenal's 69, have their destiny firmly in their own hands although there were nerves aplenty on Saturday against Leicester.
David Silva's controversial opener, allowed to stand despite Raheem Sterling apparently being offside and interfering with play, and Gabriel Jesus's penalty should have made it a routine afternoon for Pep Guardiola's side.
Shinji Okazaki's stunning volley just before halftime re-energised Leicester though and City could have had few complaints had Mahrez's penalty earned the visitor a draw.RESULTSStoke 1 (Crouch 66) Arsenal 4 (Giroud 42, 80, Ozil 55, Sanchez 76)Middlesbrough 1 (Bamford 73) Southampton 2 (Rodriguez 42, Redmond 57)Sunderland 0 Swansea 2 (Llorente 9, Naughton 45+2)Bournemouth 2 (Stanislas 25, King 85) Burnley 1 (Vokes 83)Man City 2 (Silva 29, Jesus 36-P) Leicester 1 (Okazaki 42)
SUNDAY'S MATCHESPalace v Hull, West Ham v Liverpool, Tottenham v Man Utd
POINTS TABLETeams P W D L GD PtsChelsea 36 28 3 5 47 87Tottenham 35 23 8 4 48 77Man City 36 21 9 6 34 72Liverpool 36 20 10 6 29 70Arsenal 36 21 6 9 29 69Man Utd 35 17 14 4 24 65
City's David Silva opens the scoring for his side against Leicester at Etihad Stadium REUTERSWith Chelsea having wrapped up the title on Friday and Sunderland and Middlesbrough already relegated, the final flurry of matches will decide which two clubs join the champion and second-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League and who becomes the third side to slide through the trapdoor.
For much of a season in which they sacked two managers, Swansea have looked destined to return to the second tier after a five-season stay in the top flight.
But under Paul Clement they have improved dramatically and Saturday's 2-0 victory at hapless Sunderland means they will be safe if Hull City lose to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton were both on target for the Swans who have 38 points with one game left, the same as Crystal Palace who have a superior goal difference.
Hull have 34 with two games left.
In the battle for south coast bragging rights Southampton beat Middlesbrough 2-1 on Saturday with goals by Jay Rodriguez and Nathan Redmond keeping them above Bournemouth who beat Burnley 2-1 thanks to Joshua King's late winner.
Southampton are ninth and Bournemouth 10th with both clubs on 45 points.
Liverpool are away at West Ham United on Sunday.
City, who have 72 points to Liverpool's 70 and Arsenal's 69, have their destiny firmly in their own hands although there were nerves aplenty on Saturday against Leicester.
David Silva's controversial opener, allowed to stand despite Raheem Sterling apparently being offside and interfering with play, and Gabriel Jesus's penalty should have made it a routine afternoon for Pep Guardiola's side.
Shinji Okazaki's stunning volley just before halftime re-energised Leicester though and City could have had few complaints had Mahrez's penalty earned the visitor a draw.RESULTSStoke 1 (Crouch 66) Arsenal 4 (Giroud 42, 80, Ozil 55, Sanchez 76)Middlesbrough 1 (Bamford 73) Southampton 2 (Rodriguez 42, Redmond 57)Sunderland 0 Swansea 2 (Llorente 9, Naughton 45+2)Bournemouth 2 (Stanislas 25, King 85) Burnley 1 (Vokes 83)Man City 2 (Silva 29, Jesus 36-P) Leicester 1 (Okazaki 42)
SUNDAY'S MATCHESPalace v Hull, West Ham v Liverpool, Tottenham v Man Utd
POINTS TABLETeams P W D L GD PtsChelsea 36 28 3 5 47 87Tottenham 35 23 8 4 48 77Man City 36 21 9 6 34 72Liverpool 36 20 10 6 29 70Arsenal 36 21 6 9 29 69Man Utd 35 17 14 4 24 65