Third placed Sampdoria face what you might think would be a tricky task in Moscow at the home of the champions. But with CSKA having nothing to play for, and with a relatively poor home record to boot, I fancy Samp and Gareth Crisp to grab the three points that will guarantee them automatic promotion.

In the remaining games, Josh McMillan’s Saint Etienne are guaranteed a playoff place, but would need two or three of the four clubs currently above them to lose, for victory against Hamburg to give them automatic promotion. Do they go all out for victory on the off-chance of going up, or save their first team for the playoffs? At full strength, and with a strong home record, I fancy ASSE to hold on for a draw and crush Hamburg’s hopes of sneaking into the final playoff place.

RJ Alston’s Galatasaray, meanwhile, face local Istanbul rivals Besiktas. Even if Hamburg fail to win, Gala still need three points to guarantee the final playoff spot. While they have a great away record, I can’t see anything other than a draw here, too!

That just leaves Bob ‘Groucho’ Sal’s Sassuolo to beat Cruzeiro – the worst team in the division on current form – to snatch the final playoff spot right at the death! (I’d bet actual money on this result, which – unfortunately for Aston Villa – means even victory over Newcastle will not be enough for them.)

If results go as I predict (which is about as likely as Hamburg winning the league), the final table will look something like this:

One interesting scenario that could play out in this case, is a rerun of Thursday’s big game between Athletic Club and Hellas Verona in the Playoff Final!

Best of luck to all involved.