As we approach the final game in Division 2 the title, automatic promotion race and relegation dog fight are all still to play for on the final evening on Thursday night. Here’s a very quick preview of the action to come.

Aston Villa hold a slim one point lead over Tottenham and a 1 point better goal difference but the title is in their hands and a victory for Villa over Sporting will see Adam’s Villa crowned Division 2 champions. If Villa lose or draw against Sporting, Tottenham could leap frog them to top spot with a victory over Ajax. In terms of the race for the third automatic spot Valencia travel away to Monaco who are fighting the sack and a win or a draw for Valencia would see them secure the third and final automatic promotion spot. Ajax sit in 4^th place and are 3 points behind Valencia and have a -3 goal difference so would need Valencia to lose and then win against title chasing Tottenham to mathematically take the third auto spot. With Monaco fighting against the sack Monaco can’t be ruled out at home in this one so could Ajax spring a big final day shock against the odds?  

Everton (5th), Genoa (6th) and Dnipro (7th) are all guaranteed a place in the playoffs but there may be some jockeying to try and avoid Genoa in the playoff semi final round! On the contrary these teams may look to rotate their squads for the playoffs and gain an advantage over Ajax or Valencia who are likely to have a tired first Xl after fighting for automatic promotion. 

All teams from 8^th to 15^th position ( Sporting 8th, Augsburg 9th, Leverkusen 10th, Southampton 11th, Manchester 12th, Liverpool 13th, Anderlecht 14th, PSG 15th) can’t reach the playoffs or be relegated but with the introduction of wholesale contracts across the game world there will likely be several managers looking for a last push to secure their contract targets. 

In the relegation zone Santos and Schalke are already relegated. Flamengo sit one place above the relegation zone and with a point lead over River Plate have survival in their hands. If Flamengo fail to win in their game against Schalke a win for River Plate at home to Leverkusen would see them achieve last gasp survival. For Monaco relegation survival looks possibly out of reach due to being 3 points behind Flamengo with a -8 goal difference but they could save themselves from the sack with a victory at home to Valencia if River Plate lose.