Villa Park to host Chelsea/Arsenal Third Place Play Off (if needed)

In the possible event that Arsenal & Chelsea finish the Premier League with identical records, they will be forced to play off to see who finishes third and Villa Park is in line to host the vital game.

Villa Park - well used to neutral matches

Third place matters because the third placed team progresses automatically to the Group stages of the Champions League, while the fourth place team will have to face a potentially tricky two-legged qualifier to make their way into the lucrative tournament.

In order to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, a date of Sunday 26th May has been set for the match and ticket prices have been set at an affordable £20-£30, after the FA Community Shield, held at Villa Park in August, was marred by the site of swathes of empty seats.

There will be a play-off in the event that Chelsea draw against Everton at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal win by a single-goal margin at St James' Park having scored two more than their London rivals. For example, a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge and a 2-1 victory for Arsenal would result in a dead heat.

It will surely be an embarrassment to Boris Johnson and his London cohorts that no suitable venue for a clash between two London teams can be found within the capital so soon after hosting an Olympic Games.