Three of the four semi-finalists in this season's Champions League presently occupy top-four positions in the English Premier League standings.
Manchester United lead the way with Chelsea in third place and Arsenal fourth.
All three were involved in the first legs of the Champions League earlier this week.
United beat the Gunners 1-0 in an all-English clash at Old Trafford and Chelsea claimed a fine 0-0 draw away in Barcelona.
These end-of-season duels leave very healthy profits for the clubs involved but extra midweek matches could also hamper their chances in the domestic league even though Arsenal are all but out of the race.
Yet, what is almost a certainty is that the top four teams in the English game, United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, will again play in next season's top UEFA competition for clubs.
The top three go straight into the group stage while the fourth-placed team will be involved in a play-off.
Manchester United, currently three points clear at the top and with a game in hand, today play Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.
Last weekend, Ryan Giggs, a role model for young players in the Premier League, was named PFA Player of the Year. United also had Edwin van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Cristiano Ronaldo in the team of the year.
This season, Middlesbrough lost twice to United, at Old Trafford, 1-3 in the third round of the League Cup and 0-1 in the Premier League.
Tomorrow, Liverpool entertain Newcastle at Anfield. Rafa Benitez hopes for a Man. United slip up but Ferguson knows the path blindfolded when it comes to the straight for home.
Although football is a funny game, most critics have already declared United champions.
Steven Gerrard should return for the Reds as Newcastle are fast facing demotion unless they do not start collecting points.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea play Fulham this afternoon in a back-to-back derby after beating West Ham away last week. This was a satisfactory season for Fulham who are still in contention for a place in the Europa League.
Russian international Andriy Arshavin returns to the Arsenal side today after missing the Champions League semi-final as the Gunners travel to the south coast to play guests to Portsmouth.
In the league, the Gunners have shown great consistency. They are undefeated in 20 encounters.
At the wrong end of the standings, West Brom, buoyed by their 3-0 win over Sunderland, are away to Tottenham, still licking their wounds after the 5-2 thrashing by Manchester United.
Wolves up
The last day of the Football League will be played this weekend. League One and Two are on this afternoon and the last fixtures from the Championship will be played tomorrow.
Wolves are back in the Premier League and a number of Maltese fans will be celebrating with the crowd at Molineux as Mick McCarthy's players will be presented the championship trophy at the end of the match against Doncaster tomorrow.