Chelsea
,
Newcastle United
and
Manchester City
are part of the five teams competing for
Champions League
qualification today.
Premier League champions Liverpool
and second-placed Arsenal –
who are very likely to end up as the second-place winners
— have already secured their places in Europe’s top-tier club soccer tournament for next season.
This also applies to Tottenham – despite this having nothing to do with their humiliatingly low standing in the top division – it’s due to
They beat Manchester United in the Europa League final.
on Wednesday.
Three additional slots remain available, with the clubs finishing third, fourth, and fifth in the 2024-25 Premier League scheduled to secure their places alongside Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur in the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League.
Typically, only the top four teams from the Premier League earn qualification for the next season’s Champions League. However, this rule doesn’t apply to the present campaign as UEFA has granted an additional spot to English clubs because of their impressive showings in European tournaments.
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Chelsea, Newcastle, City,
Aston Villa
and
Nottingham Forest
The top five teams are battling for the remaining three Champions League spots before the concluding set of matches in the Premier League this week. Below is what each team requires along with details on all possible scenarios…
What does the Premier League standings appear like as we head into the last set of matches?
All Premier League sides ranked lower than seventh have lost their chance of qualifying for the Champions League. For now, let’s concentrate on how things stand among the top seven as each squad has only one match remaining…
Standings of the Premier League prior to the last round of matches
-
Liverpool (83 points) –
Champions League spot secured
-
Arsenal (71 points) –
Champions League spot secured
- Manchester City (68 points)
- Newcastle United (66 points)*
-
Chelsea (66 points)* –
following Newcastle based on goal difference -
Aston Villa (66 points) * –
following Chelsea based on goal difference - Nottingham Forest (65 points)
* Newcastle boasts the strongest goal difference of +22 among the three teams tied with 66 points. Chelsea has a goal difference of +20, whereas Villa’s stands considerably lower at +9.
What does Manchester City require to secure their spot in the Champions League?
Manchester City needs just a draw against Fulham for a guaranteed top-five position, with a win securing them third place.
City can still secure second place in the Premier League, but this scenario requires Arsenal to lose against Southampton, Pep Guardiola’s side to defeat Fulham, along with an substantial eight-goal difference.
The sole scenario where a draw wouldn’t suffice for City is if Villa defeats Ruben Amorim’s United by at least 17 goals, an outcome that is highly unlikely.
The minimum position City can achieve is sixth place, which would qualify them for the Europa League instead.
What does Newcastle require to secure a spot in the Champions League?
Newcastle welcomes Everton today, and securing a victory would secure their place in the Champions League. However, this could be overshadowed if Aston Villa manages to achieve an unprecedented goal difference as described earlier.
Should Newcastle tie their match, they would need Aston Villa to fail in winning against Manchester United or Chelsea drawing with Nottingham Forest for them to secure a top-five position.
Defeat for Newcastle would see them need Villa to lose, as they would drop behind either Chelsea or Forest.
What does Chelsea require to secure their spot in the Champions League?
Chelsea
come face-to-face with Forest at the City Ground
today with European Champions League qualification securely at stake.
If Chelsea wins, they would most likely secure a top-five spot, disregarding Aston Villa’s extraordinary shift in goal difference.
If Chelsea draws, they would either require Aston Villa to avoid winning or Newcastle to be defeated.
If Chelsea were to lose, they would miss out on Champions League qualification unless Newcastle loses by at least three more goals than them.
What does Aston Villa require to secure a spot in the Champions League?
Should Villa fail to win at Old Trafford, they won’t secure a spot in the Champions League.
If Villa ties with United, they would need Newcastle to lose at home to Everton to secure a spot within the top five.
If either Newcastle or Chelsea fail to win, a triumph against Amorim’s team will suffice for Villa.
What does Nottingham Forest require to secure their spot in the Champions League?
The team must defeat Chelsea to stand any realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League, assuming we disregard far-fetched scenarios involving goal differentials.
Even so, it may not suffice since they would still need either Newcastle or Villa to lose.
Who gets Europa League?
The squad finishing sixth in the Premier League along with the victors of the FA Cup – Crystal Palace this campaign – will secure their spot.
Europa League
.
Who gets Conference League?
Currently, Newcastle hold the position for the Conference League after winning this season’s Carabao Cup.
But it
could
ultimately end up joining the team that ends up in eighth spot – which could either be Brentford or Brighton.
To achieve this, Chelsea must secure victory in the Conference League final against Real Betis on Wednesday and also end up in seventh place in the league.
It would be handed to the team ranked eighth if Chelsea ends up in sixth place, Newcastle finishes seventh, and the Blues win the Conference League title.
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