Premier League: Chelsea, Man Utd, Tottenham and Newcastle in race for European football qualification | Football news

Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa will play in the Champions League next season; Tottenham, Man Utd, Newcastle and Chelsea are fighting for Europa League and Conference League qualification

It’s not just the identity of the Premier League champions that will be decided on the final day of the season – qualification for the Europa League and Conference League will also be decided in the final round of fixtures.

Arsenal, the city of Manchester and Liverpool they qualified for the Champions League – and joined them Villa Aston on Tuesday after Tottenham lost to Pep Guardiola’s side.

But the Europa League and Conference League places are still up for grabs Tottenham, Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea all in the mix.

Chelsea takes a big step towards European qualification

Cole Palmer assisted at the wheel Chelsea moved a step closer to European qualification by scoring his 22nd Premier League goal of the season in a pulsating 2-1 win at Brighton on Wednesday.

The Blues are on the bench and know they should avoid defeat at home to Bournemouth on Sunday, live Sky Sportswill play in the Europa League next season, provided Manchester United lose the FA Cup final.

And if Chelsea beat Bournemouth and Tottenham lose to Sheffield United, they will finish fifth and be guaranteed Europa League football regardless of the result at Wembley.

Can Spurs be caught in the Europa League race?

The team that finishes fifth in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League. The position is currently held by Tottenham, who have three points from Chelsea. Newcastle’s loss at Manchester United means they can’t catch Spurs.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side could move above Ange Postecoglou’s men if they win their last game.

Chelsea will also need Spurs to lose at Sheffield United on Sunday – the final day of the season – if that is to happen.

Man Utd are six points behind Spurs so cannot qualify for the Europa League via the Championship – but could enter the competition via the FA Cup.

How about the Conference League?

The Conference League place goes to the team that finishes sixth in the Premier League. That is currently Chelsea but as i said above spurs could still give up the Europa League slot.

With United in the FA Cup final against City, we won’t know exactly who is in which European competition until after that clash at Wembley on May 25.

But if City prevail, it will mean the team finishing seventh – currently Newcastle – play football in the Europa Conference League next season.

Eddie Howe’s side face an away trip to Brentford on the final day and if they improve on United’s result at Brighton they will take that place in the final table.

Tottenham’s remaining match

May 19: Sheffield United (A) – Premier League, start at 16.00

Newcastle’s remaining games

May 19: Brentford (A) – Premier League, start at 16.00

Chelsea’s remaining games

May 19: Bournemouth (H) – Premier League, kick-off 16:00, live Sky Sports

Man Utd’s remaining games

May 19: Brighton (A) – Premier League, start at 16.00

May 25: Man City (N) – The FA Cup final, start at 15.00

But the FA Cup could change things…

The winners of the FA Cup – in which Man City and Man Utd will contest the final at Wembley on May 25 – also receive a place in the Europa League.

If City retain the trophy, they will not take up the Europa League spot as they are guaranteed a place in the Champions League. In this case, their place in the Europa League goes to the team that finishes sixth in the Premier League.

The side effect would be that the team finishing seventh in the league would qualify for the Conference League.

However, if United win the FA Cup, they will qualify for the Europa League, as will the fifth-placed team in the Premier League.

In this scenario, the sixth-placed team would play in the Conference League and the seventh-placed team would miss out on Europe.

But if United finish sixth and win the FA Cup, the Conference League spot drops back to the seventh-placed side.

As it stands: Who qualifies for Europe if Man Utd win FA Cup?

Champions League: Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa

Europa League: Tottenham, Man Utd (as FA Cup winners)

Conference League: Chelsea

As it stands: Who qualifies for Europe if Man Utd DON’T win the FA Cup?

Champions League: Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa

Europa League: Tottenham, Chelsea

Conference League: Newcastle

How does the new Champions League format work?

Taking the total number of teams in the Champions League from 32 to 36, the biggest change will result in a transformation from the traditional group stage to a single league stage that includes all participating teams.

Each club will now be guaranteed a minimum of eight games in the league stage against eight different opponents (four home, four away) rather than the previous six games against three teams, played home and away.

The top eight teams in the league will automatically qualify for the knockout stage, while the teams finishing ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure their way to the last 16 of the competition.

Teams ranked 25-36 are eliminated from all competitions.

Are the Europa League and Europa Conference League also changing?

Similar changes will be made to the Europa League and Europa Conference League formats, with 36 teams each.

Europa League teams will have eight matches against eight different opponents in the league stage.

In the Europa Conference League – renamed the UEFA Conference League – teams will have six matches against six different opponents in the league stage. The UEFA Conference League matches will be played between September and December.

The knock-out phase of the competitions will take place in the second half of the season and culminate at the end of the campaign, as it does now.

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