While the top two places in the Premier League are all but reserved for Manchester City and Liverpool, up to six teams are bidding for the final two UEFA Champions League spots.
Of the six clubs in contention to qualify for European football next season, only three won their most recent Premier League encounters. Arsenal came into the weekend occupying the 4th and final UCL spot, but the Gunners were on the receiving end of a 3-0 thumping by former captain Patrick Vieira and his Crystal Palace side on Monday night. Tottenham took full advantage of their London rivals’ blunder at Palace, with a convincing 5-1 win over Newcastle lifting Spurs into the top four.
A further two London clubs, Chelsea and West Ham, are also in the mix to qualify for Europe’s primary club competition. Chelsea were looking comfortable in 3rd but suffered a hiccup with a shock 1-4 home defeat to Brentford at the weekend. West Ham, meanwhile, beat Everton to rise above Manchester United into 6th, with the Hammers just three points shy of 4th-placed Spurs.
It’s still all to play for 🤤 pic.twitter.com/IVEv4v8SsJ
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 4, 2022
Let’s take a deeper look into the top-four contenders’ recent form and what lies ahead for each of them…
Chelsea
As mentioned, Chelsea were well on course to make 3rd place their own but suffered a setback against Brentford on Saturday. The Blues won five games on the bounce, keeping four clean sheets in that time, before they were stunned by the Bees at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are on 59 points, five clear of Tottenham and Arsenal (with a game in hand over Spurs) and realistically Thomas Tuchel’s team should still retain their top-four place come the end of the season.
Among their remaining nine fixtures Chelsea contest two clashes in the capital with Arsenal and West Ham, both home fixtures for the Blues and coming in the space of five days. Towards the end of the season Chelsea travel to Man United and play host to Wolves and Leicester City.
Tottenham
Less than a month ago Spurs were down in 8th and trailed Chelsea by 14 points. Now, Antonio Conte’s men have climbed into the top four and sit within five points of the Blues. With five wins in their last six games, the North Londoners have every reason to believe they can cement their position in the top four.
Tottenham have eight games to play and although no Premier League matches are easy, the Lilywhites will regard most of their remaining fixtures winnable. Besides for a trip to Anfield and a mammoth clash with rivals Arsenal, Spurs meet with Leicester as well as lowly teams Brentford, Burnley and Norwich.
Arsenal
With no European football this season, Arsenal have been firmly focused on their domestic campaign. After a disastrous start to the season which saw them take three defeats in their opening three games, the Gunners rediscovered their rhythm and began to click under Mikel Arteta. Following a heavy defeat to Crystal Palace, Arsenal lost some ground in the race for Champions League football but they remain in good stead to nail down a spot in the top four.
Arsenal are level on 54 points with Spurs, albeit Arteta’s army have a game in hand over their north London rivals. With losses to Palace and Liverpool aside, the Gunners have taken maximum points since the start of February. Arsenal have a handful of tough fixtures still to play, with four of their final nine games coming against teams also in the hunt for a top-four position.
Arsenal engage in three battles of London – all of them away from home – with Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham, and also welcome Man United to the Emirates Stadium on April 23.
West Ham
West Ham have endured a meteoric rise under David Moyes and they refuse to be counted out from this frantic race for the top four. After narrowly surviving relegation two years back the Hammers rose to a blistering 6th-place finish last term, missing out on a Champions League spot by a mere two points. West Ham players evidently have that same fire in their bellies and are looking to better their tremendous end to last season by securing an elusive place in the top four.
West Ham are currently three points off Spurs and Arsenal, however Moyes’ boys have played more games than all the teams around them. The east London side picked up just three wins from their last seven in the league and they have huge games on the horizon.
The Irons entertain Arsenal at the start of May and are still to visit both Chelsea and Man City. Their other four fixtures come against bottom-half opposition.
Manchester United
Of all the teams in question, none are having an underwhelming season quite like Man United. Having been expected to fight for titles from the offset, the Red Devils are now at risk of completely missing out on continental football in 2022/23. Man Utd occupy 7th, level with West Ham on 51 points having played one game fewer. If they are not careful United may drop further down the order with Wolves not far behind.
United took two wins from their last five league outings while those around them have mostly gained momentum in weeks gone by. Most recently United settled for a 1-1 draw with Leicester at Old Trafford. It does not get any easier for Ralf Rangnick and his red army in the late season run-in, with United yet to trek to each of Liverpool and Arsenal (within a span of five days) before they take on Chelsea in the final weeks of the season.
Wolves
Last but not least, we have Wolves who won three of their last four but lost three on the trot prior to their current in-form run. Wolves are five points adrift of the top four, and two behind West Ham and Man Utd. Whereas the likes of Arsenal, Man United and Spurs are each carrying substantial expectations, a big advantage for Wolves is that nobody expects for them to finish above the aforementioned heavy-hitters.
Only the top three teams have conceded fewer goals than Wolves (27) this term. Of their final seven games this season, four come against clubs in the bottom half of the table although the other three are against heavyweights Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City – including a showdown at Anfield on the closing day of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.
To clarify, the top-four finishing clubs all qualify for next season’s Champions League group stage, while 5th and 6th places partake in the 2022/23 Europa League. The team which ends 7th will play in the Europa Conference League, UEFA’s tertiary club competition.
On top of the final league standings, there are additional scenarios which may influence participation in Europe. Should West Ham win the Europa League this season, they qualify for the forthcoming Champions League group phase. Provided Leicester triumph in the Europa Conference League, they automatically qualify for the Europa League group phase. As it stands the Foxes are out of contention to qualify for Europe via the league, currently in 10th place with 37 points.
Crystal Palace have an outsider’s chance of playing European football if they reach the FA Cup Final. Palace meet Chelsea at Wembley in the semifinals on April 17 and should the Eagles advance to the final they will also earn progression to the Europa League next season.
