How Chelsea and Manchester United can qualify for Europe on Premier League final day | OneFootball

Close

With the final day of the Premier League season approaching this Sunday, the race for Europa League and Europa Conference League qualification is heating up.

Tottenham’s loss to Manchester City on Tuesday night confirmed that they’ll once again miss out on the Champions League, and locked in this year’s top four. City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa have all now qualified for Europe’s premier club competition next term.

Below them, there are still three European places up for grabs. Along with four guaranteed Champions League spots, the fifth-placed team and the winners of the FA Cup will qualify for the Europa League group stage, while the winners of the Carabao Cup Cup will qualify for the Conference League play-off round.

As Liverpool won the Carabao Cup earlier this season, beating Chelsea 1-0 in extra time at Wembley, the sixth or seventh-placed team will qualify for the Conference League, depending on who wins the FA Cup.

If Manchester City win the FA Cup, the teams in fifth and sixth will both qualify for the Europa League, while the team in seventh will qualify for the Conference League.

If rivals Manchester United win the FA Cup, though, they’ll qualify for the Europa League along with the team in fifth, and the team in sixth will qualify for the Conference League.

5th: Tottenham - 63 points

Tottenham have rather meekly thrown away all chances of making the Champions League next season. They were sitting in fourth in early April, ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference, but faced a tricky run of fixtures that included playing the rest of the top four and Newcastle away from home.

They proceeded to lose five out of their next six games, and are now fighting to secure their spot in the Europa League.

They only need a point away at already relegated Sheffield United to confirm a fifth-place finish. If they lose at Bramall Lane, and Chelsea win, they’ll drop down to sixth due to an inferior goal difference, and they’ll have to rely on Manchester City winning the FA Cup to make the Europa League.

If Manchester United win, they’ll drop down to the Conference League. Spurs cannot drop out of European contention altogether on the final day.

6th: Chelsea - 60 points

A brilliant run of form that has seen Chelsea win their last four games in a row has catapulted them up the table.

After being sat in 11th as recently as March, Chelsea have now overtaken both Newcastle and Manchester United and are suddenly favourites to finish in sixth.

As mentioned above, if Chelsea win and Tottenham lose, Chelsea will finish fifth and Tottenham will finish sixth, confirming a Europa League spot for Chelsea. They need to get at least a point at home against Bournemouth to confirm a sixth-place finish - which would also be enough for the Europa League if Manchester City win the FA Cup.

If they lose and Newcastle win at Brentford, Newcastle will finish sixth due to their superior goal difference, and Chelsea will finish seventh. Chelsea will then have to rely on Manchester City to win the FA Cup to make the Conference League.

Battle: Chelsea and Manchester United are both fighting to qualify for Europe on the final day

Getty Images

7th: Newcastle - 57 points

Newcastle have also rebounded from early-season struggles to put themselves firmly in contention for Europe.

After languishing in 10th after losing to Chelsea on March 11, they’ve won five out of their last nine games, although Wednesday night's 3-2 loss to Manchester United means they still need to get a result on the final day.

Newcastle have to win and hope that either Chelsea lose to Bournemouth or Manchester City win the FA Cup final.

If Chelsea lose and they win, they’ll finish in sixth, and be guaranteed a spot in either the Europa League or the Conference League, while if Manchester City win the FA Cup they can still finish in seventh and make the Conference League.

Newcastle will need to ensure that their result betters Manchester United’s on the final day. Manchester United are currently level with them on points but with an inferior goal difference, and if Newcastle fail to better their result, they’ll finish in eighth, outside of the European qualification spots altogether.

8th: Manchester United - 57 points

After hovering around sixth all season, a poor end to the season has seen Manchester United in danger of dropping out of Europe entirely.

Wednesday night’s win against Newcastle has kept them in contention for seventh, although their poor goal difference means they’ll likely have to rely on winning the FA Cup to ensure European qualification.

If Manchester United struggle away at Brighton, and fail to better Newcastle’s result, they’ll finish in eighth, outside the European qualification spots. They’ll then have to win the FA Cup final to qualify for Europe.

If they manage to overtake Newcastle they’ll be guaranteed a European spot regardless of what happens in the FA Cup final, because if Manchester City win the FA Cup, the team in seventh would make the Conference League. Winning the FA Cup only becomes necessary if they finish eighth.