Five Premier League teams will battle it out for three Champions League places on the final day of the season.
Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday ensured they join champions Liverpool in next season’s Champions League. But it leaves Newcastle as one of three teams on 66 points, alongside Chelsea and Aston Villa, with Manchester City and Nottingham Forest on 65 points before Tuesday’s fixtures.
Five English sides will qualify for the Champions League through the league, up from the usual four, with an extra place secured because of positive results by Premier League clubs in Europe this season.
Sixth-placed Manchester City have a game in hand, at home to Bournemouth on Tuesday, meaning their fate is in their own hands, unlike Villa. Beaten FA Cup finalists City then visit Fulham on the final day.
Newcastle, meanwhile, know a home win against Everton on Sunday would successfully finish the job. Chelsea also know a win would be enough. But they visit Forest, who need to beat the Blues and hope at least one team above them slips up. Villa will probably need to win at Manchester United and hope for favours elsewhere.
The winners of Wednesday’s Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham will also qualify for next season’s Champions League, meaning there will be a sixth English team in the competition, but that has no impact on any league permutations.
Newcastle are guaranteed at least a Conference League place after winning the Carabao Cup, but they want more, so beating Everton is the objective.
Who else will qualify for Europe? Crystal Palace, who are 12th in the league, have qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup, beating City in Saturday’s final.
Now, there is a chance that the team who finish eighth can qualify for the Conference League. That will happen if Chelsea finish seventh in the league and win the Conference League final against Real Betis on Wednesday, 28 May. In that scenario, Chelsea would qualify for the Europa League because of winning their final in Wroclaw.
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