Heading into the final day, nine English Premier League teams are still remain hopeful of securing European football with four spots still up for grabs across the three Uefa competitions.
Four teams have guaranteed a top-five finish and thereby Champions League football with Liverpool currently favourites to claim fifth place and secure their own spot in the competition.
But Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford, Sunderland, Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton and – mathematically a least – Fulham will all enter the final weekend with a chance of securing some sort of European football, meaning the fight will go down to the wire.
The permutations might be pretty complicated, but the objective for all nine contenders will be simple on 24 May – win their final game no matter what.
Penultimate matchday offers more drama
The games played so far in the penultimate set of Premier League fixtures have delivered more drama to leave European qualification further tangled.
Seventh-placed Brighton could have guaranteed a place in Europe with a win at Leeds United but instead Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s dramatic late winner severely dented their chances.
Brentford missed out on an opportunity to move above the Seagulls after settling for an equally enthralling 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace to stay eighth.
Sunderland have pulled themselves back into contention with a stunning 3-1 victory against fellow hopefuls Everton, leapfrogging the Toffees into ninth.
There was also a 3-1 win for Newcastle who kept their faint hopes alive by defeating relegation-threatened West Ham to move level on points with 10th-placed Chelsea, who face Tottenham on Tuesday.
Fulham, 13th, ground out a 1-1 draw against bottom side Wolves. Mathematically, they can still finish eighth and secure European football but their realistic hopes are over given they would require a huge goal difference swing even if all results went in their favour.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Aston Villa have already secured their passage to 2026-27 Champions League.
Premier League claimed a fifth spot in Europe’s premier club competition through Uefa’s European Performance Spots (EPS) and Liverpool currently sit fifth on 59 points.
However, the Reds, who Villa beat to book their place in the Champions League on Friday, are not yet mathematically guaranteed a place in the competition.
Sixth-placed Bournemouth are only four points behind and have a game in hand against title-chasing Manchester City.
The Cherries only need one more point to guarantee a top-eight finish but if they do manage an upset against Pep Guardiola’s side and follow it up with a win at Nottingham Forest, they could overtake Liverpool – provided Arne Slot’s side lose to Brentford on the final day.
Even if Bournemouth miss out on fifth, finishing sixth might be enough to secure Champions League football.
That is because if Villa win the Europa League and finish fifth in the Premier League, England will have six teams in the Champions League.
For that to happen, Villa would need to lose at Man City on the final day. A Liverpool victory at Brentford would then move the Reds above them.
Brighton – who face Manchester United – are still in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League in sixth, while Chelsea retain an outside chance.
Brentford could still finish in sixth but the only way this could happen is by beating Liverpool, which would man Villa remain fourth and the extra Champions League route not being open.
