Advertisement
Who is going to qualify for th...

Sport

Who is going to qualify for the Champions League?

Phil Egan
Phil Egan

10:15 1 Jul 2020


Share this article


The Premier League title race may be done and dusted after Liverpool were crowned champions last week but the race for the remaining Champions League places is hotting up.

Manchester United's 3-0 win away to Brighton on Tuesday night closed the gap on fourth-placed Chelsea down to two points and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side will also have their sights on third-placed Leicester.

Wolves are level on points with United following their 1-0 win away to Aston Villa last Saturday so it looks like it's down to four clubs for those two remaining Champions League spots unless Tottenham go on a winning run.

Manchester City are set to finish second so as things stand a top-five finish would be enough to secure a place in next season's Champions League because of City's two-year European ban.

However, City have appealed that decision so the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolves and Leicester would hope to finish in the top four just in case City are successful in overturning the ban.

Leicester City - 3rd place - 55 points after 31 games

Leicester were on course to comfortably finish in the top four but Brendan Rodgers side are yet to win since the restart of the Premier League.

Brendan Rodgers side have drawn with Watford and Brighton but even before the lockdown the Foxes were faltering.

Leciester are due to face United on the final day of the season and also have to play Arsenal and Tottenham so they need Jamie Vardy to start scoring again.

Remaining fixtures: Everton (A), Crystal Palace (H), Arsenal (A), Bournemouth (A), Sheffield United (H), Tottenham (A), Manchester United (H).

Chelsea - 4th place - 54 points after 31 games

Chelsea beat Leicester on Sunday to advance to an FA Cup semi-final and before that Frank Lampard's side enjoyed 2-1 wins over Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Chelsea could overtake Leicester on Wednesday night if they get the better of a struggling West Ham side and Leicester drop points at Everton.

A win would also re-establish a five-point cushion over Manchester United and Wolves with six games to play.

Chelsea would like to have a bit of wiggle room heading into the final two games against Liverpool and Wolves.

Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech have signed up for next season and both will be expecting to play in the Champions League.

Remaining fixtures: West Ham (A), Watford (H), Crystal Palace (A), Sheffield United (A), Norwich (H), Liverpool (A), Wolves (H).

Manchester United - 5th place - 52 points after 32 games

Manchester United haven't lost a game in any competition since January when they lost back to back league games against Liverpool and Burnley.

There was no Bruno Fernandes in those games and since his arrival, United look like a different team.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also has Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba available once again and on paper, United have arguably the kindest run-in, even with a trip to Leicester on the final day.

United could also secure a place in the Champions League by winning this season's Europa League, something they did in 2017 under Jose Mourinho.

Remaining fixtures: Bournemouth (H), Aston Villa (A), Southampton (H), Crystal Palace (A), West Ham (H), Leicester (A).

Wolves - 6th place - 52 points after 32 games

Wolves are also still in the Europa League and similar to United, Nuno Espirito Santo's side have hit the ground running after the restart.

Wolves have beaten West Ham, Bournemouth, and Aston Villa and in doing so are yet to concede a goal.

The concern for Wolves at the start of the season was their early start to the campaign due to the qualifying rounds of the Europa League.

However, with such a settled side and the quality of the likes of Raul Jimenez, Ruben Neves and Adama Traore, Wolves have every chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

Remaining fixtures: Arsenal (H), Sheffield United (A), Everton (H), Burnley (A), Crystal Palace (H), Chelsea (A).


Share this article


Read more about

Champions League Chelsea Leicester Manchester United Premier League Wolves

You might like