NEWS. . . BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Chelsea and Manchester United have just one Premier League game remaining, and both teams will book a spot in Europe for the 2024-25 season.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side beat Brighton 2-1 in their penultimate top-flight game on Wednesday, while United cruised to a 3-2 win over Newcastle.
The effects mean Chelsea and United are sixth and eighth respectively in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s final round of matches.
Chelsea host AFC Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge in their final fixture, while Erik ten Hag’s men face Brighton.
The four Champions League places have already been secured by Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa and those four will be recovered.
This puts Chelsea and United in the Europa League and Europa Conference League with Tottenham and Newcastle.
With the Premier League’s top four players already decided, attention has turned to those who will qualify for the Europa League and Europa Conference League.
Whoever finishes the season in fifth place (Tottenham at this level) will gain a position in the Europa League, although sixth and seventh place are a bit more complicated.
This is because Manchester United will play the FA Cup final against Manchester City later this month.
If United win the FA Cup, they will qualify for the Europa League no matter where they finish in the most sensible bracket. If they win the FA Cup and finish sixth, whoever finishes seventh will qualify for the Europa Conference League.
If United win the FA Cup and finish in sixth position, then the team that finishes seventh will completely miss out on a European position and the team that finishes sixth will gain a place in the Europa Conference League.
If City win the FA Cup, a sixth place finish will earn them a place in the Europa League and the Europa Conference League position will go to whoever finishes seventh.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is believed to lose his job at the end of the season if the west Londoners fail to qualify for Europe.
With Chelsea’s win over Brighton, they can finish fifth, but they would like Tottenham to lose to Sheffield United and beat Bournemouth as well.
Sixth position is a bit more realistic, which can simply mean a position in the Europa League or Europa Conference League, depending on how the FA Cup final goes.
The Blues want a point against Bournemouth to secure sixth place. If they lose to the Cherries and Newcastle beat Brentford, Chelsea will fall to seventh place. That could cause them to miss out on Europe, but if the Red Devils win FA Cup.
Forgetting about the Premier League for a moment, Manchester United will reserve a place in the Europa League if they beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final on May 25, regardless of their league standings.
If United lose the FA Cup final, they will want to finish sixth to secure a Europa League spot, while seventh place will secure them a Europa Conference League spot.
The win over Newcastle means United could mathematically finish in sixth position if Chelsea and Newcastle lose on the final day, which is almost very unlikely due to the large goal difference.
Seventh place is much more realistic, but even then, United want Newcastle’s result on the final matchday. If United lose to Brighton, they will not be able to take seventh place, and they would miss out on Europe if they lose the FA Cup final.
Newcastle face Brentford in their final game and United want them to leave trouble to have any chance of finishing seventh.
If Newcastle lose to Brentford, a point against Brighton would be enough for United to get seventh place. If Newcastle and Brentford draw, United will have to win.
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