COMPARING NEWCASTLE, MAN CITY, CHELSEA, NOTTINGHAM FOREST AND ASTON VILLA’S REMAINING FIXTURES
Arsenal and Liverpool will be back in the Champions League next season. But who else will join them from the Premier League?
The 2024-25 campaign is stuttering to an underwhelming climax, with the title race and relegation battle wrapped up with weeks to spare.
But there is still intrigue in the race for Champions League qualification, with little separating the five clubs challenging for the three remaining spots.
Liverpool are all but confirmed as champions while Arsenal will almost certainly end up as the runners-up.
That leaves Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United slugging it out for third, fourth and fifth in the table.
It’s recently been confirmed that the Premier League will have five qualification places for the Champions League thanks to English clubs’ strong coefficient showing across all three UEFA competitions this season.
Brighton have looked as though they might be able to mount a surprise challenge at times this season but appear to have fallen out of the race in recent weeks.
Bournemouth still have very faint hopes of bridging the gap – particularly with their recent win over Fulham – but they’ve probably left themselves with too much work to do.
But which of the five teams in the mix will make it? We’ve taken an in-depth at each of their remaining fixtures to see who will be hosting in UEFA’s flagship competition next term.
We’ve broken down the remaining fixtures for all five teams, including the position of their opponents at the time of writing and their results in the reverse fixtures.
Nottingham Forest – 57 points
Tottenham (A) – 15th – 1-0 Win
*FA Cup Semi-Final: Manchester City
Brentford (H) – 11th – 0-2 Win
Crystal Palace (A) – 12th – 1-0 Win
Leicester City (H) – 19th – 1-3 Win
West Ham United (A) – 17th- 3-0 Win
Chelsea (H) – 6th – 1-1 Draw
Nuno Espirito Santo’s surprise package have been in the top four for pretty much the entire 2024-25 campaign, but they’ll be nervously looking over their shoulder after sudden back-to-back defeats.
The good news is that they’ve got a stellar record against their remaining opponents. They’ve already beaten Spurs, Brentford, Palace, Leicester and West Ham this season.
The final-day clash with top-five rivals Chelsea could effectively end up as a Champions League play-off, but both sides have a lot of work to make it to that point.
Newcastle United – 56 points
Crystal Palace (H) – 12th – 1-1 Draw
Aston Villa (A) – 7th – 3-0 Win
Ipswich Town (H) – 18th – 0-4 Win
Brighton & Hove Albion (A) – 9th – 0-1 Loss
Chelsea (H) – 6th – 2-1 Loss
Arsenal (A) – 2nd – 1-0 Win
Everton (H) -13th – 0-0 Draw
The Magpies are flying. They’re the only side in the race without a cup distraction, while there doesn’t appear to have been any hangover from their historic League Cup final victory at Wembley.
If anything, they’ve been galvanised after lifting silverware. It’s three league wins on the bounce since then, while a victory in their game-in-hand against Crystal Palace in midweek would put them in the driving seat for Champions League football.
Games against Aston Villa and Chelsea could prove particularly important. A trip to Arsenal – who they’ve already beaten three times this season – is another to look out for.
Manchester City – 55 points
Everton (A) – 13th – 1-1 Draw
*FA Cup Semi-Final: Nottingham Forest
Wolves (H) – 16th – 1-2 Win
Southampton (A) – 20th – 1-0 Win
Bournemouth (H) – 10th – 2-1 Loss
*Potential FA Cup Final: Aston Villa or Crystal Palace
Even after the bombshell of losing four on the bounce back in November, you always felt Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions would make their quality show and get their act together.
Defeats to Arsenal, Liverpool and top-five challengers Nottingham Forest have us questioning that, but it’s now four games unbeaten and their run-in looks favourable.
Of their remaining opponents, it’s likely only Aston Villa have anything to play for but pride.
Chelsea – 54 points
Conference League Quarter-Final: Legia Warsaw (H)
Fulham (A) – 8th – 1-2 Loss
Everton (H) – 13th – 0-0 Draw Likely Conference League Semi-Final Second Leg 2-1 Loss
Newcastle United (A) – 4th – 2-1 Win
Manchester United (H) – 14th – 1-1 Draw
Nottingham Forest (A) – 3rd – 1-1 Draw
The Blues are in the worst form of all the contenders, with Sunday’s 2-2 draw against relegation-doomed Ipswich the latest blow in their bid for the top five.
And to make matters worse, their run-in looks tricky. They’ve only beaten one of their remaining six opponents this season and you’d struggle to pinpoint three guaranteed points in any.
Chelsea should also have to navigate the latter stages of European competition, although Enzo Maresca will likely rest his first teamers for the Conference League as he’s done throughout the season.
Aston Villa – 54 points
Champions League Quarter-final: PSG (H)
Newcastle United (H) – 4th – 3-0 Loss
*FA Cup Semi-Final: Crystal Palace
Fulham (H) – 8th – 1-3 Win
Bournemouth (A) – 10th – 1-1 Draw
Tottenham (H) – 15th – 4-1 Loss
*Potential FA Cup Final: Man City or Nottingham Forest
Unai Emery’s side face a defining few weeks ahead. They’re looking for a fairytale in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against PSG and face Crystal Palace at Wembley.
Alongside those, back-to-back Premier League outings against Newcastle and Man City look potentially decisive in their bid to return to Europe’s top table next season.
But it’s four league wins in a row for Villa and they’re looking in decent shape to mount a proper challenge. If they’re still in the mix come early May, you wouldn’t write them off.
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2025-04-15T07:26:18Z