The crowded race for a top-five finish in the Premier League looks set to go right down to the wire.
Normally it’s only the top-four finishers in the Premier League that book a position among Europe’s elite, though fifth place will also be enough in this campaign thanks to Arsenal’s quarter-final first-leg win over Real Madrid that sealed England a top-two slot in UEFA’s association club coefficient rankings and led to a coveted European Performance Spot (EPS).
Indeed, English football could still have as many as 10 representatives across the three European competitions next season depending on how things work out in the coming weeks and in the various continental finals and FA Cup showpiece at Wembley.
Former title contenders Arsenal may be glancing over their shoulders just a little after a home defeat by Bournemouth on Saturday left them on 67 points with three games to go, 15 behind champions Liverpool who were bested 3-1 by Chelsea a day later.
Deposed champions Manchester City are currently third on 64 points after cooling off in-form Wolves, with Newcastle still fourth but now level on points and with the exact same goal difference as fifth-place Chelsea after that aforementioned victory over the champions followed Eddie Howe’s side drawing at Brighton in another eventful game.
Sixth-place Nottingham Forest would join Newcastle and Chelsea on 63 points if they win away at FA Cup finalists Crystal Palace on Monday night, while Aston Villa are also only three behind Newcastle and Chelsea in seventh as things stand after edging past Fulham.
It’s a truly fascinating battle with so many caveats, not least the fact that Chelsea still have to play both Newcastle and Forest before the end of the season.
Why are Newcastle ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League table?
Newcastle left it late to claim a share of the spoils after a lively second half against Brighton, with top scorer Alexander Isak netting an 89th-minute equaliser from the spot in a 1-1 draw after Yasin Ayari’s handball from a Fabian Schar free-kick, having trailed to a first-half effort from ex-Toon player Yankuba Minteh and seen two other penalty awards overturned by VAR.
That was followed by arguably Chelsea’s biggest win of the season at home to a Liverpool side who made six changes with the title already clinched, with Cole Palmer also stepping up with a last-gasp penalty after Jarell Quansah had fouled Moises Caicedo with seconds to go in stoppage time to finally end his long drought of 18 games without a goal across all competitions dating back to mid-January.
Enzo Fernandez had finished off a fine move to give Chelsea a third-minute lead with the earliest league goal netted at Stamford Bridge since 2017, before Virgil van Dijk’s late header from a cornet set up a nervy finish after his earlier clearance had bounced in for an own goal off the unfortunate Quansah.
A third straight win for the likely Conference League finalists brought Chelsea level on points with Newcastle after they dropped two at the Amex Stadium, while a two-goal swing also saw them equal their rivals’ goal difference of +21.
However, Newcastle remain ahead of Chelsea leading up to Sunday’s pivotal meeting on Tyneside due to the fact that they have scored more goals than their next opponents as things stand – 66 to 62. Overall goal difference and goals scored are the primary tiebreakers in that order in the Premier League if points are level.
It is worth noting that Forest’s goal difference is currently +12, so they will not leapfrog Chelsea or Newcastle if they win at Selhurst Park on Monday, bar an extraordinary result. Nuno Espirito Santo’s surprise package have also scored far fewer than both of those rivals with 53 – two fewer than Aston Villa, whose goal difference is worse still at +6.
