Can Chelsea still qualify for European football next season? How the Blues can finish strong in Premier League | Sporting News United Kingdom

Posted by Admin May 2, 2024 Football

The 2023/24 Premier League season has seen a series of ups and downs for Chelsea as they sit 8th in the table after their impressive 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

The win sees the Blues just two points behind Newcastle United and three away from Manchester United in sixth.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men missed out on European football this season after they miserably finished 12th last year, their lowest finish since the 1993/94 season.

The Sporting News takes a look at which, if any, European competitions they can still qualify for.

MORE: Will Cole Palmer win the Premier League Golden Boot this season?

Can Chelsea still qualify for European football next season?

Chelsea can still mathematically qualify for either the Europa League or Conference League next season. To qualify for the Europa League they would need to win their remaining fixtures and hope for other results to go their way to see the Blues finish sixth.

The Conference League is a much more achievable target for Pochettino’s side as finishing seventh is on the cards.

Unfortunately, they will not be able to qualify for the Champions League as they are nearly 20 points behind Aston Villa in fourth, and Chelsea have run out of games to catch Unai Emery’s men.

Premier League European qualifying spots to date

As of May 2, these are the English teams occupying the qualifying spots for European competitions in 2024/25.

Champions League: Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa

Europa League: Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United

Conference League: Newcastle United

Pos	Team	Points	Matches Played	Goals Scored	Goal Difference
1.	Arsenal	80	35	85	+57
2.	Manchester City	79	34	81	+50
3.	Liverpool	75	35	77	+41
4.	Aston Villa	67	35	73	+21
5.	Tottenham Hotspur	60	34	67	+13
6.	Manchester United	54	34	52	+1
7.	Newcastle United	53	34	74	+19
8.	Chelsea	51	34	65	+6
9.	West Ham	49	35	56	-9
10.	Bournemouth	48	35	52	-8
11.	Wolves	46	35	48	-7
12.	Brighton	44	34	52	-5
13.	Fulham	43	35	51	-4
14.	Crystal Palace	40	35	45	-12
15.	Everton*	36	35	37	-11
16.	Brentford	35	35	52	-8
17.	Nottingham Forest**	26	35	42	-20
18.	Luton Town	25	35	48	-29
19.	Burnley	24	35	38	-32
20.	Sheffield United (R)	16	35	34	-63

*Deducted 10 points for breach of profit and sustainability rules. Punishment was reduced to six points on appeal but were then deducted a further two points for another breach on April 8.

**Deducted four points for breach of profit and sustainability rules on Mar. 18.