All you need to know as Premier League’s race for Europe heats up

As the Premier League season approaches its final days, the race to secure European football for the 2025/26 season is heating up.

With just two matchweeks remaining, the battle for UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League qualification is tightly contested, and the implications stretch as far down as eighth place.

Following a successful season in UEFA competitions, England has secured an additional Champions League spot. As a result, the top five Premier League teams will qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

Currently, there are only four points separating the clubs ranked from third to seventh, making the final stretch of the campaign a nail-biting affair.

Liverpool are the only side guaranteed a top-five finish, while Arsenal, Newcastle, Manchester City, Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest continue to fight for the remaining Champions League places.

Arsenal, who sit second with 68 points, have stumbled recently, managing only one win in their last six matches. Their 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday leaves them needing just two more points to secure a top-five finish.

Newcastle have surged into third following a 2-0 victory over Chelsea, while Manchester City’s goalless draw at Southampton sees them drop to fourth with 65 points.

Chelsea and Aston Villa are tied on 63 points in fifth and sixth respectively, though Villa have momentum after winning six of their last seven matches.

Seventh-placed Nottingham Forest missed the chance to leapfrog Chelsea after drawing 2-2 with Leicester City. The result continued Forest’s poor form of one win in six matches.

Attention also turns to the mid-table battle, where just four points separate Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth, and Fulham from eighth to 11th. The outcome could be significant, as finishing eighth may offer a route into European competition, depending on results in the FA Cup and EFL Cup.

Two domestic finals could influence the European qualification landscape.

Manchester City face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on 17 May. Should City win the Cup and also qualify for the Champions League via the league, their Europa League spot would pass to the next-best Premier League team not already qualified.

Similarly, Newcastle’s EFL Cup victory over Liverpool has already earned them a Conference League place. But if they finish high enough in the league to qualify for a higher-tier European competition, their Conference League spot would also be passed down the league table.

This cascading effect opens up the possibility for the eighth-placed team to qualify for Europe. Brentford and Fulham will meet in a potentially decisive west London derby on 18 May.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, still face Manchester City and Leicester, while Brighton host Liverpool before ending the season away to Tottenham Hotspur.

For the Europa League, sixth place in the league will now secure qualification due to the expanded Champions League allocation. The second Europa League spot will be awarded to the FA Cup winner.

With so many variables still in play, the final two rounds of the Premier League promise high drama and shifting fortunes as clubs strive for continental qualification.