How sixth place in the Premier League can earn a Champions League place

Newcastle United There are four games to play Premier League This season, however, declines Championship and qualification for the next season Champions League There is still potential for Eddie Howe’s team.

Yes, that’s right: next season’s fixture list for the Magpies could involve a Championship game against Lincoln City or a Champions League clash Real Madrid.

It seems a laughable sight — Newcastle are in 14th position ahead of Saturday’s meeting with sixth-placed Newcastle. Brighton & Hove Albion at St James’ Park, and they sit 12 points above relegation and eight behind Fabian Herzeler’s Seagulls, so mid-table obscurity is the only thing Howe and his players will look to achieve this season.

But the Premier League confirmed this week that is the case Aston Villa Finished fifth and won Europa LeagueThe European Performance spot — which gives the Premier League an extra Champions League spot for topping UEFA’s co-qualifying table — will then go to the sixth-placed team.

With eight points separating sixth-placed Brighton and 14th-placed Newcastle, as many as nine teams are now offered the prospect of an unlikely route into the Champions League. Leeds United (15th, 40 points) and Nottingham Forest (16th, 39 pts) could still finish in sixth place, but with both sides still locked in a relegation battle, it seems unlikely that anyone can close such a huge gap and overtake many of the teams ahead of them for a top-six finish. But upwards from Newcastle, including teams Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Everton, Fulham, Brentford, Chelsea, AFC Bournemouth And Brighton have every chance – from unlikely to strong – to claim sixth place.

It all depends on Villa, and both finishing fifth and winning the Europa League would pay off. Unai Emery’s side are currently in fifth place, just three points behind third place Manchester United. If they finish third or fourth, sixth place will not guarantee Champions League qualification. Because fifth place has become a back door entry point from the Premier League to the Champions League.

If Man United or Liverpool In fifth place, they will claim that European performance spot because, after dropping out of the top four, they have already failed to secure a Champions League berth. But if Villa win the Europa League — they face Forest in the first leg of the semi-final at the City Ground on Thursday — it will secure their Champions League passport and therefore disqualify them from a European performance spot if they finish fifth. So as a result, that bonus Champions League spot will drop to sixth place and the Premier League will lose the Europa League sixth place spot, with UEFA moving it to another national league.

Newcastle’s situation is all the more interesting considering their recent slump and the growing doubts over Howe’s future as manager. After losing four league games in a row, Newcastle have dropped to the brink of a relegation battle and are still not mathematically safe, but both relegation and a rise to sixth place would seem to be beyond Howe and his players.

Sunderland, two places and four points clear of Newcastle, are just four points behind Brighton, so manager Regis Le Bris can still make significant gains from last season’s promotion from the Championship, including a Champions League spot.

But the most likely outcome, if a sixth Champions League qualification berth, could see us see a six-team battle for that position heading into the final month of the season with just three points separating Brighton and Everton in 11th.

Brighton, Bournemouth (seventh) and Brentford (ninth) are regarded as Europe’s best run clubs, each consistently challenging the bigger clubs due to their smart recruitment of both players and coaches. Qualifying for Europe would be a significant achievement for all three — only Brighton have managed it before — but a place in the Champions League would be a completely unexpected bonus.

The same goes for Fulham (10th), who still have memories of reaching the 2009-10 Europa League final. Atlético MadridAnd Everton, who capitalized on their move from Goodison Park to the Hill Dickinson Stadium this season to challenge for a top-10 finish under boss David Moyes.

But if sixth-placed Champions League prospects can salvage a season for Chelsea, who dropped to eighth after their 3-0 defeat at Brighton last week — as a result leading to the departure of Liam Rosenier After just 106 days in charge as head coach.

Chelsea’s run of five consecutive league defeats without a goal under Rosenier dropped them out of the top five and all hopes of a Champions League place ended as the team finished 10 points behind Villa. But Rosenior’s dismissal responded with a FA Cup semi-final win over Leeds Last weekend, which clashed with Manchester City In next month’s final, perhaps things are starting to look up for Chelsea. Nothing else will guarantee winning the European trophy than sneaking into the Champions League behind another English team.

But that chance has come in Chelsea and almost half of the Premier League games, so it’s up to Villa now.