With 11 rounds remaining in the 2024/2025 Premier League, the fight for a place in next year’s Champions League is hotter than ever: as many as seven teams are in the thick of the battle with only five points separating Manchester City (fourth on 47 points), who currently occupy the final Champions League place for next season, and Aston Villa, who are 10th in the table with a total of 42 points.
The seven teams involved in Champions League qualification:
The teams involved in this fierce battle are (in order in the league table from fourth to tenth): Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Brighton, Fulham and Aston Villa. Some of them already have experience in these positions in recent years, such as City, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle.
However, for the likes of Bournemouth, Brighton and Fulham it is a new situation this season and the fans of these clubs are still dreaming of a place in Europe’s top competition. In the last few rounds, we will see if the pressure of being at the top of the table will get the better of them or if they will surprise by consolidating their place in these positions.
In fact, compared to last season, the gap between 10th and fourth at the same stage of the competition (matchday 27) was abysmal. Specifically, at that time, there was a 16-point gap between 10th-placed Chelsea, with 39 points, and fourth-placed Aston Villa, with 42 points.
Manchester City, a fallen giants:
The most striking name on this list is Manchester City. The team coached by Pep Guardiola has been the English league winner for the last four seasons and no fan of the competition could have imagined that, at this stage of the campaign, the ‘Cityzen’ would be in fourth place in the standings, 10 points behind leaders Liverpool FC.
Although this slump in the Sky Blue’s form was to be expected, as being at the top of the Premier League for so long is tiring and at some point the pace had to drop, there is another important reason for the team’s underperformance. This is the injury to one of their best players, the current Ballon d’Or winner Rodri Hernández.
The Spanish midfielder suffered a serious injury four months ago, specifically in the fifth matchday of the league against Arsenal, fracturing his ACL and meniscus, and was subsequently given a very negative medical report: injured for the rest of the season.
Although there are still a few games left in the league, looking at the dynamics of the team, it seems that they are not in contention to win the title this year. Even so, they are the best positioned to win the last Champions League place for 2025/2026.
Bournemouth, the big surprise at the top of the table:
One of the most surprising teams this year is Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth. No football fan expected such a high performance from the Cherries this season. In fact, Bournemouth, during the last few seasons, have been used to hovering around the bottom of the table.
However, with the Basque coach on the bench, last year they managed a comfortable 12th place in the Premier League and this year, they seem to have hit the ground running from the start, as they are going from strength to strength, winning every game they play.
Any of the aforementioned teams have a chance of clinching a Champions League place next year. All that remains is for the weeks and games to go by and we will see who will take the title. It looks like a very exciting end to the season.
Main image: @NUFC.
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