Who qualified for Champions League and Europa in Premier League: How Man United, Newcastle can still make it

The Premier League season has come to a close as Manchester City secured their fourth consecutive league title by two points over Arsenal. It’s a record title as an English team has never won four top flight titles in a row but Pep Guardiola’s City side has set a new standard. With his sixth title at only 23 years old, Phil Foden has also become the youngest player ever to accomplish that feat in the Premier League and he was quite integral to City getting the job done.

Scoring a brace to push City over West Ham United, Foden showed why he was named the Premier League Player of the Season after scoring 19 goals and assisting eight more. It’s Foden’s best attacking season in a City shirt and it isn’t over. City will have a chance at the double as they head to Wembley to face Manchester United in the FA Cup final next weekend. 

We know that City made history but how did the rest of the table shake out?

Champions League qualification

Qualified: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa

While three of those spots have been known for a while, Aston Villa did have to wait a bit to announce their return to European soccer under Unai Emery. It ends quite a drought as Villa haven’t qualified for the Champions League since the 1982-83 season. On his way out, Jurgen Klopp also led Liverpool back to the Champions League following a one-season absence to ensure that Arnie Slot is left in the strongest position possible when he takes over next season. For Arsenal and Manchester City, they’re among the contenders for next season’s Champions League title.

Europa Leauge qualification

Qualified for Europa League: Tottenham
Qualified for Europa League or Europa Conference League: Chelsea
In the hunt: Newcastle United, Manchester United

Due to the FA Cup final which Manchester United will be taking part in, the European places are not yet finalized. One of Manchester United or Newcastle United will be left out of the mix as if Manchester United wins the FA Cup, they will go into the Europa League. That impacts Chelsea because it would push them to Conference League play next season. If Manchester City win the FA Cup final, Chelsea will go to Europa League while Newcastle United will go to Europa Conference League. Teams had a chance to catch Tottenham on the final day but taking care of business against Sheffield United means that they’re the only team safe in their European position despite the season being complete.

Relegation

Relegated: Luton Town, Burnley, Sheffield United

We hardly got to know the newly promoted teams as they’ll all be heading back to the Championship after this season with none of the trio picking up even 30 points. Sheffield United set a record for most goals conceded with 104 but they did pick up enough points to not secure the worst points tally in league history. Some of their players may end up back in the Premier League but it’s a word of caution that if a team doesn’t have enough resources to compete with the top teams, its stay may be a short one.