At the moment, Manchester United is third in the Premier League. Although they have two games left, Erik ten Hag’s team is one point ahead of Tottenham in fourth place.
With two more games played than Newcastle, who are in fifth position, Spurs are two points clear of them, but Liverpool, who are level with Brighton and Brentford in sixth, are five points farther down.
How finishing fourth might not be safe
The top four teams in the Premier League typically advance to the Champions League group round. Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham would thus be the current standings.
There are alternative ways to enter the competition, though. The results of Manchester United and Chelsea in the domestic and European stages will determine whether they finish fourth and fail to advance to the competition the following season.
In spite of not holding a traditional qualifying spot in the Premier League, Chelsea, who are presently tenth in the standings, will advance directly to the group stage of the competition if they win the Champions League.
Similar to this, even if Manchester United fails to finish in the top four in the Premier League, they will automatically qualify for the group stage of the Champions League the following season if they win the Europa League.
According to UEFA regulations, there can only be five English teams in the Champions League, so if the aforementioned event occurred, the fourth-place Premier League team would not qualify for the Champions League and would instead be placed in the Europa League group stage.
In the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Chelsea will play Real Madrid, and in the last eight of the Europa League, Manchester United will play Sevilla.
Tottenham’s chances of finishing in the top four of the Premier League this season are only 23% due to the uncertainty surrounding head coach Antonio Conte’s future.
Spurs made a mistake on Saturday in the battle for Champions League football, allowing a two-goal lead at Southampton to slip away late on to draw 3-3.
The outcome prompted Conte’s irate outburst in his post-game press conference, in which he claimed that his players were “selfish” and “cannot play under pressure and stress,” with Spurs soon to decide whether or not to keep the Italian in charge.
Spurs have a mere 23.9% probability of finishing in the top four, according to Opta, and are expected to come in sixth at the end of the season.
Due to their two games in hand over Spurs, the two teams below them in the rankings, Newcastle and Liverpool, both have a better chance of earning a spot at Europe’s top table this season.
Conte warned that Spurs might even end lower than sixth if they maintain the same mentality for the remainder of the season in his post-match tirade against Southampton.
“There are 10 games to go and some people think we can fight. Fight for what with this spirit, this attitude, this commitment? What? For seventh, eighth, 10th place? I am not used to this position.
“I’m really upset and everyone has to take their responsibility. Not only the club, the manager and the staff, the players have to be involved in this situation because it is time to change this situation if Tottenham want to change.
“If they want to continue in this way, they can change the manager, a lot of managers, but the situation cannot change. Believe me.”
