This time last month, the Top 4 seemed almost set in stone. Liverpool and Tottenham seemed destined to be joining title-winners Manchester City and cross-town rivals United in qualification for next season's Champions League. In contrast, London clubs Chelsea and Arsenal were set to miss out.
Now, with the Premier League season concluding next Sunday, the race is very much still on. Arsenal are still very much out of it as the Gunners, led for the final time next weekend by Arsene Wenger after announcing that he will leave his post at the Emirates at the end of the season, sit 11 points off their North London rivals in fourth place with only two matches left.
Only three points separate Liverpool, Spurs, and Chelsea though, with the two London clubs having a game in-hand over the Reds. This leaves all to play for over the course of the next week, with all three sides wanting to retain their Champions League status.
Reds have two opportunities with one less game
Liverpool's 1-0 loss to qualification rivals Chelsea on Sunday meant that the likelihood of their appearance in next season's Champions League became ever-so-slightly less certain. The Anfield club still lies in the third spot after that disappointing result and performance, but have only one game left to play, against Brighton on the final day, while Chelsea and Spurs still have two.
They will take comfort from the fact that their fate is in their own hands - victory over the Seagulls will certainly secure a spot in the top four due to a vastly better goal-difference than the Stamford Bridge side.
The worry for manager Jurgen Klopp will be their terrible recent form in the Premier League, with the Reds having dropped seven points from the last possible nine. Their hectic schedule looks to be taking its toll on a tired and injury-depleted squad, and their focus has slipped with their concentration on their fairytale Champions League run to the final.
Should they drop out of the top four after all-38 games are played, they still have another lifeline - should they be victorious over Real Madrid in Kiev then they will earn automatic-qualification for next season's competition, meaning that five English clubs would take part. James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo has said of their next 180 minutes: "forget one final, Liverpool have got themselves two," is a simple yet accurate statement of the job at hand.
Blues buoyed by beating Klopp's beleaguered boys
Chelsea's 1-0 win over Liverpool courtesy of a trademark header from Olivier Giroud kept their hopes of Champions League qualification alive. Eden Hazard lit-up the affair by bamboozling the weary Liverpool defence with his seemingly-endless running and tricky dribbling, while Liverpool's main man Mohamed Salah was unable to have any impact on his return to Stamford Bridge.
When he's at his best, as he has been so far today, Eden Hazard is absolutely unplayable
— Daniel Moxon (@dmoxonljmu) May 6, 2018
Antonio Conte's men had been struggling, having plummeted down the table from being second at the turn of the year and leaving the manager's future under heavy speculation.
Four-straight victories have since steadied the ship, a run which has propelled the Blues right back into the race for Champions League qualification and given the manager some security.
The Blues are now in a position to capitalise on any slip-ups from Liverpool or Spurs between now and the end of the season and still have a decent chance to qualify, provided they are victorious in their last two games over Huddersfield and Newcastle, of course. Meanwhile, failure to make it into the competition could see trigger-happy owner Roman Abramovich end Conte's reign at the Bridge.
Spurs' slip unhelpful, but should still secure qualification
Mauricio Pochettino's side lost 1-0 to the revitalised West Brom in a drab affair at the Hawthorns, adding further worries for the Spurs' faithful.
It was their first Premier League loss since the December 16 reverse to champions Manchester City, but also represented a gain of only four points from nine games - a wobble at the worst possible time. Like Liverpool though, they can take comfort from the fact that they have their destiny in their own hands.
Victory in their last two home games against Newcastle and Leicester will guarantee them Champions League qualification from a third-place finish, due to their game-in-hand over the Reds. Recent history is on their side - for all their well-publicised Wembley woes last season, they have only lost one league game at home all season, against Chelsea in their second game of the season back in August.
Considering the strength of both Spurs and Liverpool's opposition, both sides should still be in the Champions League places come the end of play on Sunday, but have no doubt that Chelsea will be looking to capitalise upon any slip-up from either of the sides.
