John Welsh

With the English Premier League season entering its final phase, the race for both Champions League and Europa League places is becoming intriguing. Both Manchester clubs seem to have booked their Champions League berths while they concentrate on a fascinating duel for the title. But for the third and fourth slots in the prestigious tournament there is still much to be decided, while Liverpool remain the only team to be certain of playing in next season’s Europa League courtesy of a League Cup win.

A glance at the Premier League table will show that Manchester United have secured a place in the 2012/13 Champions League campaign, with their neighbours Manchester City expected to formally join them in the near future. For the teams immediately below the Citizens, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Newcastle United, there is the prospect of qualifying for Europe’s most important club tournament with the equally distinct possibility of failing to qualify for either competition. 

For third-placed Arsenal, an impressive run of victories was halted when Arsene Wenger saw his side beaten by a resilient Queens Park Rangers team currently battling for Premier League survival. The Gunners will be hoping to return to winning ways, but this will be difficult with a forthcoming fixture at the Emirates Stadium against title chasing Manchester City on Sunday.

Thereafter, two further matches against relegation threatened teams and a home clash against Chelsea are fixtures which can prove troublesome at this stage of the season. Arsenal need Dutch goal-getter Robin van Persie to rediscover his striking instincts after a relatively barren spell of late, although it has been encouraging to note that other outfield players are contributing in the goalscoring department.

Equal on points with Arsenal are their North London rivals Tottenham, who at one stage were considered as potential Premier League winners. A 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle seemed to almost guarantee a Champions League position for next season, but Harry Redknapp has watched his team’s form dip considerably since then.

The recent home win against Swansea was only Spurs’ second league win following on from the awesome display against the Magpies, and they face a much improved Sunderland team at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. Aside from this, the London giants have a relatively benign list of fixtures and will be aiming to at least secure the fall-back option of a Europa League place with a successful FA Cup run. Spurs’ form will depend much on the hype surrounding manager Redknapp’s impending move to the England hot seat.

Having been written off as Champions League qualifiers just a few weeks ago, Chelsea have finally rediscovered the winning habit. The replacement of manager Andre Villas-Boas with former Blues star Roberto Di Matteo, together with a resurgent Fernando Torres, has allowed Chelsea to move to within five points of the North London teams.

The Stamford Bridge outfit have the added distractions of an FA Cup semi-final and Champions League semi-final to contend with, but their confidence has returned for this crucial period. On paper, Chelsea’s upcoming fixtures appear to be difficult, but their games against both the Gunners and Spurs, the latter in the FA Cup, will probably have a considerable bearing on those final European places.

While Chelsea continue to threaten the top four, Newcastle have assembled the same number of points and persist in stalking the teams in the upper echelons of the Premier League. Written off at the start of the season as a team which would be fighting for their league survival, the Magpies have continued to confound the critics.

Manager Alan Pardew has blended a side of workers and skilful players into a team of potent attacking potential and defensive grit, although they have occasionally succumbed to the odd resounding defeat on their travels. Having signed impressive striker Papiss Cisse from German club Freiburg in January and with Hatem Ben Arfa beginning to show some real attacking flair, it may be too early to take at face value Pardew’s assertion that Champions League qualification is beyond them for this season. Newcastle still face matches against Chelsea and Manchester City, but should they finish fifth or higher, their European place will be secured at the expense of one of the London clubs.

Perhaps, Newcastle will have more hope of clinching a Europa League place with their inferior goal difference, but even this is under threat from a revitalised Everton team. The Toffees need to win their FA Cup semi-final against neighbours Liverpool to retain some chance of playing European football next season. Should Everton prevail but lose the FA Cup final, their qualification will be dependent on either of the other possible finalists, Tottenham or Chelsea, attaining a top four Premier League finish. The Toffees could still finish sixth but need to overhaul a 10-point gap to Newcastle in seven games.

The improved form of the Merseyside team since January has been attributed to the return of midfielder Steven Piennar from Tottenham and the astute signings of Darron Gibson from Manchester United and Nikica Jelavic from Rangers. Although well beaten in a recent derby with Liverpool, it is Everton who seem to be finishing the season more strongly than a Reds team which has endured a dreadful league run since their victorious League Cup campaign.

From now until the end of the Premier League season, there will be many twists and turns in the battle for next season’s European berths. Only Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool are guaranteed entrants and for the other challengers, it will be a contest which could yet spring quite a few surprises with one of England’s giants facing a potentially damaging season bereft of Europe football.