Champions League Liverpool: How the Reds can qualify for next season’s edition Liverpool enter the Premier League’s final matchday with their Champions League spot still in their own hands, but still not secured.
After losing 4-2 at Aston Villa, the Reds sit fifth on 59 points, three ahead of Bournemouth, with Brighton further back in seventh.
Liverpool’s chances: what does the team need to qualify to Champions League
For Liverpool, the cleanest route is simple: avoid defeat against Brentford at Anfield. A win guarantees Champions League qualification. A draw does the same.
That is why, despite their late wobble, the Reds remain in control of the situation heading into Sunday. The danger only appears if Liverpool lose. Bournemouth can still catch them by beating Nottingham Forest, but even that would not automatically be enough.
Liverpool have a goal difference of +10, while Bournemouth are on +4, meaning the Cherries need a major swing on the final day. A seven-goal swing would put Bournemouth ahead outright, while a six-goal swing could create a more complicated tie-break scenario.
That makes the Brentford match both straightforward and tense. Liverpool do not need to rely on other teams if they take care of their own result. But after taking only one point from their last three league matches, Arne Slot’s side have given themselves a more nervous finish than expected.
Why does the Premier League have five Champions League spots?
The Premier League has five Champions League places because England secured one of UEFA’s two European Performance Spots. These extra places are awarded to the two associations whose clubs perform best across UEFA competitions during this season, covering the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League. In this season, English clubs did enough collectively in Europe to guarantee the Premier League an additional place in next season’s Champions League.
That means the usual top four is no longer the full cut-off. The team that finishes fifth in the Premier League also enters the Champions League phase, which is why Liverpool can qualify even without breaking back into the top four. However, there is a chance to have one more team in the Champions League.
Bournemouth and Brighton can qualify to Champions League,but they need a miracle
Bournemouth have two paths to enter next season’s Premier League. The first is to overtake Liverpool directly: beat Nottingham Forest by six goals or more, hope Brentford beat Liverpool. That is a huge ask, but not impossible.
The second route depends on Aston Villa. Because Villa won the Europa League, sixth place could become a Champions League place if Villa finish fifth in the Premier League. For that to happen, Villa must lose at Manchester City and Liverpool must beat Brentford, which would move Liverpool above Villa on goal difference.
If that sixth-place route opens, Bournemouth are best placed to benefit. They are currently sixth, three points ahead of Brighton. Bournemouth will finish sixth if they avoid defeat at Nottingham Forest or if Brighton fail to beat Manchester United. Brighton’s route is narrower: they must beat United, Bournemouth must lose, and Villa must drop to fifth.
So Bournemouth can dream, but they still need help. Brighton need even more. Their chance depends on results at the Amex, the City Ground, the Etihad, and Anfield all falling into place.
What’s at stake on the final day of Premier League season
For many supporters, it will be a second-screen afternoon, with live tables, social feeds, highlight clips, fantasy football updates and even an online casino open while the four decisive fixtures unfold, in that case, to disconnect temporarily from a tense day.
All Premier League matches on Sunday 24 May kick off at 4pm BST, 11am GMT -4 (Toronto). The key games for the Champions League race are Liverpool v Brentford, Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth, Brighton v Manchester United and Manchester City v Aston Villa.
Arsenal are already champions, while Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa are already sure of Champions League football. Liverpool are protecting fifth, Bournemouth are chasing either a miracle top-five finish or the possible sixth-place route, and Brighton are hoping for the most dramatic combination of the lot.
In the fight to keep the Premier League spot, Tottenham and West Ham have a nerve- wracking last match. A draw in the Spurs v Everton would be enough for the team, while West Ham need an Everton victory and to win their own game vs Leeds to secure one more season in the top flight of English football.
For Liverpool, though, the situation does not need to become chaotic. Beat Brentford, and the Reds are in. Draw, and they are in. Lose, and they will spend the afternoon watching Bournemouth’s scoreline, calculating goal difference and hoping a season that once looked under control does not end with a final-day shock.
