Man Utd kept alive their hopes of European football with a win on Wednesday
Both Manchester United and Chelsea need to get good results in order to move up the Premier League standings and secure spots in continental competition. These two teams are still in the running for a spot in the European football competition.
As the Premier League nears its conclusion, Chelsea and Manchester United are both hoping to cap off uneven seasons by earning a spot in Europe the following year. However, the road to success will not be easy.
Despite their significant investments, neither side has had the season they had hoped for. At one point, Chelsea’s American owners were looking at another mid-table finish, while United, who have significantly underperformed from Erik ten Hag’s debut season in 2022–23, set a number of unwanted records that encapsulate their issues.
Ten Hag has overseen the most defeats in a Premier League season thus far for a United team, but they managed to escape another one on Wednesday night by defeating Newcastle, maintaining their hopes of finishing as high as seventh. Although they can theoretically finish sixth, that is unlikely due to goal differential.
The FA Cup final in two weeks will probably be the focus of their hopes. They will play Manchester City at Wembley for the second year in a row. Despite their extreme disadvantage going into the match, a win would be their best chance to qualify for the Europa League and might even keep Ten Hag employed.
Although Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea will not win a championship at the end of the campaign, things at Stamford Bridge do appear to be improving gradually. With the fourth-most points of any team since Christmas, the Blues have ended the season with some promise after their expensively assembled young squad started to click.
They secured their spot in sixth place on Wednesday night by defeating Brighton. Chelsea still has a chance to place fifth, but their visit to Tottenham will require a favor from Sheffield United, who have already been demoted. Newcastle is still in the hunt as well. Although their loss at Old Trafford was heartbreaking, they are ahead of United in the table due to a far superior goal differential. They also have a somewhat easier match the day before when they visit Brentford.
There’s still a lot of movement to come as a few pivotal elements stand to separate the Europa League from the Europa Conference League.
Chelsea’s win at Brighton put them in pole position to finish sixth ( Image: Getty Images)
How can Manchester United get into Europe?
Ideally, by defeating City in a week at Wembley. That would get them into the Europa League, which right now seems unattainable barring a win, a loss for Chelsea, and an enormous 16-goal swing in the goal differential—which is just not going to happen.
It is more likely that they must improve on Newcastle’s outcome. While United will be traveling to Brighton, the Magpies will be traveling to Brentford. Depending on the result of the FA Cup final, the Red Devils will either finish eighth and miss out on playing in Europe, or they will finish seventh and play in the Europa Conference League.
How is Chelsea going to get into Europe?
The Blues’ primary goal is to hold onto their sixth place and their path to the Europa League, even though they will be aiming for a fifth-place result. Newcastle, who would need Chelsea to lose and them to win, could catch up to them.
Instead, Pochettino and company will ask the Blades for a favor—despite the fact that they have only won three games this season. They will move up to sixth if Chelsea defeats Bournemouth and Sheffield pulls off an unexpected victory.
