Man City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa: Who has the best run-in?

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With just a few matches remaining of the Premier League season for each side, only four points separate third and seventh in the race for Champions League qualification.

Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa will battle to secure the final spots in Europe’s premier cup competition, with Arsenal having all but secured their place and Liverpool crowned as champions.

Arne Slot’s sealed their 20th top-flight title at a canter, while the three relegation spots already confirmed, leaving the race for the top five as all that’s left to provide drama before the final weekend.

The strong performances of the English sides in Europe has earned an extra qualification place for next season’s Champions League, while Manchester United or Tottenham will be a sixth entrant after the Premier League pair set up a Europa League final meeting.

But which teams are best placed to finish in the top five come the end of May? Let’s take a look…

Manchester City

Points: 65 (played 36)

Pep Guardiola has already emphasised the potential importance of qualifying for Europe’s top-tier competition after a difficult season for the defending champions.

A damaging draw at Southampton was a serious slip-up as Manchester City missed out on the chance to move level on points with Arsenal in second, opening the door to those below to close the gap.

Guardiola’s side now need to navigate potentially problematic matches against Bournemouth and Fulham, who are both pushing for a top-half finish.

Remaining fixtures

18 May: Bournemouth (H)

25 May: Fulham (A)

Newcastle United

Points: 63 (played 35)

Eddie Howe’s side were flying high after their Carabao Cup triumph and dominant wins over Manchester United and Palace, but they were quickly brought down to Earth with that 4-1 drubbing against Aston Villa.

They responded by beating Ipswich, but the Magpies will have to navigate a fairly difficult set of fixtures if they are to return to the Champions League for the second time in three seasons, as they face Arsenal and Chelsea on consecutive weekends before finishing the season at home to Everton.

It remains to be seen if Alexander Isak’s late penalty in the 1-1 draw at Brighton was a point gained or two dropped.

Isak rescued a point at Brighton (Action Images via Reuters)

Remaining fixtures

11 May: Chelsea (H)

18 May: Arsenal (A)

25 May: Everton (H)

Chelsea

Points: 63 (played 35)

Though Chelsea are still well-positioned to make the top five, some of their fans will be wondering how it’s this close after being second in December. However, they were the big winners of Forest’s home defeat against Brentford last Thursday night, as their hopes are in their hands.

The dramatic comeback win over Fulham has been followed by victories over Everton and newly crowned champions Liverpool to restore some belief.

There is certainly no straightforward game remaining for the Blues, with difficult away trips to fellow top-five chasers Newcastle and Forest as well as a home fixture against Manchester United. It’s going to come down to those last three fixtures for Enzo Maresca and his young side.

Chelsea defeated Liverpool 3-1 to take a big step towards a Champions League return (Getty Images)

Chelsea’s remaining fixtures are as follows:

11 May: Newcastle (A)

16 May: Manchester United (H)

25 May: Nottingham Forest (A)

Aston Villa

Points: 63 (played 36)

A gutsy win at Bournemouth was vital for Aston Villa as Ollie Watkins again showed his worth. It’s a pleasant enough end to the season for Unai Emery’s side, too, with their last two matches against Europa League final combatants Tottenham and Manchester United – whose focus may well lie elsewhere.

Villa will be looking to emulate this season's successful Champions League campaign next term — Villa will be looking to emulate this season’s successful Champions League campaign next term (Getty Images)

Villa’s remaining fixtures are as follows:

18 May: Tottenham (H)

25 May: Manchester United (A)

Nottingham Forest

Points: 61 (played 35)

A run of four defeats in five games, capped by a 2-0 home loss to Brentford at the City Ground, represented a real slump for Nottingham Forest in a period that also included a dispiriting FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City.

A draw against Crystal Palace only partially stopped the rot, but it is a reasonably kind finish: Leicester and West Ham are both desperately out of form. The final-day meeting with Chelsea could prove pivotal.

“We have to find in ourselves. But I don’t see (pressure), I see belief, desire and commitment,” boss Nuno Espirito Santo said. “But the reality is we are struggling in some aspects of our game – focus and determination to be practical and solve the situations that are simple to solve.”