Premier League run-in Champions League permutations: What results do teams need?
The race for Champions League qualification via the Premier League is still alive going into the final game of the season.
Liverpool's comfortable dismantling of Burnley means it is still unclear who will finish the season in third and fourth place.
Telegraph Sport looks at the possible permutations, including for qualification to the Europa League and Europa Conference League.
Who qualifies for the Champions League?
As ever, the top four teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League. However, England is permitted a maximum of five teams in the tournament depending on the winners of European competition this season.
Chelsea and Manchester City are in the Champions League final while Manchester United are in the Europa League final. With the Manchester clubs assured of a top-four finish, it will make no difference if they were to win their respective finals.
However, if Chelsea were to drop out of the top four but win the Champions League final in Porto then five English teams would qualify: Chelsea and the Premier League's top four.
How does the table stand in the race for the top four?
What are the contenders' remaining games?
Chelsea (3rd), played 37, 67 points, GD 23: Aston Villa (A)
Liverpool (4th), played 37, 66 points, GD 24: Crystal Palace (H)
Leicester (5th), played 37, 66 points, GD 20: Tottenham (H)
Chelsea have their fate is in their own hands after defeating Leicester at home on May 18. They are a point clear of their rivals and know a win away at Aston Villa will secure their place in the Champions League next term.
Liverpool are currently in the box seat for fourth. They are level on points with fifth placed Leicester, but with a four goal advantage when it comes to goal difference. Victory at home over Crystal Palace will all but guarantee them top four.
Leicester are the team on the outside looking in as it stands. They need to beat Tottenham at home and hope one of Liverpool and Chelsea slip up. If neither do, they will need to better Liverpool's result by five goals in order to overturn their goal difference disadvantage.
Who qualifies for the Europa League?
Victory in the FA Cup is rewarded with a Europa League spot but with Leicester certain to finish in the top five, and therefore qualify anyway, that allocation now transfers to the league and it means that the top four in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League and fifth and sixth for the Europa League.
If Chelsea finish outside the top four and win the Champions League then they will qualify as a fifth English side at the expense of a Europa League spot. There is a cap on the number of English sides who can qualify for Europe at seven.
Only 32 teams will compete at the group stage for the 2021-22 iteration, reduced from 48.
What are the contenders' remaining games?
Liverpool (4th), played 37, 66 points, GD 24: Crystal Palace (H)
Leicester (5th), played 37, 66 points, GD 20: Tottenham (H)
West Ham (6th), played 37, 62 points, GD 12: Southampton (H)
Tottenham (7th), played 37, 59 points, GD 21: Leicester (A)
Everton (8th), played 37, 59 points, GD 4: Man City (A)
Arsenal (9th), played 37, 58 points, GD 14: Brighton (H)
What about the Europa Conference League?
The Europa Conference League had been allocated to the EFL Cup winners but will now go to the team who finish seventh after Manchester City’s successful League Cup defence.
It means West Ham, Tottenham, Everton or Arsenal (or even Leeds, mathematically still possible albeit results will need to go their way as well as a massive goal difference swing) will end up in the Conference League.
It is a new Uefa competition which is considered to be the third tier of European club football, below the Champions League and Europa League.
The competition will initially run for three seasons from 2021-2024 as Uefa assesses its viability. The first season will begin with qualifying rounds in July, before the competition proper starts in September.
After three initial qualifying rounds over the summer, which will involve up to 184 teams, the competition proper will follow a similar structure to the current iteration of the Champions League.
Thirty two teams will qualify for the group stage, with those teams being divided into eight groups of four. There will then follow a traditional knockout format from the last-16 down to a final, with knockout matches played over two legs. As with other Uefa competitions, the away goal rule will apply.
