16 days that could dictate Champions League qualification from Premier League | OneFootball

It is one of the tightest ever fights for Champions League qualification from the Premier League.

As the fourth international break of the season comes to an end, that fight towards the top end will be frantic.

Liverpool have already effectively qualified for the Champions League qualification, though they still have to crawl over the line to lift the title.

However, all to play for when it comes to those below, when it comes to the European places.

It is now ‘virtually impossible’ for the Premier League to miss out on one of the two bonus Champions League places next season, as the English clubs have collectively performed far better this season in Europe compared to rival countries.

So the good news is that despite Liverpool already taking up one Champions League place, there are still four others to fight over.

The not so positive news is just how many Premier League clubs are still actively fighting for those spots.

This is how the Premier League table looks on Monday 24 March 2025:

As you can see, there are effectively nine PL clubs fighting it out for the other four Champions League places, those currently 2nd down to 10th in the table.

Arsenal and Forest have a decent advantage but then seven clubs separated by only five points, whilst Newcastle are the only one with a game in hand.

A period of 16 days could well dictate how this Champions League contest is going to end up.

The first 16 days of April will see 24 Premier League matches involving those clubs from Arsenal in second down to Bournemouth in tenth, after the 16th April all of these teams will each have only six PL matches remaining.

All of those 24 Premier League fixtures are listed below, but first I will look at the matches each club (who are currently second to tenth in the table) plays in the first 16 days of April and predict how many points they will pick up in these games, then show how the Premier League table would then look with six rounds of PL games remaining, if my predicted results and points totals came true…

Arsenal (5 points)

Fulham H (Draw), Everton A (Draw), Brentford H (Win)

Forest (7 points)

Man U H (Win), Villa A (Draw), Everton H (Win)

Chelsea (4 points)

Spurs H (Draw), Brentford A (Lose), Ipswich H (Win)

Man City (7 points)

Leicester H (Win), Man U A (Win), Palace H (Draw)

Newcastle United (10 points)

Brentford H (Win), Leicester A (Win), Man U H (Win), Palace H (Draw)

Brighton (5 points)

Villa H (Draw), Palace A (Draw), Leicester H (Win)

Fulham (3 points)

Arsenal A (Draw), Liverpool H (Draw), Bournemouth A (Draw)

Villa (5 points)

Brighton A (Draw), Forest H (Draw), Southampton A (Win)

Bournemouth (5 points)

Ipswich H (Win), West Ham A (Draw), Fulham H (Draw)

Predicted Premier League table for places second down to tenth by close of business on Wednesday 16 April, based on the forecast results above (Predicted points totals before each team, with six rounds of games remaining):

63 Arsenal

61 Forest

57 Newcastle United

55 Man City

53 Chelsea

52 Brighton

50 Villa

49 Bournemouth

48 Fulham

With six rounds of matches to go, that would put Newcastle United in a very strong position. I really this is a golden chances in the opening 16 days of April for Newcastle to put one foot in the Champions League. I actually see no reason why United can’t win all of these four matches, but have tried to be a little conservative, predicting only a draw against Palace. However, playing against four teams in the bottom half, three of those games at home and the away one against a team that are basically already relegated, what an opportunity!

My feeling is that Arsenal and Forest are now going to join Liverpool in the Champions League places and I fancy Man City will find a way to end up in that top five as well, leaving it for Newcastle United to ensure they are ahead of the likes of Chelsea, Brighton and others.

It would of course be a very sweet bonus if Man City got the punishment they undoubtedly deserve regarding those 115 Premier League charges. Relegation would be a fitting punishment but at the very least we can hope for a points deduction, with everything crossed that this happens to impact this season’s Premier League placings.

Tuesday 1 April

Arsenal v Fulham (7.45pm), Forest v Man U (8pm)

Wednesday 2 April

Bournemouth v Ipswich (7.45pm), Brighton v Villa (7.45pm), Man City v Leicester (7.45), Newcastle v Brentford (7.45pm)

Thursday 3 April

Chelsea v Spurs (8pm)

Saturday 5 April

Everton v Arsenal (12.30pm), Palace v Brighton (3pm). West Ham v Bournemouth (3pm), Villa v Forest (5.30pm)

Sunday 6 April

Brentford v Chelsea (2pm), Fulham v Liverpool (2pm), Man U v Man City (4.30pm)

Monday 7 April

Leicester v Newcastle (8pm)

Saturday 12 April

Man City v Palace (12.30pm), Brighton v Leicester (3pm), Forest v Everton (3pm), Southampton v Villa (3pm), Arsenal v Brentford (5.30pm)

Sunday 13 April

Chelsea v Ipswich (2pm), Newcastle v Man U (4.30pm)

Monday 14 April

Bournemouth v Fulham (8pm)

Wednesday 16 April

(Newcastle United in their final six matches then have Villa A, Ipswich H, Brighton A, Chelsea H, Arsenal A, Everton H)