Chelsea's disastrous season continued on Tuesday with a 3-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, that puts them in sixth position, and make it five consecutive defeats without scoring a single goal. This marks a really striking record: the last time Chelsea went for five consecutive defeats without scoring was in 1912. And the last time Chelsea lost five consecutive games was in 1993.
This is good news for Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Liverpool, third to fifth in the league, seeing how they are cementing themselves in the Champions League spots of the league, although Brighton, on a remarkable run, has managed to pass Chelsea and stand sixth, which would give them access to Europa League.
However, another possibility has arisen: if Aston Villa wins the Europa League and finishes fifth in the Premier League, the sixth team in the league would qualify for the Champions League, instead of Europa League. No team would qualify for Europa League via Premier League (that spot would go to another country) but England would be allowed to have six teams in the Champions League.
That could be the only hope for Chelsea to play Champions League... but there are nine teams separated only by eight points (between the sixth and 14th) that still have mathematical chances to finish the league in sixth place:
- 6. Brighton: 50 points
- 7. Chelsea: 48 points
- 8. Brentford: 48 points
- 9. Bournemouth: 48 points
- 10. Everton: 47 points
- 11. Sunderland: 46 points
- 12. Fulham: 45 points
- 13. Crystal Palace: 43 points
- 14. Newcastle: 42 points
Do you think Chelsea will end up qualifying for the Champions League next season?
