Premier League Top Five Finish: Forest 1/8 with extra Champions League place confirmed

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Chris Wood's goals have given Nottingham Forest a good chance of being in next season's Champions League

Get the latest odds on the race to finish in the Premier League's top five after Arsenal's victory over Real Madrid guaranteed that there will be five English clubs in next season's Champions League...

  • Five Champions League places up for grabs for English clubs

  • Nottingham Forest most likely to join Liverpool and Arsenal

  • And then it's probably two from Chelsea, Man City, Newcastle


There will be five Premier League teams in the Champions League next season after Arsenal's stunning victory over Real Madrid secured an extra place for English clubs for 2025/26. 

The rules are complicated and come down to the victories accrued by a nation's teams, as well as how far they go, across the Champions League and Europa League.

But the important thing for Premier League clubs in the upper reaches of the table is that they now know that a fifth-place finish will be good enough to get them into Europe's premier club competition next term.


Forest 1/8 to join Liverpool and Arsenal in Champions League

With the top two Liverpool and Arsenal all but certain of being in the Champions League next season, the other teams in serious contention for the top five are those that currently sit from third to sixth - Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester City. 

Third-placed Forest are the shortest price at 1/81.12 to finish in the top five. They are currently third, four points ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea. If Nuno Espirito Santo's team can maintain their excellent form for their final seven matches they should hold on to third. 

That means we should be in for a three-way race for the final two Champions League places.


Man City and Newcastle to pip Chelsea to top five?

Manchester City are 2/91.22 to finish in the top five. They currently sit sixth in the table but are a shorter price than the two teams - Newcastle and Chelsea - directly above them. 

City have played a game more than Newcastle but, even though they have disappointed this season, there is still widespread confidence in Pep Guardiola's team to get results when they need to. The Champions League without Manchester City is almost unthinkable. Then again, who would have expected them to be sixth in the Premier League with seven to play?

But Newcastle are still a short price to finish in the top five at 2/51.40. Getting back into the Champions League, as well as winning the Carabao Cup, would amount to a fine season for Eddie Howe's men.

They have a game-in-hand on fourth-placed Chelsea with whom the Magpies are level on 53 points.

Chelsea are 8/131.61 to finish in the top five but their inconsistency means few will be confident that they can secure Champions League football in Enzo Maresca's first season at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have draw, won and lost their last three in the league, scoring only one goal in the process. 

Seventh-placed Aston Villa are shortest price of any odds-against team in the market at 6/17.00, although they are only a point behind Man City.

The extra Champions League place for English clubs next season means the competition will even more intense between now and the end of the 2024/25 campaign. The teams mentioned above all have an even bigger incentive to perform and book their place in the biggest club competition for 2025/26.


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