Champions League qualification tears EPL apart as Burnley and Leeds return

Liverpool near Premier League title, Arsenal eye Champions League glory, while UCL race heats up amid mid-table chaos in a thrilling EPL season climax

The race for Champions League football is heating up with five teams fighting for three slots, who wins, who loses? (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

It’s been a hell of a season in the English Premier League, but for once in a long while, the boiling point is neither at the top nor the base; it’s in the middle.

Liverpool pretty much wrapped up the title long ago; it’s the worst-kept secret, and it’s just a matter of one win before they’re confirmed as champions. You sense it will happen next weekend at the latest as they play Tottenham next, and everyone beats Spurs these days.

It could actually happen earlier than the weekend; Arsenal are at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday. Should the Gunners drop points against the Eagles, Liverpool’s title would be confirmed, and they can hit the street to celebrate their second title in five years.

For Arsenal, their dream is in the Champions League. The Gunners would look back at how Liverpool is struggling and regret what could have been, but it could still be a great season for them if they go all the way in the Champions League.

The relegation conversation also took shape in December. For the second year running, the trio who came up from the Championship are on their way back to the lower tier; how embarrassing can this be, especially for the likes of Southampton and Leicester who had been around in recent years?

After Burnley beat Sheffield United 2-1 on Monday, the Clarets joined Leeds United in gaining promotion to the Premier League, while the Blades would go head-to-head in the playoffs against the likes of Sunderland and potentially Coventry City.

It’s all fun and beautiful to gain promotion to the Premier League; however, how many of these newly promoted sides have what it takes to compete in the top flight? The divide between the Premier League and the Championship keeps widening, and you wonder what the fate of these returnees would be.

The key battle right now is in the Champions League race. Nottingham Forest isn’t going away anytime soon; they proved that with a 2-1 win over Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. That’s the 18th time Spurs would lose this season.

Chelsea are the team that currently sit outside the Champions League places; they did themselves a lot of favours at the weekend by scoring late to beat Fulham, but there’s still lots of work to be done. With five matches left, there’s all to play for.

With three slots to fight for – from 3rd to 5th – and with Forest, Manchester City, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Chelsea all in the mix, two of these would miss out, but only three points separate Forest and Villa in 3rd and 7th, respectively, with all to play for in this regard.