The Premier League top four race often tends to be one of the most intriguing battles of the season, mainly because there’s so much prestige associated with breaking into the Champions League. The act of just qualifying opens up the door for many possibilities within any given club, given the right push, being able to make a surge towards glory.

This season has obviously been quite different as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, even through all of the madness and chaos, a handful of sides have been able to keep their eye on the prize as the search for UCL football goes on.

Today we’re going to take a look at five clubs who hope to occupy two spots in next season’s competition, under the assumption that Manchester United will join Manchester City in qualifying with relative ease.

P.S: If you want to try and put some cash down on what will happen, head on over to the betting page.

Chelsea – 64 points

Chelsea are pretty much safe as a team who can plan for Champions League football next season but Liverpool’s game in hand means they still need to be pretty vigilant. Sure, they need to focus on the UCL final and FA Cup final in the next few weeks, but it’ll only take one big win to give them the platform they really need to get the job done.

Leicester – 63 points

Last season we saw Leicester City slide out of contention pretty dramatically over the course of the Premier League’s final stretch and this time around, they’ll be desperate to avoid the same fate. They’ll serve as Chelsea’s opponents in the aforementioned FA Cup final but if they really dig deep, they should be able to edge out the other contenders in this race.

West Ham – 58 points

West Ham United fans will be left feeling frustrated that they haven’t quite been able to push themselves towards the heights of Champions League football, and while there are still a few games left to be played, the loss to Everton appeared to indicate that they’re running out of steam. Now, sealing that Europa League spot should be priority number one.

Liverpool – 57 points

Liverpool have been through a lot this season from diabolical losses all the way through to a parade of injury troubles. Yet even with all of that being the case, they could easily vault into the top four if they win the remainder of their Premier League games – but as we all know, the word “if” is going to play a crucial role in proceedings given their inconsistency.

Tottenham – 56 points

Tottenham Hotspur are the definition of outsiders in this race and we actually don’t expect them to go all the way here, as harsh as that may sound. The Europa League, like West Ham, needs to be their insurance policy because then, at the very least, European football is secure in one way or another. Ryan Mason’s expectations will be low but with three winnable fixtures, anything is possible.