Regardless of the uncertainty surrounding Antonio Conte's Tottenham future at present, the Lilywhites are still in a very good position to qualify for next season's Champions League. Missing the opportunity to move above Manchester United and into third heading into the international break, Spurs remain in fourth following their 3-3 draw against Southampton.
However, the issue for Tottenham going into their final 10 fixtures is that everyone around them have games in hand to play in what remains of the campaign. The Red Devils in third have two games in hand over Spurs as do Newcastle United and Liverpool, with Brighton & Hove Albion, who are in seventh and seven points behind Conte's men, having played three games less than the north London club.
It promises to be a thrilling end to the campaign in the top-four race with plenty of twists and turns along the way. Whereas Tottenham can only concentrate on themselves and hope what they do in their final 10 fixtures is enough for a top-four berth, there's certainly no guarantee that their rivals capitalise on their games in hand and leave Spurs trailing.
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Erik ten Hag's Red Devils will have 19 games on the calendar if they go all the way in the FA Cup and Europa League, thus potentially leading to a couple of slip-ups in the league due to having such an intense and cramped schedule. Newcastle and Liverpool's form has been extremely up and down in recent months and it's not certain that they will put a winning run together to blow Spurs out of the water.
Even if Tottenham do finish in fourth come the final Premier League table, there is one scenario where they would unfortunately miss out on Champions League football in 2023/24. That is because rules set out by UEFA make it so that only five clubs from England can compete in Europe's premier competition at any one time.
As Arsenal and Man City look destined to be playing in the Champions League next term as they are racing clear at the top of the Premier League, the final two places are very much up for grabs. The nightmare scenario where Spurs finish fourth and miss out on next season's competition could come to fruition if Manchester United drop out of the top four and English clubs win both the Champions League and Europa League.
If the Red Devils miss out on a Champions League place via the top four but do manage to lift the Europa League trophy in Budapest at the end of May, they would secure a spot in next season's Champions League that way, thus giving England five places in the competition in the process. Tottenham, providing they finish fourth, would only then be at serious risk if Chelsea go all the way in the Champions League and secure Europe's top prize for the second time in three years.
In that scenario the team who finished fourth would miss out on Champions League football and instead drop down to the Europa League. While you can never say never in football, it does look a very unlikely scenario as Chelsea, who have had an extremely frustrating season to date under Graham Potter, need to find a way past Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and then one of Man City or Bayern Munich in the semis if they are to reach the showpiece finale in Istanbul.
All Tottenham can do right now is secure a top-four position and hope that Manchester United and Chelsea don't deliver them a hammer blow in the days after their campaign has drawn to a conclusion.
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