Updated 15:43, 05 May 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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\n(Image: Richard Sellers\/Allstar, Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/p>\n
Liverpool received a major boost in their quest for Champions League qualification on Monday after Chelsea were mathematically eliminated from finishing in the top five. Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest ended the Blues’ hopes of securing a place in Europe’s elite club competition, as the turmoil at Stamford Bridge continues to intensify.<\/p>\n
In a match that saw players from both sides sustain head injuries, a double from Taiwo Awoniyi and a strike from Igor Jesus put Forest 3-0 ahead before Joao Pedro pulled one back with a superb bicycle kick in added time.<\/p>\n
The outcome leaves Chelsea 10 points adrift of the top five following a dismal run of six consecutive Premier League losses. With only three fixtures left this season, the highest position Chelsea can achieve is sixth.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Liverpool news: Complaints behind the scenes as Arne Slot causes a stir<\/span><\/span>READ MORE: Ex-Liverpool star lifts lid on Arne Slot sacking after Man Utd loss – ‘Matter of time’<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nGiven the team’s abysmal recent form, even a sixth-place finish appears highly unlikely at present, especially considering the consistent performances of the three sides directly above Chelsea in the standings.<\/p>\n
Those three clubs – Bournemouth, Brentford, and Brighton – are the only remaining teams capable of catching any of the sides currently occupying the top five positions.<\/p>\n
Arsenal and Manchester City confirmed their qualification several weeks ago, while Manchester United joined them following its victory against Liverpool on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Liverpool and Aston Villa occupy fourth and fifth positions respectively on 58 points, meaning both clubs remain theoretically within reach of Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton.<\/p>\n
FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FB PAGE!<\/strong> Latest Reds news and more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n It appears extremely improbable, however, that either Liverpool or Villa will drop out of the top five, given the distance between them and their pursuers.<\/p>\n
Bournemouth are on 52 points, Brentford are on 51, and Brighton are on 50.<\/p>\n
Victories for Liverpool and Villa this weekend would place both sides beyond the reach of Brentford and Brighton, while Bournemouth would need to win to maintain any faint hope.<\/p>\n
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\nLiverpool need just four points from their last three games(Image: Gareth Copley, Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/button><\/div>\n
Liverpool welcome Chelsea on Saturday, before travelling to Villa Park in the second-to-last fixture of the season. A home encounter against Brentford then concludes the campaign.<\/p>\n
Arne Slot’s side can secure their place in the Champions League next term by claiming four points from those remaining three matches, regardless of results elsewhere.<\/p>\n
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Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package<\/p>\n
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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.<\/p>\n
Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool remain in a strong position to secure Champions League football for 2026\/27, and saw…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}