After the clinical 4-1 performance from Eddie Howe’s Magpies against Burney, the onus fell on Chelsea to respond, to keep their hopes of European football alive.
And they did so with a convincing 5-0 win over West Ham United.
Chelsea
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After squandering 2-1 leads to Sheffield United and Burnley, Mauricio Pochettino’s team was staring down the barrel of another season without Europe.
Despite the FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City, there have been some positive signs of the team beginning to click under the Argentine.
Having Marc Cucurella as an inverted Left-back has made the team more balanced, by getting the best out of Connor Gallagher and Moises Caicedo in the heart of midfield.
Not to say that Enzo Fernandez isn’t good enough to make the XI, but the style of play that Pochettino wants to inherit, doesn’t suit his attributes as a player.
After the last few games, this Chelsea side is starting to click under the Argentine.
“[The] group has started to believe, how they have started to feel between them. I am so pleased with that. We are part of this process, to help them to grow, to be more mature and keep improving in every aspect. It is a massive step, but it is the step we wanted to reach. Now it is to evolve in other aspects and the possibility to go with tactical evolutions and we can improve from there but without principles, it is impossible to evolve in other aspects.”
Pochettino: We Ain’t Got No History
It’s amazing what can happen when you show a bit of patience with somebody.
Although the team is rejuvenated from the comeback against Villa, plus the two wins against Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United, there is still some work to do in terms of European football.
Chelsea must win their three remaining games against Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Hove Albion, and AFC Bournemouth, to stand any hope of qualifying for Europe after a season’s absence.
Newcastle United
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Eddie Howe’s Magpies have had a tough season, especially having been in the Champions League after a 20-year absence..
Newcastle was placed in an adamant Group F, alongside Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, and AC Milan.
Having started positively with a draw and a victory against AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund, three defeats in the last four games all but ended their return to Europe’s elite competition.
“We’re in there fighting and scrapping. Nothing will be decided today, it puts us in a better position. We’ve got three big games coming up.”
Howe:BBC Sport
The Magpies face three tough assignments against Brighton, Manchester United, and Brentford, their final game of the season.
Six points from those games could cement European football, depending on how Chelsea and United do in their remaining games.
Manchester United
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Monday Night’s 4-0 mauling to a rejuvenated Crystal Palace was just tough to take for Erik Ten Hag’s United side.
It’s a deserved defeat. The performance wasn’t what we expected.
Ten Hag: BBC Sport
Nevertheless, the United Boss is confident that he can turn this around.
“I don’t think about this. I prepare the team in the best way I can. We have many problems. The only focus I have is to perform better with my team.
Ten Hag
Even though Ten Hag’s side qualified for the Champions League this season, they had a really poor campaign where they could only manage one victory in a group involving Bayern Munich, Galatasaray, and FC Copenhagen.
Arsenal, Newcastle, and Brighton are the Red Devils’ final three games which they must win to stand any hope of Europe via the League.
There is, however, a second bite of the cherry, should they win the FA Cup by beating Manchester City, which looks like an even tougher task.
Can they somehow sneak into Europe?
So this is how the race for 6th and 7th place looks
Who will make it?
Image Credit: Deposit Photos
Source : The Race for European Football
