Leicester City have yet another battle ahead of them as they attempt to qualify for the Champions League. The Foxes narrowly missed out last year, but will hope that results fall in their favour this season with the race for top-four closer than ever. Those with a Pointsbet promotional code may try to take advantage such a tight affair with the promotion’s minimised risk.
Leicester City Must Fight For Champions League Qualification
Narrowly Missed Out Last Season
Leicester will know that they have to do better than last campaign if they want to finish in the top four this time around.
After 31 games in the 2019/20 season, Brendan Rodgers’ side had accumulated 55 points and had a seemingly comfortable six-point gap to fifth place. At the same matchweek this year, they have 56 points but are only in the top four with a two-point cushion.
Last season, Leicester missed out on Champions League qualification on the last day of the season, losing to Manchester United, who ended up finishing in third. The Foxes know that they will need to improve in the closing stages of this campaign, especially given the sheer amount of teams who still have a chance to finish in the top four.
Leicester City Have a Mixed Run-in
Leicester’s last few games of the season are rather mixed in terms of difficulty, facing both relegation candidates and fellow top-four hopefuls.
The Foxes need to make the most of their next four matches, against West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace, Southampton, and Newcastle United. This will give them the best possible chance going into the last three fixtures of the season, where things become significantly more difficult for Leicester. Given the inconsistent nature of almost all sides this year, attaining three points in each of the aforementioned games would give Leicester City an enormous boost.
Afterwards, however, the former Premier League winners have to face second-placed Manchester United, followed by Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. While the former may have already secured a place in Europe’s most prestigious club competition by the time their game against Leicester comes around, the other two will most likely still need to put points on the board.
Thomas Tuchel’s side are in very good form at the moment, which could be a cause for concern for the Foxes. After their first defeat in fifteen games under the former Paris Saint-Germain boss, an embarrassing 5-2 loss to strugglers West Brom, the Blues were keen to put things right, and did so with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Jose Mourinho’s Spurs are not doing so well at the moment, though, and they may already be out of contention for the top-four when they encounter Leicester on the last day of the season.
Currently sitting in seventh, the North London team could drop to eighth if Everton capitalise on their game in hand. Not only does Tottenham’s league position fail to give their fans hope, but neither does their form. Winless in their last three, and having emerged victorious from just one of their most recent six matches in all competitions, Mourinho’s side will need to put together a fantastic run of form to see out the season in order to give themselves a chance to qualify for the Champions League. Even this could be too little too late for Spurs, who are currently five points away from fourth place.
Extremely Competitive
The fight for top-four will be extremely competitive this campaign, with six teams fighting for what seems to be two available spaces. Manchester City and United look set to finish in first and second places respectively, but after that, it is anyone’s guess as to who will be playing Champions League football next season.
Many appear to have easier games left to play than Leicester, though. Of their competitors, Brendan Rodgers’ side have the most fixtures against traditional big-six opposition left to play. Despite this, they tend to fare relatively well in matches against these sides, having gained 16 points from an available 27 in such games this season. Further, they have taken points from all three of the big teams they still have to face, with victories against Chelsea and Tottenham, as well as a draw with Manchester United, having occurred earlier in the season.
Ultimately, the Foxes’ two-point cushion inside the top-four at present may be a massive help to their Champions League qualification plans, especially given how close the fight is at the moment.
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