What Tottenham and Arsenal’s results mean for the European places

By Ben Browning


Published: May 19, 2021 10:26 pm

Last Updated: May 19, 2021 10:47 pm

Sloppy Spurs slip up

The return of fans to stadiums was unable to lift a turgid Tottenham side, who slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa. An early goal for Steven Bergwijn set Spurs off on the perfect footing, but they failed to capitalise on it and allowed Aston Villa back into the encounter.

Villa’s pressure threatened to punish Spurs, and ultimately Tottenham left-back Sergio Reguilon was the chief suspect in ensuring that it did. First, he sliced a bizarre own goal past a flat-footed Hugo Lloris, before he gave the ball away twice in the same passage of play to allow Ollie Watkins to fire Villa into the lead.

Sergio Reguilon has just scored the best own goal of the season 😅pic.twitter.com/X4aamxOmKv

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 19, 2021

Spurs never really threatened to get back into the game, failing to string together anything of note in front of an increasingly frustrated crowd. Their loss has blown the race for the last two European places (One Europa League spot and one UEFA Conference League spot) wide open, with four sides set to fight it out for the right to play European football next season.

Meanwhile, Arsenal looked comfortable in their game against Crystal Palace and took the lead through Nicolas Pepe in the first half. However, Christian Benteke, who was perhaps lucky to still be on the pitch, equalised for the Eagles in Roy Hodgson’s last home game.

Video: Benteke’s elbow on Elneny’s chin. Red card or yellow card? pic.twitter.com/XmA6W1dAO1

— afcdomain (@afcdomain) May 19, 2021

However, the fairy-tale send-off was ruined by substitute Gabriel Martinelli, who turned in a Martin Odegaard cross to restore Arsenal’s lead, before a second from Nicolas Pepe in the dying seconds put the result beyond doubt.

West Ham:

If West Ham avoid defeat against Southampton, they will be guaranteed a place in next season’s Europa League. Equally, if both Tottenham and Everton fail to win their games, the Hammers will remain in the qualification spot.

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 29: David Moyes, Manager of West Ham United looks on prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester City at London Stadium on April 29, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Were West Ham to lose, they would need Spurs to drop points against Leicester. If Everton win and West Ham lose, anything less than a 9 goal swing will get the Hammers into Europe’s B competition.

To drop into the Europa Conference League, West Ham would need to lose their game and Tottenham to win theirs. However, the Hammers remain in the driving seat,

Arsenal:

Arsenal are the only one of the four sides that cannot qualify for the Europa League. To make it into the Europa Conference League, they would require Tottenham to drop points to Leicester City and Everton to drop points to Manchester City, both of which seem possible. Were this to happen and Arsenal to win their game, they would find themselves playing in UEFA’s C competition next season.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 06: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal reacts during the UEFA Europa League Semi-final Second Leg match between Arsenal and Villareal CF at Emirates Stadium on May 06, 2021 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around Europe remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Pedro Salado/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

Tottenham:

Tottenham go into their final game (away to Leicester City) knowing that they will need to win, and hope that West Ham lose, in order to stand any chance of making the Europa League places. A superior goal difference to both Everton and the Hammers means that were they to finish level on points, it would be Spurs that went into the Europa League.

LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 26: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur during the UEFA Champions League group B match between Tottenham Hotspur and Olympiacos FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on November 26, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Visionhaus)

To qualify for the Conference League, they must equal Everton’s result and at least match whatever result Arsenal get against Brighton.

Everton:

Travelling to Manchester City, Everton are extreme longshots in this race. To qualify for the Europa League, they will need to beat Manchester City and have West Ham and Spurs to lose, whilst finding a 9 goal swing between them and the Hammers.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 21: Carlo Ancelotti, Manager of Everton is seen in the stands prior to the Premier League match between Everton FC and Arsenal FC at Goodison Park on December 21, 2019 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

To gain qualification to the Conference League, they would need to better Tottenham’s results and match whatever the Gunners get against Brighton. A tough ask against the champions.

However the final day pans out, it is set up to be a fascinating episode to end a hectic season.

Read more:

How Everton hope to sign Sergio Aguero

Jose Mourinho trolls Steven Gerrard 7 years after his famous slip vs Chelsea

This article was edited by
Tom Canton.

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City FC	37	46	83
2	Manchester United FC	37	28	71
3	Chelsea FC	37	23	67
4	Leicester City FC	37	20	66
5	Liverpool FC	36	21	63
6	Tottenham Hotspur FC	36	22	59
7	West Ham United FC	36	10	59
8	Leeds United	37	6	56
9	Everton FC	36	3	56
10	Arsenal FC	36	12	55
11	Aston Villa FC	36	7	49
12	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	36	-14	45
13	Crystal Palace FC	36	-21	44
14	Southampton FC	37	-18	43
15	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	37	-4	41
16	Burnley FC	36	-18	39
17	Newcastle United FC	36	-19	39
18	Fulham FC	37	-24	28
19	West Bromwich Albion	36	-37	26
20	Sheffield United FC	36	-43	20

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Player	Team	Goals
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	22
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	22
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	17
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	17
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	16
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic	Everton FC	16
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa FC	14
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	13
Gundogan, Ilkay	Manchester City FC	13
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	13
Wilson, Callum	Newcastle United FC	12
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	12
Wood, Chris	Burnley FC	12
Iheanacho, Kelechi	Leicester City FC	12
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	11
Pereira, Matheus	West Bromwich Albion	11
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace FC	11
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	10
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United FC	10
Cavani, Edinson	Manchester United FC	10

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC	0	11
Maguire, Harry	Manchester United FC	0	11
Gallagher, Conor	West Bromwich Albion	0	10
Hojbjerg, Pierre	Tottenham Hotspur FC	0	9
Milivojevic, Luka	Crystal Palace FC	1	8
Lundstram, John	Sheffield United FC	1	8
Phillips, Kalvin	Leeds United	0	9
Luiz, Douglas	Aston Villa FC	0	8
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	8
Soucek, Tomas	West Ham United FC	1	7
Shaw, Luke	Manchester United FC	0	8
Xhaka, Granit	Arsenal FC	1	7
Bellerin, Hector	Arsenal FC	0	8
Andersen, Joachim	Fulham FC	1	7
Egan, John	Sheffield United FC	1	7
Holgate, Mason	Everton FC	0	8
Hayden, Isaac	Newcastle United FC	0	8
Dallas, Stuart	Leeds United	0	7
McGoldrick, David	Sheffield United FC	0	7
Reid, Bobby	Fulham FC	0	7

Player	Team	Assists
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	13
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	12
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	10
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	10
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City FC	10
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	9
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	8
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	8
Harrison, Jack	Leeds United	8
Werner, Timo	Chelsea FC	8
Raphinha	Leeds United	8
Gross, Pascal	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	8
Cresswell, Aaron	West Ham United FC	8
Pereira, Matheus	West Bromwich Albion	7
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	7
Eze, Eberechi	Crystal Palace FC	7
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	7
Robertson, Andrew	Liverpool FC	7
Digne, Lucas	Everton FC	7
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	6