The favourites for Champions League qualification - ranked

Champions League qualification is a little more complicated this season.

For the first time, there could be five English sides that qualify for Europe's premier competition through their league performances alone, but whether that is the case will depend on UEFA coefficients and, crucially, won't be known until late in the campaign.

Therefore, the only way to guarantee a spot in next season's Champions League is by finishing in the top four in the Premier League, something that looks guaranteed for Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City.

That leaves just one spot still to be occupied, with Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester United currently battling it out for a top-four finish. As the season draws to a close, the stakes get higher for all three sides with each passing week.

Here are the favourites for Champions League qualification - ranked.

3. Manchester United

It wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that Man Utd's hopes of finishing in the top four have already gone, with the Red Devils currently trailing both Aston Villa and Spurs by some distance. However, with a Game in hand, there is the slimmest of chances for redemption.

They would need an awful lot of favours from elsewhere while going on a perfect run themselves, which doesn't look incredibly likely given their generally subpar performances and inconsistencies this term.

Erik ten Hag's side have played Spurs and Villa twice each, so there are no extra points to be won there, and also have an FA Cup semi-final to focus on during April.

All in all, Man Utd's only hope is that they can somehow stumble to fifth and that English sides perform well enough in Europe to hand the Premier League and extra qualification spot.

2. Tottenham

Tottenham looked to have taken control of the race for top four when they hammered Villa 4-0 on the road in March, but a 3-0 defeat at Fulham followed, with a 1-1 draw with West Ham also seeing Ange Postecoglou's side drop points.

The Lilywhites are currently sat below Villa but are just several points behind, with the likes of Son Heung-min and Brennan Johnson in great form ahead of the run-in.

However, their fixture list doesn't make for pretty viewing, with games against the three title chasers Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City still to come. There are more straightforward clashes with Burnley and Sheffield United to close out the campaign, but it could be too late by then.

1. Aston Villa

Unai Emery's side astonished last season by qualifying for the Europa Conference League after a dismal start to the campaign under Steven Gerrard, but they could go even further this term by finishing in the top four.

The Midlands side have been largely consistent despite some difficult periods and are in the driving seat for Champions League qualification as things stand.

Villa will have the distraction of European Football - something Man Utd and Spurs don't have to deal with - but have shown they have more than enough in the tank to maintain their lead until the end of the campaign.

Their fixture list does have some challenges though, including clashes with Arsenal and Liverpool.

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