How many points Chelsea will likely need to qualify for Champions League with England set to get extra spot

There is a lot of doom and gloom around Chelsea at the moment, which is understandable.

Their first-choice striker, Nicolas Jackson, is injured, while the club have now dropped out of the top four following their 3-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League last Friday.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	25	18	6	1	60	24	36	60
2	ArsenalArsenal	25	15	8	2	51	22	29	53
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	25	14	5	6	41	29	12	47
4	Man CityManchester City	25	13	5	7	52	35	17	44
5	B’mouthBournemouth	25	12	7	6	44	29	15	43
6	ChelseaChelsea	25	12	7	6	47	34	13	43

However, Chelsea supporters may not need to enter panic mode just yet, with fifth place potentially being enough to qualify for the Champions League this season.

Chelsea must improve after their terrible showing against Brighton, though, otherwise they will not even finish in fifth.

• READ MORE: Gary Neville claims two Chelsea players were ‘useless as a pair’ in Brighton defeat, ‘there is a responsibility’…

Photo by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images

Chelsea could qualify for Champions League with 68 points

Right now, Chelsea are not where they want to be. They are sixth, behind the likes of Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, on 43 points.

However, if Enzo Maresca‘s men can acquire 25 more points between now and the end of the season, that may be enough to get Chelsea back into the Champions League.

As per The Telegraph, an average of 68 points has been enough to finish in fifth place over the last 10 Premier League seasons. And with England set to get an extra Champions League spot through UEFA’s ranking system, a fifth-placed finish could do the trick for the Blues.

Again, though, Levi Colwill and his teammates need to do much better in the coming weeks. Colwill was one Chelsea player to be heavily criticised after the loss to Brighton.

Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images

Chelsea’s next five Premier League fixtures

Chelsea have an interesting run of fixtures coming up that may define their season.

They play Aston Villa next at Villa Park, which is going to be a tricky game, before taking on Southampton and Leicester City.

Maresca’s men then have London derbies against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, so there are some tough fixtures during this run.

• Saturday 22nd February
  Premier League

  • Aston VillaAston Villa

    17:30

    ChelseaChelsea

• Tuesday 25th February
  Premier League

  • ChelseaChelsea

    20:15

    SouthamptonSouthampton

• Sunday 9th March
  Premier League

  • ChelseaChelsea

    14:00

    LeicesterLeicester

• Sunday 16th March
  Premier League

  • ArsenalArsenal

    13:30

    ChelseaChelsea

• Wednesday 2nd April
  Premier League

  • ChelseaChelsea

    19:45

    TottenhamTottenham

Even the most optimistic Chelsea fan will not be expecting a win against Arsenal, with the Emirates proving to be a difficult ground for the Blues of late. So what they cannot afford to do is go and drop silly points in their clashes with Southampton and Leicester.

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