Will Arsenal Qualify For European Football Next Season?

Arsenal have had a pretty shocking end of season run and are looking like they will struggle to find the strength to qualify for Europe this season. Their 2-0 defeat against Tottenham puts them six points behind fourth place Manchester City, though the club do have a game in hand.

Qualifying for European football has become a competitive and economic aim for major UK teams. UEFA permit a maximum of five English teams to the Champions League, and it all depends on the results in other tournaments and league tables.

Here's how it works: the top three teams in the Premier League straight up qualify for the Champions League group stages. The team that finishes fourth is sent to the playoffs. The winners of the Europa League also qualify for the group stages, regardless of how well they do in domestic standings.

The fifth team in the Premier League qualifies for the Europa League, Europe's second most prestigious tournament, and so do the winners of the FA Cup.

There are other rules and nuances, but the top and bottom of it is that Arsenal need a top four finish in the league this year in order to qualify for next season's Champions League. It's really as simple as that.

Yet the Gunners are struggling to secure a top four spot. The Champions League currently appears elusive and unobtainable given their current form, and it seems unlikely that they will ever be in the same league as current favorites Real Madrid any time soon.

Their recent defeat against Tottenham hasn't helped matters. Granted, Tottenham are an excellent team right now, but Arsenal just don't seem to be making the push, despite recent victories against Middlesborough and Leicester City.

Arsenal currently sit in sixth place in the league and are involved in a bit if a scrap with Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United. All of these teams are looking for a top four finish, but two of them will miss out. Chelsea and Tottenham are already through.

Arsenal's last game versus Manchester United, a much needed and long-awaited victory, has helped close the gap and given Arsenal some possibility of pulling the points to swoop into Europe. The Gunners will still play Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland and Everton and, aside from bottom place Sunderland, none of these games are going to be a cake walk.

Aside from the small odds of Arsenal still finishing in a prominent league position, the team still has some hope of making Europe next year. They play Chelsea in the FA Cup Final on Saturday 27th May, and the winner will qualify for the group stages of the Europa League. It's not the Champions League, but it's better than nothing! Fingers crossed Arsenal can find it in them to outplay top of the league Chelsea.

It hasn't been the strongest season for Arsenal, but it's not over yet, and with four games left to play it is still perfectly possible for the Gunners to find their place in the Champions League. If not, there's always Europa.

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