Premier League Tottenham’s Champions League hopes fade after a 2-0 loss to Chelsea, facing an uphill battle for European qualification
By falling 2-0 at Chelsea on Thursday, Tottenham slumped to a second loss to a London rival in the space of four days in the Premier League — after a 3-2 home defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby last weekend.
In between those losses came confirmation that England will have just four places in next season’s expanded Champions League, and not five.
That’s another blow to Spurs, who are fifth and stayed seven points behind fourth-place Aston Villa with one game in hand. They still have to play Liverpool and Manchester City in their remaining four games so it is looking increasingly unlikely they will close the gap to Villa.
Headed goals by Trevoh Chalobah in the 24th minute and Nicolas Jackson in the 72nd were enough for Chelsea, which could yet salvage a place in one of the minor European competitions from what has been an underwhelming Premier League campaign for a squad assembled at a cost of more than $1 billion.
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Chelsea climbed above West Ham and into eighth place, two points behind Newcastle and three behind Manchester United in sixth. Two of those three teams will likely be playing in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League next season.
Tottenham has now won just one of its past 34 away league games against Chelsea, making it one of the most one-sided top-flight fixtures. The sole victory came in 2018, when Mauricio Pochettino — the current Chelsea manager — was in charge of Spurs.
Chalobah got on the end of a free kick by Conor Gallagher to loop a header over Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and into the net to give Chelsea the lead. It was another goal conceded from a set piece by Spurs and that is becoming a recurring issue under manager Ange Postecoglou.
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Jackson, who had a shot partially saved by Vicario and subsequently cleared off the line by Micky van de Ven in the first half, eventually got his goal when he was quickest to react after Cole Palmer’s free kick rebounded out off the crossbar. Jackson did well to head the ball over two Tottenham defenders who were retreating toward their goal line.
Tottenham is six points clear of Manchester United and might have to settle for a fifth-place finish, which would earn a spot in next season’s Europa League.
