The Premier League low Liverpool could set on the way to a Champions League place… | OneFootball

Liverpool are still sweating on their Champions League place for next season, which could yet be achieved by setting a new low…

The Reds are currently on 59 points and hoping Manchester City do them a favour against Bournemouth on Tuesday so that they don’t go into the final day needing something against Brentford.

Even if they beat the Bees, they would still qualify for the Champions League with the third-lowest points tally. They still need a point just to equal the record low they set themselves…

Here are the six teams who qualified for the Champions League via their Premier League position with the fewest points…

Liverpool (2003-04, 60 points)

Liverpool are already the team to have qualified for the Champions League with the fewest points, with Gerard Houllier’s side finishing fourth in 2003-04 in the Frenchman’s final season in charge.

Like Slot’s Reds, they were on 59 points with one game to go – which they only managed by winning three in a row before a last-day draw with Newcastle. A point saw the Magpies finish fifth and qualify for the Europa League on 56 points.

Liverpool may have qualified for the Champions League with a record-low points total, but once there, they then went on to win the European Cup under Rafa Benitez.

Everton (2004-05, 61 points)

The following season, David Moyes’ Everton pipped their Merseyside rivals to fourth place with a point more than Liverpool managed the previous season.

But the Reds still qualified by winning the bloomin’ thing.

And Everton chucked away their big opportunity. They were beaten by Villarreal in the third qualifying round to miss out on the group stages.

Manchester City (2015-16, 66 points)

In their last pre-Pep season under Manuel Pellegrini, City finished fourth ahead of Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United.

City limped over the line, winning only one of their last five matches, but it was still enough to put United into the Europa League. Which they duly won as part of Jose Mourinho’s diet Treble.

In the league at least, City seemed to take their foot off the gas once it became clear at the start of February that Guardiola was replacing Pellegrini.

At that point, they were second before immediately losing three on the bounce, winning only five of their last 13, with a Champions League run to the semi-finals also a distraction.

Manchester United (2019-20, 66 points)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United finished with an identical record 66 points, +30 goal difference – to Pellegrini’s City.

That was enough for third place in the season halted briefly by Covid. But United were a staggering 33 points off title winners Liverpool.

And they made a late dash for third. Between September and their penultimate game, United had been no higher than fifth, but on the back of a 14-game unbeaten run to close the season, they edged Chelsea into fourth.

Speaking of whom…

Chelsea (2019-20, 66 points)

After a ropey start under Frank Lampard at the start of his first campaign in charge at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea did not drop below fourth through the last 30 matchdays. But nor did they go higher than third.

The Blues entered the Covid break snug in fourth, five points behind Leicester. But the Foxes fell away badly once play resumed in June, winning only two of their last nine to allow United and Chelsea to go above them.

Newcastle (2024-25, 66 points)

Last season’s Newcastle were able to secure passage into the Champions League from fifth place, and even then it was tight.

The Magpies only beat Aston Villa into sixth on goal difference – Villa have made the best of it by going all the way to the Europa League final – while seventh-placed Nottingham Forest were only a point off the Toon.

The gap between last season’s points tally and this term’s total highlights Newcastle’s slump. Even if they win at Fulham on the final day, they will still finish 14 points fewer year-on-year.