The earliest date Newcastle United could secure Champions League qualification

Newcastle United could be just two games away from securing Champions League qualification.

With only four games of the 2024-25 Premier League season remaining, the Magpies find themselves in a strong position after their 3-0 win over Ipswich Town last Saturday moved them up to third in the Premier League table.

That said, the race remains incredibly tight, with only two points separating third and sixth place. However, United’s destiny is very much in their own hands.

The earliest Newcastle United could seal Champions League qualification

Newcastle could secure Champions League qualification by close of play on Sunday, May 11 - if they win their next two matches and key results go their way.

The Magpies travel to Brighton & Hove Albion in Sunday’s 2pm kick-off as they eye their first-ever Premier League win at the Amex Stadium, and only their second in 11 visits.

United would then need Chelsea to draw or lose in the 4:30pm kick-off against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, with Enzo Maresca’s side hosting the newly-crowned Premier League champions just three days after their visit to Sweden to take on Djurgardens in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final versus Djurgardens.

A draw would put Newcastle four points ahead, while a defeat would be five points, meaning Eddie Howe’s side, with only two games of the season remaining, couldn’t be caught by the Blues - if they beat them at St James’ Park on May 11.

Another team to consider is Aston Villa, however if they drop points in either of their next two games - at home to Fulham and away at AFC Bournemouth - then they will not be able to catch the Magpies on 68 points.

And what is potentially significant is Nottingham Forest host Chelsea on the final day of the campaign.

Remaining fixtures

3rd: Newcastle United - played 34, 62 points

Brighton & Hove Albion (A), Chelsea (H), Arsenal (A), Everton (H).

4th: Manchester City - played 34, 61 points

Wolverhampton Wanderers (H), Southampton (A), AFC Bournemouth (H), Fulham (A).

5th: Chelsea - played 34, 60 points

Liverpool (H), Newcastle United (A), Manchester United (H), Nottingham Forest (A).

6th: Nottingham Forest - played 33, 60 points

Brentford (H), Crystal Palace (A), Leicester City (H), West Ham United (A), Chelsea (H).

7th: Aston Villa - played 34, 57 points

Fulham (H), AFC Bournemouth (A), Tottenham Hotspur (H), Manchester United (A).

What Eddie Howe has said about the Champions League race

When asked by NewcastleWorld last week if he would be paying attention to other teams’ results, Howe gave a predictable answer.

“Very simple response to that, it's about us,” said Howe. “Of course we're aware of other teams, we're aware of where we are in the league, but if we don't do our jobs, it's absolutely irrelevant what the other teams do.”

Indeed, Howe isn’t factoring in any potential slip ups from the teams in and around Newcastle and has therefore predicted the race to go down to the wire.

Speaking after the Ipswich game, Howe said: “When you’re running out of games as we are, you want to get back into the positions that you want to be in. We know how tight it is, we know the quality of clubs we’re competing against, but all we can do is try to win our games and it was a big step forward today.

“It will go down to the wire. The important thing today was that we bounced back from last week. We have been very consistent and now we have four huge games.”

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