Keith Andrews Hints Brentford Avfc Could Need Liverpool Win
Brentford avfc could end up needing a defeat at Anfield to help its Champions League hopes. Keith Andrews has Brentford in ninth, and the path to sixth opens only if the right results fall around Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Andrews, Brentford and Anfield
Brentford’s position is straightforward. It is ninth with three league matches left, and Andrews has overseen a strong season that could still carry the club into sixth place.
The strange part is the route. If Brentford reaches sixth without needing points on the final day, a Liverpool win could help ensure the Reds finish above Aston Villa after 38 games. That would leave Brentford in line for the extra Champions League place only if the rest of the table breaks the right way.
Liverpool and Aston Villa
Liverpool has won its last three league fixtures and still has Manchester United and Chelsea before its final away match at Villa Park. Arne Slot’s side will almost certainly have nothing to play for on the final day if Champions League qualification is on the verge of being sealed.
The other half of the equation sits with Unai Emery’s Aston Villa. Villa must still beat Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-final, and the second-tier European winner automatically goes into the Champions League for the following year. Tottenham did that last season, and the Premier League has already earned a fifth Champions League spot through its results across all three UEFA competitions this season.
Six English teams
That is where the bizarre scenario appears. If Aston Villa wins the Europa League and finishes fifth in the Premier League, the sixth-placed English team would be bumped into the Champions League, creating six English teams in the competition next season.
But Villa finishing third or fourth would remove that sixth spot regardless of the Europa League result. Brentford’s trip to Anfield sits inside that narrow window, with West Ham, Manchester City and Crystal Palace still to come before then.
