THE RACE for Europe is really hotting up as teams chase the dream of a trip to Munich, Bilbao or Bratislava.
This season though looks very different as a side as low as 11th in the Premier League could qualify for continental competition.
OK, it would take a set of circumstances more complex than the welfare benefits system.
But what the current table does show is that the Premier League is every inch a meritocracy.
Rubbish, I hear you say. The same big teams keep winning the league.
That may or may not be true — 2016 champions Leicester being a case in point — but just one look at the table and it struck me that plenty of the so-called “smaller” clubs are doing remarkably well.
Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Fulham, Bournemouth, Brentford and Crystal Palace are all vying for those vaunted European places and only one of them has ever won the English title — Forest under the late, great Brian Clough.
Indeed, this season has shown above many others that reputations mean precious little with big clubs such as Manchester United, Spurs and Everton all at the wrong end of the table.
At West Ham we know only too well how a European competition can light up your season.
No one will ever forget that remarkable night in Prague two years ago when Jarrod Bowen’s late winner clinched us the Uefa Conference League crown.
So for those chasing the coveted European places, there is a real incentive to give their fans something to get excited about.
With only a few games to go this scrap is the most exciting element left to play out, with Liverpool 12 points clear at the top of the Prem and the bottom three seemingly cast adrift from the rest.
You’ll have to bear with me as the late Professor Stephen Hawking would have struggled with the mathematics — but it is theoretically possible for the 11th-placed team in the Premier League to qualify for Europe. Very unlikely, but possible.
So, here goes.
Liverpool, Arsenal, Forest and Manchester City qualify for the Champions League by finishing in the top four.
Newcastle end fifth but collect the extra Champions League place awarded due to our teams doing so well in Europe this season.
So far, so good.
What this underlines for me is that the Premier League is both the strongest in the world — and the most competitive. It also has little respect for previous achievements and stature.
Karren Brady
Brighton finish sixth and qualify for the Europa League, while Bournemouth end seventh but win the FA Cup, thus qualifying for the Europa League as well.
Chelsea finish eighth and win the Conference League, therefore also qualifying for the Europa League.
Phew. But here is where it gets a bit complicated.
Aston Villa end the season in ninth but win the Champions League, giving them the right to defend their trophy.
Meanwhile Manchester United or Spurs finish tenth, but by winning the Europa League they also qualify for next season’s Champions League.
With fifth-place Newcastle in the Champions League, their Conference League slot for winning the Carabao Cup would go to the 11th-placed side in the table — with the top ten already in Europe.
It was a long and winding road, but we got there in the end.
Of those “smaller” clubs vying for those qualification places, two-times European champions Forest were last in Europe 30 years ago.
Fulham reached a European final 15 years ago while Brighton got to the Europa League round of 16 in 2024. The others never had a sniff at sipping coffee in Copenhagen, or biting into a Bratwurst in Berlin.
What this underlines for me is that the Premier League is both the strongest in the world — and the most competitive.
It also has little respect for previous achievements and stature.
But between now and the end of the season on May 25, there promises to be more twists and turns than at Silverstone as clubs race for the finishing line.
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