Premier League: Latest in the race for the Champions League as Forest go to Spurs

Summary

Premier League latest as Nottingham Forest go to Tottenham in Monday's fixture (20:00 BST)
Forest are looking to move back into the Champions League qualification positions after moving down to sixth over the weekend
Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle, Man City & Chelsea make up the current top-five but Forest will go back to third with a win at Tottenham
Five sides are separated by just two points
Alan Shearer column: 'It is going to be an incredible fight to the finish.'
Get Involved: WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)
ICYMI: Liverpool close in on title which could happen on Wednesday or Sunday | Alexander-Arnold's wild celebration and future under scrutiny | Where did it all go wrong for Leicester?

Live Reporting

Craig Nelson, Adwaidh Rajan, Emma Smith & Tyrese King. Edited by Murray Burnell.

Can Sheff Utd bounce back in promotion race?published at 13:58 British Summer Time
Burnley v Sheffield United (17:30 BST)
Image source, Getty Images
Sheffield United looked to be in driver's seat and heading for automatic promotion heading into April.
But three successive defeats to Oxford United, Millwall and Plymouth Argyle saw them fall from first to third in the Championship.
Chris Wilder's side returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Cardiff City on Friday, with the manager claiming his side was "alive and kicking".
The Blades will have a chance to cut the five-point gap to second-placed Burnley when they travel to Turf Moor later today, with two games left of the regular season.
Wilder's side will then face Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers in the hope that they can pounce if one of the top two slip up during the final games.
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Get Involvedpublished at 13:55 British Summer Time
#bbcfootball, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)
Even if Leeds and Burnley (and Sheffield via the playoffs) do secure promotion, it’s difficult to see them staying in the Premier League next season. Currently, the ‘small’ Premier League teams are doing so well! Like this season, the three that go up are likely to be those that go down. I can’t see any current Premier League teams having a worse season.
Paul Butler, Leeds
This is not the former Leeds defender Paul Butler is it?
Burnley's previous Premier League campaignspublished at 13:53 British Summer Time
Burnley v Sheffield United (17:30 BST)
Burnley
Image source, Getty Images
Burnley will be gearing up for a 10th season in the Premier League, if they secure promotion this season.
Their best finish in the Premier League came during the 2017-18 season under Sean Dyche, taking seventh and booking a place in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League.
A six-season stay in the Premier League ended in 2021-22 and the Clarets have since then moved backwards and forwards between the two divisions.
Burnley's Premier League campaigns:
- 2009-10 - 18th (Relegated)
- 2014-15 - 19th (Relegated)
- 2016-17 - 16th
- 2017-18 - 7th
- 2018-19 - 15th
- 2019-20 - 10th
- 2020-21 - 17th
- 2021-22 - 18th (Relegated)
- 2023-24 - 19th (Relegated)
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Get Involvedpublished at 13:51 British Summer Time
#bbcfootball, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)
Not sure how much longer the current English football model can survive without reform, but it seems any initiatives (such as FFP) designed to level the playing field just do the opposite and protect big clubs.
Joe in Nottingham
Is PSR going away anytime soon?published at 13:51 British Summer Time
Premier League
In short, not yet.
The profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) are to be retained for next season after it was agreed so by the Premier League clubs earlier this year.
It was anticipated that the clubs would adopt a new financial model for the 2025-26 campaign, but there will now be a delay to its implementation.
The clubs did not formally vote on replacing PSR with the squad cost ratio (SCR) system of financial control - which is currently being trialled alongside top to bottom anchoring rules (TBA) - but were instead asked for their views.
Almost all clubs reportedly said they were happy with SCR, apart from one unnamed club who said they preferred PSR.
However, there was disagreement over when SCR should be introduced. The debate was said to be positive and cordial.
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Get Involvedpublished at 13:49 British Summer Time
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Leeds will go up. When they do, they should sign Jack Grealish from Manchester City and play him as a number 10. The fans would love him and he's ready for a role like that.
Tim, Kota Kinabalu
How good have Leeds and Burnley been this season?published at 13:48 British Summer Time
Image source, Getty Images
It's fair to say Leeds United and Burnley have been a cut above the rest in the Championship.
Sheffield United were also giving the duo company at the top throughout the season but the Blades' campaign has withered in recent weeks and they will have to settle for a third place if they don't get a result against the Clarets today.
So how good have the Championship top two been as they look to secure promotion later today?
Put simply, Leeds have been the best attacking unit in the league and Burnley have the most solid defence.
Daniel Farke's Leeds have scored 83 goals in 43 games this season - 17 more than Norwich City, who are second in that list.
Burnley, meanwhile, have conceded the least number of goals. Scott Parker's side have let in just 14 with Leeds, who have conceded 29, the second best.
The Clarets could also make it 31 regular-season Championship games unbeaten today, closing in on the 33-match record set by Reading in 2005-06.
Which clubs have been punished under PSR?published at 13:46 British Summer Time
Premier League
Everton were the first club to be charged by the Premier League for PSR breaches in 2023.
An independent commission found the Toffees posted losses amounting to £124.5m to 2021-22 and docked the club 10 points, which was later reduced to six on appeal.
Everton were sanctioned again in January 2024, alongside Nottingham Forest.
The Toffees received an additional two-point deduction for being £16.6m over the loss limit for the three-year period to 2022-23.
Forest, meanwhile, were deducted four points after the club's losses to 2022-23 were found to have breached the threshold of £61m by £34.5m.
Leicester City escaped a points deduction for a breach in the three years to 30 June 2023, successfully arguing the Premier League had no power to punish them as they were already in the EFL at the time of the charge.
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Get Involved - can promoted sides survive in the Premier League?published at 13:46 British Summer Time
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I think Leeds will actually have benefited from losing the play-off final last year. Another season in the Championship has given them more experience and determination, although they will have to spend like their lives depend on it to stay up next season. But I think they'll have a better chance than most, can't see Burnley staying up again or whoever goes up through the play-offs.
Martin
What is PSR?published at 13:45 British Summer Time
Premier League
Those FFP that 'Anon' mentioned actually morphed into the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Again, this will be something that the Championship clubs will be mindful of as they bid to play in England's top division.
Under PSR, Premier League clubs cannot post losses of more than £105m over a three-year period.
However, spending on academies, infrastructure and community projects are exempt from profit and sustainability submissions.
PSR was introduced in the 2015-16 season after demands to protect clubs from overspending following Portsmouth becoming the first - and so far only - Premier League club to go into administration.
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Get Involved - can promoted sides survive in the Premier League?published at 13:43 British Summer Time
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Hi, hope that Leeds can buck the trend but the FFP rules handicap the promoted teams. The clubs should be able to spend the Prem money as they see fit in a sensible effort to retain Prem status. Otherwise, all you can hope for is to be a yo-yo club and maybe get enough of a slingshot effect after a few seasons to actually stay there.
Anon
Leeds United's previous Premier League campaignspublished at 13:40 British Summer Time
Leeds United v Stoke City (15:00 BST)
Leeds United
Image source, Getty Images
Leeds United have only had three seasons in the English top flight during the past two decades.
But they were a regular fixture in the Premier League since the league's inception in 1992 up until they were relegated at the end of the 2003-04 season.
Leeds returned to the Premier League in 2020-21 after a 16-year hiatus but could only keep their place in the top flight for three seasons.
Leeds United's Premier League campaigns:
- 1992-93 - 17th
- 1993-94 - 5th
- 1994-95 - 5th
- 1995-96 - 13th
- 1996-97 - 11th
- 1997-98 - 5th
- 1998-99 - 4th
- 1999-00 - 3rd
- 2000-01 - 4th
- 2001-02 - 5th
- 2002-03 - 15th
- 2003-04 - 19th (relegated)
- 2020-21 - 9th
- 2021-22 - 17th
- 2022-23 - 19th (relegated)
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Get Involved - can promoted sides survive in the Premier League?published at 13:38 British Summer Time
#bbcfootball, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)
As a Leeds fan, if we do get promoted it is less about playing in the Premier League, where we will receive regular beatings even if we do somehow manage to scrabble to 17th and more about sustainability. No club can stay at the top of the Championship for more than two or possibly three seasons max. If we do go up, at least we'll have parachute payments when we, in all likelihood, get relegated.
Nick
Leeds United in Premier League: What happened last time?published at 13:35 British Summer Time
Leeds United v Stoke City (15:00 BST)
Leeds United
Image source, Getty Images
Leeds United are on the verge of returning to the Premier League again after just two seasons in the Championship.
They earned promotion to the top division as champions of the second tier in 2019-20 - enigmatic Argentine manager Marcelo Bielsa restoring their top-flight status after 16 years away.
Leeds finished a promising ninth on their return to the Premier League with a team featuring the likes of Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha.
But it was the start of a downward spiral for the club, who finished 17th the following season under Jesse Marsch, who succeeded Bielsa midway through a dismal campaign.
The American also left the following season with the club in the midst of another relegation scrap - one they ultimately failed to recover from and got relegated.
Now set for a return to the top tier, they will hope for a longer stay in the Premier League this time around.
Postpublished at 13:31 British Summer Time
So what about this season's candidates?
Let's start by assessing Leeds United's chances...
Chastening stats for promoted sidespublished at 13:28 British Summer Time
There are plenty of stats out there to dampen the enthusiasm of Championship fans eager to see their side reach the promised land of the Premier League.
Before this season, 43 of the 95 sides that have been promoted to the Premier League have gone straight back down to the Championship - that's 45%.
While there have only been two occasions - soon to be three - when all three promoted sides have gone straight back down, there have been 13 seasons since the Premier League's first campaign in 1992-93 when at least two of the sides promoted from the Championship in the previous season have been relegated.
And at least one promoted side has been relegated in 15 of the past 33 seasons.
Only four times has all three promoted sides staved off relegation the following season since the Premier League was founded.
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Get Involved - 'Survival is nigh on impossible'published at 13:17 British Summer Time
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Lifelong Sunderland fan and as much as I hope we go up this season, I fear that survival is nigh on impossible. We're now seeing the gulf between Premier League and Championship being so great that clubs have to be willing to gamble on £100m of signings to even have a chance of staying up, and even then the chances aren't good. Something needs to be done to level the playing field a bit. Personally, I would love to see a squad wage cap come in, but I know that's fanciful thinking.
Anon
Image source, Getty Images
Last season's top three in the Championshippublished at 13:14 British Summer Time
Championship
James asked us to look at this season's bottom three in the Premier League - Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich,
What does last season's Championship table tell us about their relative strength to this season's top sides?
For example, how do we think the standard of the Championship compares to last season, when Leicester and Ipswich were promoted and Leeds finished third before missing out on promotion, following defeat to fourth-placed Southampton in the play-off final?:
- 1st: Leicester 97 pts - 31 wins, 4 draws, 11 defeats
- 2nd: Ipswich 96 pts - 28 wins, 12 draws, 6 defeats
- 3rd: Leeds 90 pts - 27 wins, 9 draws, 10 defeats
- 4th: Southampton 87 pts - 26 wins, 9 draws, 11 defeats
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Get Involved - can promoted sides survive in the Premier League?published at 13:09 British Summer Time
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I think Burnley have the best chance of staying up if they get promoted. It's all very well and good playing expansive attacking football in the Championship, but nine times out of 10 clubs can't carry that across - just look at the current bottom three. Burnley are incredibly defensively solid, they've only conceded 14 goals in 43 games. That gives them a great foundation for life in the Premier League.
James
Today's Championship gamespublished at 13:06 British Summer Time
All kick off times 15:00 BST unless stated
Championship
Before we delve a little more deeper into the back stories surrounding the clubs in the hunt for automatic promotion, let's have a quick look at the full programme of fixtures in the Championship today.
We know that Bristol City will secure a play-off place if they win at Luton Town AND Middlesbrough lose at Sheffield Wednesday.
Mathematically speaking, teams as low down as Swansea in 11th could still make it into the play-offs, while nothing can be decided in the battle to avoid the drop today, which is incredibly tight:
- Cardiff v Oxford
- Hull v Preston
- Leeds v Stoke
- Luton v Bristol City
- Millwall v Norwich
- Plymouth v Coventry
- Portsmouth v Watford
- QPR v Swansea
- Sheff Wed v Middlesbrough
- Sunderland v Blackburn
- West Brom v Derby
- Burnley v Sheff Utd (17:30 BST)

Premier League Table

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Difference	Points	Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first
1 Liverpool	33	24	7	2	75	31	44	79	Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Win
2 Arsenal	33	18	12	3	61	27	34	66	Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Draw Result Draw Result Win
3 Newcastle United	33	18	5	10	62	44	18	59	Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Loss
4 Manchester City	33	17	7	9	64	42	22	58	Result Loss Result Draw Result Win Result Draw Result Win Result Win
5 Chelsea	33	16	9	8	58	40	18	57	Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Draw Result Draw Result Win
6 Nottingham Forest	32	17	6	9	51	38	13	57	Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Loss Result Loss
7 Aston Villa	33	16	9	8	53	47	6	57	Result Loss Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win
8 AFC Bournemouth	33	13	10	10	52	40	12	49	Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Win Result Draw
9 Fulham	33	13	9	11	48	45	3	48	Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Loss
10 Brighton & Hove Albion	33	12	12	9	53	53	0	48	Result Win Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss
11 Brentford	33	13	7	13	56	50	6	46	Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw Result Win
12 Crystal Palace	33	11	11	11	41	45	-4	44	Result Win Result Draw Result Win Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw
13 Everton	33	8	14	11	34	40	-6	38	Result Draw Result Draw Result Loss Result Draw Result Win Result Loss
14 Manchester United	33	10	8	15	38	46	-8	38	Result Draw Result Win Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss
15 Wolverhampton Wanderers	33	11	5	17	48	61	-13	38	Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win
16 Tottenham Hotspur	32	11	4	17	60	49	11	37	Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss Result Win Result Loss
17 West Ham United	33	9	9	15	37	55	-18	36	Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Draw
18 Ipswich Town	33	4	9	20	33	71	-38	21	Result Loss Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss
19 Leicester City	33	4	6	23	27	73	-46	18	Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss
20 Southampton	33	2	5	26	24	78	-54	11	Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw

Key

Position 1 - 5 : UEFA Champions League
Position 6 : UEFA Europa League
Position 18 - 20 : Relegation

Last Updated 21st April 2025 at 12:25

Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made.

Premier League: Latest in the race for the Champions League as Forest go to Spurs

Summary

Live Reporting

Can Sheff Utd bounce back in promotion race?published at 13:58 British Summer Time

Get Involvedpublished at 13:55 British Summer Time

Burnley's previous Premier League campaignspublished at 13:53 British Summer Time

Get Involvedpublished at 13:51 British Summer Time

Is PSR going away anytime soon?published at 13:51 British Summer Time

Get Involvedpublished at 13:49 British Summer Time

How good have Leeds and Burnley been this season?published at 13:48 British Summer Time

Which clubs have been punished under PSR?published at 13:46 British Summer Time

Get Involved - can promoted sides survive in the Premier League?published at 13:46 British Summer Time

What is PSR?published at 13:45 British Summer Time

Get Involved - can promoted sides survive in the Premier League?published at 13:43 British Summer Time

Leeds United's previous Premier League campaignspublished at 13:40 British Summer Time

Get Involved - can promoted sides survive in the Premier League?published at 13:38 British Summer Time

Leeds United in Premier League: What happened last time?published at 13:35 British Summer Time

Postpublished at 13:31 British Summer Time

Chastening stats for promoted sidespublished at 13:28 British Summer Time

Get Involved - 'Survival is nigh on impossible'published at 13:17 British Summer Time

Last season's top three in the Championshippublished at 13:14 British Summer Time

Get Involved - can promoted sides survive in the Premier League?published at 13:09 British Summer Time

Today's Championship gamespublished at 13:06 British Summer Time

Premier League Scores and fixtures

Monday 21st April

Premier League Table

Key