Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Anon: Morning Phil, you correctly predicted all three promoted teams would go back down. But only 11 wins between from 108 games so far shows a massive gap in quality. What can be done to bridge this gap? Could promoted teams get a 10 point start?

Phil: Sadly, I am not sure what can be done to bridge this gap, other than some smart recruitment and work on academies from promoted clubs to try and stay in the Premier League? Ten-point start? Not happening. Nor should it.

Ask Me Anything

Image source, Getty Images

One more thing on Chelsea.

BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team have been looking into Jadon Sancho ahead of Friday's match at Stamford Bridge...

Why Sancho can't play against Man Utd for Chelsea

It is all to do with the Premier League's loan rules...

Premier League rules will prevent Chelsea's on-loan winger Jadon Sancho facing his parent club Manchester United this Friday.

In the Premier League and FA Cup, a loan player cannot be fielded against his parent club.

The Football Association's rule for men's FA Cup football is that a loan player "cannot play in a competition match against their parent club", while the Premier League handbook states that "during the period of the temporary transfer... a player shall not play against the transferor club".

Players can face their parent club in the League Cup, according to English Football League rules, but that club must give written consent.

You can read more details on this in our explainer article here.

We'll have plenty more time to chat all things Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou a little later.

Spurs are set to have a news conference at 13:00 BST which we'll transcribe as fast as we can.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Mick: Phil McNulty, Your insight is uniquely valuable and most appreciated. The table doesn't lie, and it says that Tottenham Hotspur are officially the worst team in the Premier League. That's because the three promoted teams going straight back down again don't count... but Spurs still managed to lose at home to two of them. So, assuming that Ange Postecoglou wins the Europa League and keeps his promise of winning a trophy in his second season, what on earth should Daniel Levy do next? a) let him see out the remainder of his contract b) extend his contract with improved terms c) sack him anyway. Thanks as always.

Phil: Hi, Mick. I think we have to count the relegated teams, but I do take your point, and for Spurs to be is 17th place after suffering 20 defeats in the league is shameful for a club of their standing. On the question of Ange Postecoglou, this is a really difficult one for Daniel Levy. I never use this platform to call for managers to be sacked.

If Spurs lose, then I believe Postecoglou will go. I also think there is a fair chance he will go even if they win the Europa League. Levy has to make a decision with his head, not his heart. If Spurs win, does he sack the first manager at the club to win a trophy since 2008? There’s the dilemma. He must weigh up the direction of travel of the team, and in the league context, it has been downhill fast. Look at Manchester United. It seemed they were pushed into keeping Erik ten Haag after they beat Manchester City in the FA Cup Final, when to all intents and purposes, they were going to sack him. It was a very, very expensive mistake. Will Levy look at that when weighing up Postecoglou’s future? I still believe he is in jeopardy even if they win the Europa League.

Image source, Getty Images

Next up. Our Q&A with Phil McNulty....

Chelsea

So, there'll be no Nicolas Jackson for the remainder of the season after he needlessly struck Newcastle's Sven Botman with his arm and was sent off for doing so at the weekend.

Outside of Cole Palmer, he's the only Chelsea player to have reached double figures for goals this season.

I wonder who Chelsea will play instead. Pedro Neto in a false-nine? (He has four goals in 33 games).

Teenager Tyrique George, maybe?

That's all from Enzo Maresca. Here's a reminder of the best bits from the Chelsea boss:

• Nkunku remains out, James back in training
• Blues 'probably would have been happy' to be in this position
• 'The team is in a good moment'
• Blues 'working on' attacking option to replace suspended Jackson
• Discipline 'something we need to analyse'

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on whether the club's target has changed over the course of the season: "Since day one I said that the target the club gives to me was in two years we want to play in the Champions League. OK? Since day one.

"But when you arrive to March and you are in all of the season in the top four or top five, it's natural that the target is to finish in the Champions League.

"So the reason why it changed from the beginning is because we arrived to March - the international break - that we were there all season. So it is normal then that the target becomes to finish in the top four or five.

"What changed is that we have been there all season, so the target automatically becomes finishing in the top four or five.

"I said many times already that we have had a good season, that can become a very good season if we are able to finish top five and also if we are able to win the Conference League."

Should Chelsea's target not be to win the title?: "In the last two years - [we have finished] 12th and 6th. It is not about 10 years ago or 15 years ago."

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on his options to replace the suspended Nicolas Jackson: "We are working on that. We don't have many options. Unfortunately, Marc Guiu is still injured. He has started to train with us but he is not ready to play from the start and we are working on different options for Friday night."

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on what is going wrong at Manchester United this season: "I am focused here. It is already difficult to judge when you are inside. Imagine when you are not there?

"It's very difficult to understand the reason why, the only thing I can say is that we try here to be focused on us and to try to do our best here."

On whether it is a good time to face Manchester United, before the Europa League final: "It's not about if it is a good time to face them or not, it's just about us. Even though we had a defeat against Newcastle, I think the team is in a good moment, on a good run.

"In the last 10 Premier League games we have had 20 points. An average of two points a game is a good average to reach a Champions League spot. So we have to be focused on us and try to do our best to win Friday night."

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport

Also, anyone know why mine and Jonny's posts at around 09:30 BST both got 90+ thumbs down out of nowhere all in one go?

I swear they were once popular entries with just a few thumbs down!

Maybe it's my old teachers logging on....

Oh no, I've distracted myself again. Back to Chelsea!

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport

Haha, great text Chris.

If I ever left this job, I'd want my next one to be in academia, writing a paper on "The history of live-blogging sporting events in the United Kingdom from the 1990s to the present day".

I've asked one of our longest-serving colleagues and he seems to think our first live texts were probably in 2002-03.

So I think we can use the tag-line: "The BBC football live: Distracting you from your exam revision for 20+ years".

Chelsea

It was put to Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca that his side have had the most yellow cards of any club in the Premier League this season, and they were the only top five club in the top 10, when it comes to yellow cards.

He was asked if he would talk with his players about discipline, following Nicolas Jackson's red card against Newcastle.

"Against Newcastle was our first red of the season. I don't know, it's probably the way we try to be intense or aggressive. It's a good question that probably we need to analyse during the summer, to see if there is something we can do better."

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on playing against teams, like Manchester United, with a back five: "We won almost all the games against a low block and a back five. The only difference is when we face these kinds of teams, probably we didn't attack quick.

"But if you go back - West Ham, Wolves, Leicester, or more teams we have faced with a line of five, I think our results have been good. It's just a matter to learn to play a different game."

Chelsea

More from Enzo Maresca on whether he has spoken with the Chelsea board about the implications of finishing outside the top five: "We have been there all season and we are now there, for sure can be disappointment [if we don't qualify].

"We didn't speak about that [failing to qualify for the Champions League] to be honest. We didn't have conversation about if we are in Champions League or if we are not in Champions League."

Chelsea

Enzo Maresca on whether he would have been happy at the start of the season to be told Chelsea would need two wins from their final two games to secure Champions League football: "Absolutely. Probably we would have been happy. We had moments, for instance in the first five or six months, where we were second and third, so even better. Now we are there [fifth] and we are going to try to finish well."

Chelsea

Enzo Maresca is short of attacking options after that red card to Nicolas Jackson.

On what he has said to Jackson: "Nico is intelligent enough to recognise there has been an error. There has been a mistake. That's all I have to say about that."

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca started his news conference with some team news, confirming that Christopher Nkunku remains sidelined with injury but saying that Reece James was back training with the squad.

"Reece James is OK. He was was ill, so he missed one or two sessions, but yesterday he had a session with us."

Maresca's probably going to be asked about the Champions League race, being in a Conference League final, and he might also be made to chat about Nicolas Jackson's red card for elbowing Newcastle defender Sven Botman at the weekend.

Chelsea will be without a fit first-team striker on Friday.