Nottingham Forest v Chelsea LIVE: Premier League final day team news before end to thrilling race for Champions League places – UK Times

Newcastle have won six successive Premier League home games and are vying to win seven in a row for the first time since December 2023.

Victory would guarantee Champions League qualification for next season.

A point would also be enough if Aston Villa fail to beat Manchester United or Chelsea draw with Forest.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels: Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Dominguez, Sangare, Anderson; Gibbs-White; Wood, Elanga

Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Neto

There have never been so many clubs going for Champions League qualification on the final day. It has admittedly become a bit more than “the battle for fifth”, as it has occasionally been derided.

Instead, five clubs are going for three places, with two of them – Nottingham Forest and Chelsea – directly facing off.

The elements are there for an exciting last day, if not quite an epic one.

Chelsea have lost their final league match in just two of their last 13 campaigns (eight wins, three draws).

However, they are winless in the last three seasons they have finished away from home (one draw, two defeats).

Nottingham Forest are vying to win consecutive top-flight matches for just the second time since a six-game winning streak ended on 6 January.

Even if they lose today, their total of 65 points more than doubles their figure from 2023-24, when they finished with 32 points after four were deducted for breaching profitability and sustainability rules.

Final fixture: Chelsea (H)

What they need: To beat Chelsea, no other result will be good enough unless Manchester United beat Aston Villa and Newcastle lose by nine to Everton – the latter of which will surely not happen.

If Forest win, they would still need one other result to go their way, so Newcastle failing to beat Everton, or Aston Villa failing to beat Manchester United.