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Surprise Contenders in the Battle for the Top Four in Recent Years
Liverpool’s chase for the top four this season is looking like an uphill struggle. The 7-0 drubbing of rivals Manchester United on March 5th looked like it put the Red back in pole position to seal their seat at the table of European football’s most elite dinner table. But barely six days later, their Champions League push was once again derailed, this time away at lowly Bournemouth.
Philip Billing’s first-half strike at the Vitality Stadium was enough to give the relegation-threatened hosts a 1-0 victory over their illustrious opponents. To make matters worse. Liverpool’s talismanic winger Mohamed Salah missed a penalty late on that would have given the Reds a share of the spoils. As such, Jürgen Klopp’s side opened the door for their Euro-hopeful rivals and said rivals walked right through.
Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, and Chelsea all picked up victories in the hours following Liverpool's defeat. And while the latter of those three are way down in tenth, both Spurs and the Magpies have an advantage over their Merseyside rivals. Spurs are currently in fourth place and their advantage over the Reds is that they are six points clear of them, while the Magpies are just two points clear of the Anfield club, but they do have two games in hand.
Canada sports betting site Bodog still make Liverpool contenders to secure a top-four finish, but it isn’t just those three teams that are contending with the Reds in the hopes of securing Champions League football. Unheralded Brighton, Fulham, and - to an extent - Brentford, are all in the mix. Fourth-placed Spurs are nine points clear of Brighton in seventh and 10 points clear of Brentford in ninth, and both of those clubs have multiple games in hand on the North London Club.
As such, there are as many as seven clubs battling it out for that final UEFA Champions League spot this season. But this isn’t the first time that underdogs have staked their claim to be amongst Europe’s elite.
Many thought that following The Foxes' maiden English top-flight success, they would fade back into the footballing wilderness. And those people looked to be proved right when the King Power Stadium outfit finished in 12th in 2017, followed by consecutive ninth-place finishes in each of the next two seasons. But Leicester would return back to the summit of English football.
The 2019/20 season was a strange time to be a football fan. Due to global events, we saw every major football league around the world postponed, with only Belarus providing us our footballing fix. When the Premier League was postponed that season, a number of teams including the aforementioned Foxes, as well as the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United were all in the hunt for Champions League football. Once the season restarted, Wolves and The Blades fell away, but Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester kept up the pace.
The Foxes were in pole position to secure a return to European football’s premier competition however, two defeats in the final two games of the season to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United saw them miss out. The following season, they were contenders again, as were West Ham United. Once again, however, they would miss out, with Liverpool and Chelsea eventually finishing third and fourth.
For four years between 2009 and 2013, the Reds finished outside of the Champions League qualification spots, and that opened the door for new contenders to arrive. The year before, the newly minted Manchester City secured their spot in the big time for the first time in the club's history. A year before that, it was Tottenham Hotspur who took advantage of Liverpool’s plight.
In 2011/12 however, Newcastle United returned as top four contenders for the first time in a decade. Under Alan Pardew, the Magpies built a team stacked with quality, a number of maverick players that the streets will never forget.
At the back, they could rely on the flowing locks of Fabricio Coloccini, while in midfield, Yohann Cabaye was the orchestrator in chief. Ahead of him was Hatem Ben Arfa, who was making defenders look silly up and down the country. And finally up top was the devastating striker force of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse.
In the end, Newcastle would finish in fifth place, just four points behind Spurs in fourth. In the end, however, not even Spurs would secure a spot in the Champions League. That’s because sixth-placed Chelsea would go on to defeat Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena to lift the famous ‘Big Eared’ trophy for the first time in the club’s history, and automatically secure their spot in next seasons competition despite their league-finishing position.
Philip Billing’s first-half strike at the Vitality Stadium was enough to give the relegation-threatened hosts a 1-0 victory over their illustrious opponents. To make matters worse. Liverpool’s talismanic winger Mohamed Salah missed a penalty late on that would have given the Reds a share of the spoils. As such, Jürgen Klopp’s side opened the door for their Euro-hopeful rivals and said rivals walked right through.
Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, and Chelsea all picked up victories in the hours following Liverpool's defeat. And while the latter of those three are way down in tenth, both Spurs and the Magpies have an advantage over their Merseyside rivals. Spurs are currently in fourth place and their advantage over the Reds is that they are six points clear of them, while the Magpies are just two points clear of the Anfield club, but they do have two games in hand.
Canada sports betting site Bodog still make Liverpool contenders to secure a top-four finish, but it isn’t just those three teams that are contending with the Reds in the hopes of securing Champions League football. Unheralded Brighton, Fulham, and - to an extent - Brentford, are all in the mix. Fourth-placed Spurs are nine points clear of Brighton in seventh and 10 points clear of Brentford in ninth, and both of those clubs have multiple games in hand on the North London Club.
As such, there are as many as seven clubs battling it out for that final UEFA Champions League spot this season. But this isn’t the first time that underdogs have staked their claim to be amongst Europe’s elite.
Leicester City - 2020/21 & 2019/20
Following their incredible 5000/1 Premier League title victory in 2016, Leicester City became one of English football’s household names. Their success that season would see them thrust into the Champions League the following campaign. And they didn’t do at all bad, reaching the quarterfinals before losing out to the previous year's runners-up Atletico Madrid.Many thought that following The Foxes' maiden English top-flight success, they would fade back into the footballing wilderness. And those people looked to be proved right when the King Power Stadium outfit finished in 12th in 2017, followed by consecutive ninth-place finishes in each of the next two seasons. But Leicester would return back to the summit of English football.
The 2019/20 season was a strange time to be a football fan. Due to global events, we saw every major football league around the world postponed, with only Belarus providing us our footballing fix. When the Premier League was postponed that season, a number of teams including the aforementioned Foxes, as well as the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United were all in the hunt for Champions League football. Once the season restarted, Wolves and The Blades fell away, but Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester kept up the pace.
The Foxes were in pole position to secure a return to European football’s premier competition however, two defeats in the final two games of the season to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United saw them miss out. The following season, they were contenders again, as were West Ham United. Once again, however, they would miss out, with Liverpool and Chelsea eventually finishing third and fourth.
Newcastle United - 2011/12
2011 was a rough time to be a Liverpool fan. 18 months prior to the start of the season, Rafa Benitez left the club after being unable to deliver the Premier League and sliding down the Premier League table. His replacement, Roy Hodgson, was a disaster, leaving Kenny Dalglish to return to the club in an attempt to steady the ship.For four years between 2009 and 2013, the Reds finished outside of the Champions League qualification spots, and that opened the door for new contenders to arrive. The year before, the newly minted Manchester City secured their spot in the big time for the first time in the club's history. A year before that, it was Tottenham Hotspur who took advantage of Liverpool’s plight.
In 2011/12 however, Newcastle United returned as top four contenders for the first time in a decade. Under Alan Pardew, the Magpies built a team stacked with quality, a number of maverick players that the streets will never forget.
At the back, they could rely on the flowing locks of Fabricio Coloccini, while in midfield, Yohann Cabaye was the orchestrator in chief. Ahead of him was Hatem Ben Arfa, who was making defenders look silly up and down the country. And finally up top was the devastating striker force of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse.
In the end, Newcastle would finish in fifth place, just four points behind Spurs in fourth. In the end, however, not even Spurs would secure a spot in the Champions League. That’s because sixth-placed Chelsea would go on to defeat Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena to lift the famous ‘Big Eared’ trophy for the first time in the club’s history, and automatically secure their spot in next seasons competition despite their league-finishing position.
Written by Alan Spencer
