What Tottenham need to do to qualify for the Champions League

Tottenham Hotspur's battle to qualify for next season's Champions League is likely to go down to the wire after Ange Postecoglou's men suffered defeat on Saturday evening.

Spurs went into this past weekend's clash with Fulham knowing that a victory would move them above Aston Villa and into the top four. However, disappointment was to follow as Sasa Lukic's goal sandwiched between a Rodrigo Muniz brace ensured that Marco Silva's side earned bragging rights with a 3-0 victory at Craven Cottage.

It was not just Spurs' pride which took a knock though; their hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League did so too. Below, football.london has taken a look at what Postecoglou's side must do to qualify for the Champions League...

First things first: finishing in the Premier League top four means automatic qualification for the Champions League group stages the following season. Spurs currently sit fifth in the table, on 53 points, three points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa having played a game less (28) than Unai Emery's men (29).

Spurs will go level on points with Villa if they win their game in hand. In terms of goal difference, Spurs (+17) only trail Villa by one (+18), so a 1-0 victory in that game in hand would leave both teams level on points, goals scored and goals conceded. In short, it's a tight battle.

Were Spurs and Villa to win all their remaining games, fourth place would come down to goal difference. Therefore, to guarantee fourth place, Spurs must either simply outshoot Villa in terms of points in their remaining games — a solitary point would do it — or outscore them in terms of goal difference if both sides finished level on points.

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