Chelsea's final 5 Premier League fixtures compared to Newcastle and Man City after huge late win

Chelsea secured a huge boost on Sunday in their bid to qualify for the Champions League after coming behind to defeat rivals Fulham away from home. The Blues trailed for much of the game but clicked into action when youngster Tyrique George scored with a fine finish.

Pedro Neto then scored with a superb finish in stoppage time, breaking Chelsea’s poor run of results and - at least for now - returning them to the top five, keeping in mind that we now know fifth place will be enough to secure Champions League football in the Premier League this season. Here we look at the latest in the Champions League race.

State of play

Chelsea’s win over Fulham has taken them up to fifth in the table, two points behind Newcastle United in third and one behind Manchester City in fourth. Crucially, the Blues are just goal difference ahead of Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, and Forest have a game in-hand to play, not playing until Monday night when they face Tottenham away from home.

What has Enzo Maresca said?

Speaking after Chelsea’s late win over Fulham, Enzo Maresca told BBC Sport: “Very happy. First of all because I think we deserved to win the game. We started well in the first 20 minutes then we conceded a goal unfortunately and in a match that is must win, it’s not easy for the players.

“It becomes more difficult but second half, we also changed something tactically and it was much better. We were a little bit more dynamic with Malo Gusto inside. He is doing this fantastically for us since day one and second half we were much better.”

Match-winner Pedro Neto added on the club’s top five hopes: “The belief has always been there, even in the bad moments. Sometimes in this game it is not about the quality, it’s about the spirit and that’s what we showed today - and I think we deserved to win.”

Chelsea’s remaining fixtures compared to European rivals

Chelsea have five games remaining, and the same applies to the rest of their rivals with the exception of Nottingham Forest, who play on Monday night. The Blues have a tough run-in overall, facing a hard-to-beat Everton, leaders Liverpool and then top five hopefuls Newcastle United. Manchester United haven’t been particularly dangerous this season, but Chelsea then finish the campaign with a potential six-pointer with Nottingham Forest.

Of the five hopefuls, the Blues arguably have the most difficult run-in, though Newcastle and Aston Villa also have it pretty tough, even if less so. Here is the full list of fixtures.

Chelsea: Everton (H), Liverpool (H), Newcastle (A), Man Utd (H), Nottingham Forest (A).

Nottingham Forest: Tottenham (A), Brentford (H), Crystal Palace (A), Leicester (H), West Ham (A), Chelsea (H).

Man City: Aston Villa (H), Wolves (H) Southampton (A), Bournemouth (H), Fulham (A).

Newcastle United: Ipswich Town (H), Brighton & Hove Albion (A), Chelsea (H), Arsenal, (A) Everton (H).

Aston Villa: Man City (A), Fulham (H), Bournemouth (A), Tottenham Hotspur (H), Man Utd (A).

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