How many points Chelsea need to finish above Aston Villa, Newcastle Utd & more in UCL race - according to Opta

Chelsea retained their place in the top four of the Premier League on Sunday afternoon despite a 0-0 draw at Brentford. It was the first time an away team had failed to score at the Gtech Community Stadium this season as the Blues moved onto 53 points.

Nottingham Forest, one place above Enzo Maresca’s side, lost 2-1 to Aston Villa on Saturday evening with Unai Emery’s side now just two points behind the Blues. Manchester City remain a point behind Chelsea after they drew 0-0 with rivals Manchester United in a dull derby contest at Old Trafford.

Newcastle United sit seventh, three points behind Chelsea in fourth but having played two games fewer. They take on Leicester City on Monday night while they play Crystal Palace on April 16 in their other game in hand.

How many points Chelsea need to finish top five

The Premier League is poised to be handed five Champions League qualification spots for next season due to English’s side performances in Europe this season. Italy and Spain were handed the extra spots for this season but Italian clubs have not performed as well this campaign with the two extra Champions League places set to go England and Spain.

Opta’s predicted Premier League table has Newcastle to finish fifth on 65 points with Man City in fourth on 66 points. Nottingham Forest are tipped for third on 68 points. Chelsea are forecast for 64 points and a place in the Europa League.

However, with 65 points the potential target, the Blues will feel that is achievable as they prepare for the final run-in. Maresca’s side are at a slight disadvantage as they have European commitments while City and Forest are still in the FA Cup but will only play a maximum of two more games. Newcastle are out of all competitions after winning the Carabao Cup last month. Aston Villa are tipped to finish eighth with 62 points while they also have Champions League fixtures to factor into their schedule.

Enzo Maresca reacts to Chelsea draw at Brentford

Maresca made some surprise changes to his starting line-up against Brentford. After a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in midweek, the Chelsea boss rested Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella and Pedro Neto against the Bees.

"Not all of them were 100%," he explained after the game. "The idea was to start one way and finish another way. The plan nearly worked because we created more in the second half but the volume probably wasn't enough to win the game."

He added: “I am here to try to do the best for the club and players. I work every day with the players so I can see how they are. I am not sure if Spurs at home is harder than Brentford away. For me, they are all complicated."

On the performance he added: “We prepared the game in the way it was, in terms of starting one way and finishing the other way. We played Thursday night, a demanding game, 24 hours less than them. Tricky stadium, sunny day, the pitch was dry, they tried to kill the tempo of the game. Overall we did enough to win the game. We shot more than 20 times. The only thing we missed was the goal, but overall I’m happy with the performance.”