What do Chelsea and Liverpool need to do in order to qualify for the Champions League knockouts?

What do Chelsea and Liverpool need to do in order to qualify for the Champions League knockouts? Man City and Tottenham are already through.

Defending European Champions and Europa League holders Liverpool and Chelsea enter the final week of the UEFA Champions League group stage with their place in the final 16 yet to be secure. Elsewhere, both Tottenham and Manchester City have already qualified.

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So far, PSG, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Manchester City, Juventus, Barcelona and RB Leipzig have made it through. The final 8 participants will be decided this week when the teams complete their group stage round robin encounters.

With 3 wins and 2 draws, Pep Guardiola’s side are runaway group C toppers. Tottenham on the other hand, have also made it through with 3 victories and a draw as the runner-up to Bayern Munich from Group B. Both Chelsea and Liverpool could have secure their places as well. However, they were both held to draws and will now look to ensure their qualifications heading into the last week.

What do Chelsea and Liverpool need to do in order to qualify for the Champions League knockouts?

Interestingly, despite leading Group E at the moment, there is still a faint chance of Liverpool being sent to the Europa league instead. Should Napoli beat Genk and RB Salzburg beat the Reds, both of these teams will make it to the next round ahead of Liverpool.

A draw would be more than enough to secure a safe passage to the next round. However, the defending champions could still qualify even if they lose their next match. However, that would require the unlikely result of Genk beating Napoli.

Chelsea do not have the luxury to be beaten. Their poor head to head record against Valencia in Group H means that even if both sides lose their next match, the Spanish side would hold the advantage. A draw could take Chelsea to the next round but they would need a helping hand from Ajax, who will have to beat Valencia.

If Chelsea beat the already eliminated Lille, they will progress to the next stage of the competition regardless of the outcome between Ajax and Valencia. Interestingly, should both Chelsea and Valencia win their next matches, Ajax could still be dumped out of the competition despite being on top heading to the last game week. A draw though, would be enough to secure their qualification.

Both Red Bull Salzburg vs Liverpool and Chelsea vs Lille will take place on Tuesday, 10^th December.

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