Aston Villa are battling to secure a place in the Champions League after narrowly missing out last seasonplaceholder image
Aston Villa are battling to secure a place in the Champions League after narrowly missing out last season | Getty Images
Aston Villa are aiming to return to the Champions League after missing out by the finest of margins last term
Aston Villa are fighting to secure a place back in the Champions League after an impressive campaign in 2024/2025 which saw them reach the quarter-final of Europe’s elite competition.
Unai Emery’s side have been one of the in-form sides in the Premier League since September 2025 after an initial slow start and currently find themselves in the top three and with ambitions of making this season a memorable one.
In years gone by, finishing inside the top four has been enough to finish in the Champions League places, and Villa are very much on track to do so after establishing a head start on Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham among others.
However, after last season’s final day heartbreak and injuries to a number of key players, Villa know they can’t afford to get complacent heading into the business end of the season.
But how many more points are Villa likely to need to guarantee Champions League football? And how many has it taken on average in years gone by? Here’s all you need to know.
What do Aston Villa need to secure a top four position?
Opta’s latest supercomputer has backed Aston Villa to finish in third position and comfortably secure Champions League football with 70 points.
In its latest forecast it states that a tally of 64 points should be enough to secure a top four position. It gives Villa a 91.57% chance of making it into Europe’s elite competition based on their performances to date and their points tally at this stage.
It’s worth noting there’s a strong chance that finishing inside the top five could be enough to secure Champions League football anyway next term depending on where England are in UEFA’s co-efficient. Based on this season so far, five Premier League teams are in pole position to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League automatically leaving the nation’s co-efficient in a very healthy state.
How many points are usually needed to secure a top four finish?
On average teams need around 66 points to finish in the top four of the Premier League.
The lowest points tally for a team to finish in the top four during the Premier League era is Liverpool with 60 points in 2003/04. They incredibly managed to win the Champions League the following year.
The highest points tally in history needed to secure a place in the top four is 76 and that was achieved by Liverpool in the 2016/17 campaign under Jurgen Klopp. For context, Arsenal that year finished with 75 points and missed out on Europe’s elite competition for the first time under Arsene Wenger.
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