Top-five hopes on the line for Chelsea

PREMIER League champions Liverpool are in line to receive a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, but any pre-match pleasantries will quickly be put to one side, with hosts Chelsea desperate to boost their top-five hopes.

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Liverpool wrapped up the title with four games to spare last weekend with a 5-1 hammering of Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield, while Chelsea eked out a 1-0 win over Everton that kept them in the thick of the battle for Champions League qualification.

The Premier League hav-ing an extra spot in next season’s Champions League might ordinarily have given the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea a little more leeway, but the reality is five clubs are chasing three places.

With second-placed Arsenal, who have 67 points from 34 games, looking safe for a top-five finish, the scrap for third, fourth and fifth has become the only story in town for the remaining weeks of the top-flight season.