European qualification is a real quandary this season to work out, there are so many variables in play that even now, with just a few games to go it is almost impossible to work out which competition Tottenham, among others, will be in next season.
For starters, there is the European conference league to throw in the mix and that is set aside for the sixth-placed team, however, the FA Cup winners may yet have a say in that and in theory, England could end up with no team in the Conference League.
The Europa League is set for the team in fifth and FA Cup winners but again, it all depends on who wins the Champions League and Europa League.
You could have a scenario where the team that finishes fourth misses out on a Champions League spot if Chelsea finishes below fourth and win the competition. I am sure that scenario brings back bad memories for some.
The chances are that Spurs will end up in the Conference League once all the permutations have been sorted out, however, I am fairly confident that we will finish fifth and qualify for the Europa League.
And yes, before anyone makes a comment below, I now accept that we will not be finishing top four and even if we did, Chelsea would then win the Champions League and eliminate us, it is just written in the stars.
The reason I believe we will finish fifth is our run-in, it is a decent one and all games are winnable, maybe not the Leicester City game but the Foxes may well have nothing to play for when we face off against them (probably already confirmed in Champions League by then) and they will have a FA Cup final to look forward to.
There are six teams fighting for positions 3rd to 8th and I am of the opinion that Leicester and Chelsea will occupy 3rd and 4th respectively, which leaves, Liverpool, West Ham, Everton and Spurs fighting for 5th -8th.
Based on each teams’ run-ins and the fact that there are just two points between us and fifth I can see Spurs grabbing that fifth spot.
Not what we wanted when the season started but still better than a kick in the marbles.