Ryan Mason and Tottenham have three Premier League games remaining to clinch a European spot for the 2023/24 season. In the top four for the majority of the campaign before falling away after a mixed set of results, Spurs are in danger of missing out on Europe altogether if results go against them.
As things stand, the Lilywhites are in sixth but Brighton, who are one place behind in seventh, trail them by two points. Aston Villa, Spurs' opponents on Saturday, are a further point behind and are very much in contention for European football after an incredible run of form in 2023 under Unai Emery.
So which competition will Tottenham be playing in next season or will they miss out on Europe completely? Our Tottenham reporters at football.london have had their say below.
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Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent
Much will depend on how that Everton hammering shook up Brighton and also how they are doing physically after such a tough season. They will still be favourites for sixth spot, but have some very tough matches still to come in a short space of time.
Tottenham are so difficult to predict right now but if Ryan Mason can continue the improvements and get a positive result in a crunch match Villa Park on Saturday then they've got the potential to keep hold of sixth place if Brighton do stutter and lose their two games in hand.
Spurs can secure seventh if they pick up a victory on Saturday and if they do that then I predict they will go on to grab sixth spot with the squad starting to look fuller again. It's all on this weekend though and how they handle the test against Unai Emery's men.
So I'm going for sixth but only if they win tomorrow
Rob Guest - Tottenham Hotspur reporter
With a Champions League place now too far out of their grasp unless there is a major twist in the run-in, Ryan Mason and Tottenham need to ensure that they secure a top-six finish come the final day of the season. Brighton & Hove Albion may be the favourites for sixth due to their two games in hand but they do face an incredibly tough end to the season.
Away games at Arsenal and Newcastle are to come for the Seagulls over the next week, before they then face Southampton, Premier League leaders Man City and fellow European rivals Aston Villa in their final three games. Tottenham have got the best set of fixtures to end the season compared to Brighton and Villa but it will all come down to consistency once again.
If Spurs can get a positive result against Aston Villa they will be confident of getting the better of Brentford at home and Leeds United could potentially already be relegated by the time they meet at Elland Road on the final day. Looking so much better going forward under Mason and with the head coach demonstrating against Crystal Palace how good he is tactically, all Tottenham can do right now is win their games and hope that Brighton drop points along the way.
Given the Seagulls' set of fixtures and some positive signs from Tottenham of late, I'm going for Mason's team to secure Europa League football for next season.
Lee Wilmot - Head of Football
The likelihood is that sixth place in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League and seventh will take the Europa Conference League place.
This is because Manchester United are likely to finish in the top five in the Premier League table, come the end of the season, and their automatic Conference League spot for winning the Carabao Cup will go to the league positions and the Europa League place for the FA Cup will also go to the league positions with United and Man City playing in the final.
So the question is, where will Spurs finish the campaign? Aston Villa away, Brentford at home and Leeds away are the remaining fixtures and ordinarily you'd be thinking of nine points from those matches. But this has been far from an ordinary season.
I think Spurs will pick up at least six points from those matches, putting them onto at least 63 points and then it becomes a case of whether or not Brighton will amass eight from their final five games. Given their fixtures (Arsenal, Newcastle, Southampton, Man City and Villa), I'm not sure that's going to happen, so it's Europa League for Tottenham for me.
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