How many points do Aston Villa need to secure top four finish and Champions League football?

Aston Villa are still battling away for a top four finish and Champions League qualification. Unai Emery's men currently occupy fourth place, possessing a five-point lead over Tottenham in fifth place with 11 games to play, while Spurs have 12 due to their game in hand.

Fifth place may yet be enough for Champions League qualification this season, depending on whether England can finish inside the top two performing countries in Europe this season, but they currently sit third, meaning Villa could well need to finish fourth as a minimum.

Here we take a look at the likely points total Villa will need to secure their first Champions League qualification.

Average top four points totals

The average points total to secure a top four finish across the last 10 years is 69.1. We calculated this by taking the points total of the team that finished fifth, adding one point and then taking the decade-long average.

Villa currently have 55 points, meaning they need 15 points to get above the average number of points required. There are 33 points still available to Emery's men, meaning they may need less than half of their available points to secure Champions League football.

Having said that, it will depend on the performance of others. with Tottenham and Manchester United the most likely challengers. The good news is that, according to data experts Football Web Pages, Villa will only need 68 points to secure a top four finish this season, with Tottenham tipped to finish fifth with 67 points. Villa are tipped to finish fourth with 74.

That would mean Villa take 19 points from the last 33 available, and Emery's men do have some tricky games remaining, facing Manchester City, Arsenal, West Ham, Chelsea, Brighton and Liverpool. They will fancy their chances against the likes of Wolves, Brentford, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, but there are no gimmes in the top flight.