Premier League European places: Manchester United & Chelsea qualify for Champions League as Leicester miss out

They say you finish were you deserve to in the Premier League, but many will look at Leicester and feel they've really slipped up having held a healthy advantage at the start of 2020.

Brendan Rodgers' side have, in truth, still finished just above where the should given their squad, having really overachieved in the first half of the campaign as Frank Lampard's Chelsea proved inconsistent while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Man Utd floundered.

• Chelsea 2-0 Wolves
• Leicester 0-2 Manchester United

The two big guns have levelled out - with Bruno Fernandes in particular proving to be arguably the signing of the season and completely turning United's fortunes around.

The final day just about summed it up - as Leicester took a safety-first approach against United, merely looking to keep it level until the closing stages before then launching their attack. It worked for a while, but United punced on a mistake to take the lead - and that was that.

The Foxes have been far too timid in almost all their big games this season - they've largely been able to put away the lesser teams but against top six sides they've sat back, played within themselves and handed the intiative to the opposition.

They've played like a smaller team and that mindset has cost them.

Chelsea and Man Utd have the firepower, had the deeper squads and ultimately that quality told - being able to add players like Fernandes in January helped of course.

The results are huge for both Lampard and Solskajer - you can't underestimate how much getting into the Champions League will not only help their reputation, their confidence in the hot seats at their clubs, but also crucially help in an all-important summer transfer window.

A massive result for Solskjaer - What next?

Finishing the best of the rest behind Liverpool and Man City is the very most Man Utd fans could have hoped for, and doing it with a 14-game unbeaten run is grounds for true optimisim at Old Trafford heading into next season.

Fernandes has been the shining star of this team - United haven't lost in the league since he showed up - but it's also a worry that the team look flat whenever he's not at the top of his game. He'll be closely marked next season that's for sure.

The Portuguese has scored eight goals and has seven assists since making his debut in February, and no player has had more goal involvements in that time. Fernandes also brings more out of Pogba alongside him in the creative midfield double, and his mix of driving runs into the box, an eye for a pass and tireless workrate make him the new driving force of this team.

Champions League qualification is most crucial for recruitment purposes though. Solskajer has now proven what he can do over a season and he'll hope to be backed in the transfer market this summer - especially given the unqualified success of the Fernandes signing.

And make no mistake, United need reinforcements. Yes, they've finished third, but they're still miles behind the top two and have been able to field a weakened team in the Europa League this term - they won't have that luxury next year.

There's also the tactical aspect of the way United play, which is mainly on the break, capitalising on mistakes and although the emergence of their front three of Rashford, Greenwood and Martial, they've been easily nullified by the likes of Southampton and West Ham.

And don't forgot they've had a record 14 penalties this season, scoring 10...

Lampard proves himself - future looks bright

It could be a dream first season in charge for Lampard, who could yet add the FA Cup to a top four place - we can probably rule out the Champions League as they head to Bayern Munich already 3-0 down once that restarts.

The former Chelsea midfielder had to negotiate a summer without being able to sign players due to Chelsea's transfer ban, but since that was halved Roman Abramovich has already made amends by financing moves for Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner.

We also have to remember that Chelsea lost Eden Hazard in the summer, without the ability to sign a replacement.

Having those funds readily available is a huge plus for Lampard, and Chelsea fans are relishing next season's possible front three of Werner, Ziyech and Christian Pulisic - who has looked electric at times this season.

Lampard deserves great credit for the way his young side have played with inconsistency, the major flaw that often comes with youth, costing them 12 lost league games this season.

Defensively they've been poor, conceding 54 goals, the most in the top 10, and looking particularly dodgy from set pieces - which would be a bit of a worry about Lampard's ability to organise his defence.

There's also the problem of Kepa Arrizabalaga, a £70m goalkeeper who Lampard obviously doesn't now trust is a huge problem even for a team with as deep a pocket as Chelsea.

Bringing Olivier Giroud back after seemingly being surpluss to requirements in January shows a flexibility in Lampard that will serve him well - with the French striker responding with some important goals down the stretch.

Sign a big-name defensive organiser in the summer and Chelsea are in business.

Floored Foxes finish where they deserve

Brendan Rodgers is a tough manager to work out - he's obviously a talented coach and came within a Steven Gerrard slip of taking Jurgen Klopp's place in the Anfield hall of fame. He didn't get the credit he deserved for that spell at Liverpool.

He's now almost provided a summing up of his career in just one season, managing to get his Foxes squad to over-achieve brilliantly to carve out a 14-point gap over Man Utd by January, and then flitter it away to finish four points behind the Red Devils.

The Champions League was a dream that even their manager didn't believe was achievable, and that may have been passed down to his players during their woeful run. The lack of hunger and desire was evident especially after the restart.

There's an inferiority complex when Rodgers' Leicester side play the big boys, which was illustrated perfectly against Man Utd, but they still should have had enough down the stretch to finish in the top four.

Draws with Watford and Brighton after the restart set the tone - the tone of a team knowing they had a big cushion and believed they'd somehow get the points needed easily enough, but they then lost at Everton and despite beating Palace they drew against ten-man Arsenal before that inexplicable implosion at Bournemouth.

Yes, injuries to James Maddison, Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira, along with the late suspension of Caglar Soyuncu, didn't help against Tottenham and Man Utd but the truth is Leicester should've been home and dry by then.

Europa League qualification is a success for Leicester on the face of it, but having got so far in front it has to go down as a disappointment to miss out on the Champions League. Rodgers must shoulder a decent amount of blame for that.

How the final day went

Rodgers had said before the game that "Leicester wanted Champions League football - Man Utd need it". That looked the case during their game as well as the Foxes failed to play with anything like the urgnecy required.

It was a quiet first half with United dominating possession but not at any real intensity. The front three were relatively quiet and instead it was Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes who were carving out the rare chances.

Fernandes, who was making dangerous late runs into the box, had the ball in the back of the net after a delightful Pogba chip, but was clearly offside.

Although United were relatively comfortable, Kelechi Iheanacho was causing problems on the break, and David De Gea almost added to his catalogue of errors as he bobbled a tame Iheanacho effort that almost handed a goal to Jamie Vardy.

The Foxes went in level, but knowing that they needed a victory as Chelsea scored two late goals at the end of a tight first half against Wolves to lead 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Mount curled in a superb free-kick to break the deadlock before Giroud scored his sixth goal in seven games to put the Blues, who have been in the top four since October, in charge.

Leicester had been playing cautiously all game, not wanting to give United opportunities on the break, but the mistake Rodgers feared came when they gave the ball away after 70 minutes, resulting in Anthony Martial being put through, and brought down, for United's 14th Premier League penalty of the season - a new record.

Fernandes dispatched the all-important spot-kick and sub Jesse Lingard added a second as Leicester huffed and puffed but could not find a way back into it.

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