Football May 12, 2026

Premier League: Qualification for Champions League, Europa League and Conference League permutations as run-in heats up

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Premier League: Qualification for Champions League, Europa League and Conference League permutations as run-in heats up

Aston Villa's progress to the Europa League final is likely to have been cheered by a number of Premier League clubs.

Villa are fifth in the Premier League and if they finish in that position and win the Europa League, sixth place in the Premier League will also qualify for next season's Champions League.

That could open the door for a first-ever appearance in Europe's elite club competition for either Bournemouth, who currently hold sixth, or Brighton or Brentford, who are in seventh and eighth respectively.

Chelsea and Everton have fallen away from Bournemouth in the race for sixth, after dropping points in the most recent round of fixtures, while Fulham are now out of the equation.

However, if Villa win the Europa League and move above Liverpool - who they are level with on points - into fourth, it will just be the top five teams in the Premier League that qualify for the Champions League.

Arsenal, Man City and Man Utd have already secured a top-five finish in the Premier League and a place in next season's Champions League.

But there are more scenarios which could play out to boost the number of Premier League sides in Europe next season...

Thanks to England's strong UEFA coefficient ranking, the Premier League has been awarded an extra fifth place in the Champions League for next season.

So currently, the top five teams in the Premier League go into the Champions League in addition to two Europa League qualifying places (the team finishing sixth and the FA Cup winners) and a single Conference League space (Carabao Cup winners).

Man City have already secured a Champions League spot, so their Conference League place as Carabao Cup winners will be passed on to the next highest finisher in the Premier League who hasn't qualified for Europe. So that means sixth is Europa League, seventh is Conference League.

If Chelsea win the FA Cup, they will qualify for the Europa League. They are currently ninth.

If they finish sixth then the Europa League spot via Premier League position would go to seventh, and the Conference League spot would go to eighth.

If Man City win the FA Cup, they will pass on their Europa League spot to seventh, and eighth would qualify for the Conference League.

If Crystal Palace win the Conference League, they qualify for the Europa League - in addition to the above.

But if Villa win the Europa League...

Villa finish third or fourth: The Premier League's top five go into the Champions League, sixth into Europa League, seventh into Conference League - and then factor in the knock-on impact of the FA Cup winner.

Villa finish fifth: The extra Champions League spot would be passed on to sixth and the Premier League would give up its Europa League spot for league position.

Villa finish sixth: The top five teams would qualify for the Champions League through league position and Villa would qualify through the Europa League. The Premier League would also give up its Europa League spot through league position in this scenario.

In either of those last two scenarios, if Chelsea win the FA Cup and remain outside the qualification places, they would take England's one remaining Europa League spot.

If Man City win the FA Cup, the Europa League spot would be passed on to seventh.

So the Premier League could have NINE places in Europe next season: six in the Champions League, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League.

There are lots of moving parts and possibilities... but one is that Brentford or Brighton may prefer to LOSE on the final day.

Brentford's last fixture is at Liverpool. If Brentford are sixth by then, a Liverpool win could help keep Aston Villa in fifth.

Brighton are home to Manchester United and, if in sixth spot going into the final day, and if United have allowed Villa and Liverpool to close the gap on them, the Seagulls would also benefit from ensuring United remain above Villa in the table.

The Europa League final is on the Wednesday before the final weekend of the Premier League.

So if Villa have won that final, it would be in Brentford and Brighton's interests to play their part in Villa finishing fifth, so sixth becomes a Champions League place, rather than a Europa League place - which it would be if Villa won the Europa League and finished fourth.

One to keep an eye on!

Tags:

football news

Share this article

Related Posts

Mikel Arteta: Arsenal boss responds to 'celebration police' over Champions League celebrations after Wayne Rooney dig

Mikel Arteta: Arsenal boss responds to 'celebration police' over Champions League celebrations after Wayne Rooney dig

Mikel Arteta said he will put criticism of Arsenal's celebrations following their Champions League semi-final victory over Atletico Madrid "where it b...

FWA Footballer of the Year 2025/26: Man Utd midfielder Bruno Fernandes and Man City striker Khadija Shaw claim awards

FWA Footballer of the Year 2025/26: Man Utd midfielder Bruno Fernandes and Man City striker Khadija Shaw claim awards

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City striker Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw have been voted the 2025/26 Football Writers' Associatio...

Anthony Gordon transfer news: Bayern Munich open talks with Newcastle for England international over potential summer move

Anthony Gordon transfer news: Bayern Munich open talks with Newcastle for England international over potential summer move

Bayern Munich have opened talks with Newcastle over a potential summer move for Anthony Gordon.Newcastle will listen to offers for the England winger...

Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool captain ready to leave club with approach from European club 'imminent' - Paper Talk

Virgil van Dijk: Liverpool captain ready to leave club with approach from European club 'imminent' - Paper Talk

The top stories and transfer rumours from Saturday's newspapers...Virgil van Dijk could be ready to leave Liverpool in the summer and is facing an imm...

40 years of the play-offs: The greatest show on earth in numbers as EFL sides prepare for final promotion push

40 years of the play-offs: The greatest show on earth in numbers as EFL sides prepare for final promotion push

1-0, the final score in 38 play-off finals in history.2 finals played at Old Trafford in 2011 as Wembley hosted the Champions League final.3-1, the s...

Arsenal: Gunners' players set to pocket over £1m in bonuses if they win Champions League - Paper Talk

Arsenal: Gunners' players set to pocket over £1m in bonuses if they win Champions League - Paper Talk

The top stories and transfer rumours from Friday's newspapers...Arsenal's stars would pocket a total of £1,175,000 if they beat PSG in the Champions L...