Ten Premier League clubs still in contention for European football
England will send a minimum of eight clubs to European competition next season
- Published
Liverpool's Champions League exit this week may have closed the door on 11 English clubs reaching Europe next season, but 10 remains a realistic possibility.
England retains four active teams across the continental competitions and is guaranteed at least one finalist in the Europa League.
The final tally hinges on trophy winners and their respective league finishes.
European qualification has grown increasingly intricate in recent seasons, primarily due to Uefa's European Performance Spots system.
The EPS awards additional Champions League berths to the two domestic leagues with the strongest collective performance each campaign.
The Premier League has claimed one of those spots for 2026-27, with La Liga and the Bundesliga competing for the other.
That guarantees eight English sides in Europe next season as a baseline.
But European trophy winners could alter the landscape significantly. Could England field six Champions League representatives again? And what scenarios lead to 10 Premier League clubs in continental competition?
How the European places work
The EPS concept is straightforward, though other variables add complexity.
Two principles govern it: the EPS applies only after accounting for domestic and European cup winners, and it always adds one place to the existing allocation.
England was already set for seven European representatives before securing an EPS, bringing the minimum to eight.
Based on current standings and pending the FA Cup outcome, the distribution looks like this:
Fifth place enters the Champions League
Sixth place enters the Europa League
Seventh place enters the Conference League
The race for fifth is heating up. Liverpool currently occupy that position on 52 points, trailing Manchester United and Aston Villa by three points in third and fourth.
Should Liverpool stumble, the chasing pack is within striking distance.
Only six points separate Arne Slot's team from 10th-placed Sunderland with six matches remaining.
Chelsea sit sixth on 48 points, followed by Brentford (47), Everton (47), Brighton (46), Sunderland (46) and Bournemouth (45).
Further back, Fulham (44), Crystal Palace (42) and Newcastle (42) remain mathematically in contention for European qualification.
What if Arsenal win the Champions League?
Arsenal will finish in the Premier League's top four, meaning a Champions League triumph wouldn't affect England's allocation.
The titleholder's berth would transfer to the qualifying league champion with the highest Uefa coefficient.
Rangers would likely claim that spot if they secure the Scottish Premiership title.
For the Premier League to secure a sixth Champions League spot through this mechanism, Arsenal would need to finish outside the top four positions.
Arsenal face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.
What if Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest win the Europa League?
Europa League winners automatically qualify for the Champions League.
Aston Villa meet Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals, guaranteeing at least one Premier League club in the final.
If Villa win and finish top four, England's European allocation remains unchanged—five Champions League teams and eight in total across all competitions.
The Champions League spot reserved for the Europa League winners would transfer to the highest-ranked team in Uefa coefficient qualifying, currently projected to be Club Brugge.
If Villa finish outside the top four, the Premier League would have six Champions League representatives:
The top four finishers
Villa as Europa League champions
The EPS recipient
Villa's final league position determines the Premier League's overall European allocation.
Finishing fifth means the EPS transfers to sixth place, but the Premier League forfeits a Europa League spot. England would still field eight European teams total.
Why surrender a Europa League place? Uefa applies the EPS only after accounting for all other qualification factors.
In this scenario, Aston Villa earn Champions League qualification through their trophy but finish in a Europa League position domestically.
Uefa regulations require forfeiting the lower competition berth to another league. La Liga, for example, had no Conference League representative in the inaugural edition after Villarreal won a European trophy while finishing seventh.
If Villa finish fifth, the Premier League surrenders its Europa League place. The EPS then goes to sixth—the first team outside Champions League qualification. The Conference League spot drops to seventh.
If Villa finish sixth, the Conference League place is forfeited instead. After applying the EPS, eighth place enters the Europa League.
Could Villa winning the Europa League give England a ninth European spot? Only if they finish outside domestic European qualification—currently seventh, or eighth if Manchester City win the FA Cup.
With Villa eight points clear of seventh-placed Brentford, this scenario remains unlikely.
For Forest, the situation is straightforward. Sitting 16th on 33 points and eliminated from the FA Cup, they cannot qualify for Europe domestically.
If Vitor Pereira guides Forest past Villa to Europa League glory, England would have six Champions League teams and at least nine in Europe—mirroring Tottenham Hotspur's situation last season.
What if Crystal Palace win the Conference League?
Crystal Palace face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Conference League semi-finals.
Conference League winners qualify for the following season's Europa League.
Palace have only a slim chance of qualifying for Europe through their league position, so winning the Conference League would likely secure them an additional Europa League spot as titleholders.
This would bring the Premier League's total to at least nine European clubs.
If both Palace and Forest win their respective European trophies, England would guarantee 10 teams in Europe.
Palace trail Chelsea by just six points for the final European spot (pre-EPS), though they'd need to leapfrog six other clubs.
Should Palace climb to seventh place, eighth would claim the Conference League spot for next season.
The explanation lies in the order of application: the EPS adjustment happens after all other allocations are finalized.
Should Palace finish seventh, they would occupy the highest league position that doesn't automatically qualify for European competition. This would grant them Europa League entry as England's ninth representative.
However, when the EPS is subsequently applied and pushes league-based qualifiers down a spot, the Conference League berth leapfrogs Palace and transfers to the eighth-place finisher.
If Manchester City claim the FA Cup, all positions shift down one place. In that scenario, an eighth-place Palace finish would trigger the same mechanism, with the Conference League spot moving to ninth.
What is the maximum number of clubs for next season?
With Arsenal guaranteed a top-four finish, they cannot create an additional berth through a Champions League triumph.
This caps England's maximum representation at 10 clubs:
Four Champions League qualifiers via league position
Two Europa League entrants
One Conference League participant
Forest as Europa League champions OR Villa if they finish outside the top six
Palace as Conference League winners if they place outside the top six
One EPS beneficiary
Theoretically, each season begins with a maximum ceiling of 11 clubs.
Reaching that figure requires English sides to sweep all three European trophies while each winner finishes outside their respective domestic qualifying positions.
How the FA Cup impacts the places
The final distribution hinges on which club lifts the trophy at Wembley on 16 May.
Manchester City meet Southampton while Chelsea face Leeds in the semi-finals on 25-26 April.
A City victory would cascade European places down one position.
Following the EPS adjustment, sixth and seventh would both secure Europa League football, with eighth claiming the Conference League berth.
Should Chelsea prevail, they would need to finish seventh or higher for the Conference League place to drop to eighth.
A Southampton or Leeds upset would see the winner enter the Europa League without affecting other clubs' allocations.
With numerous clubs now competing for fifth place and countless permutation scenarios determining how deep European qualification extends, the season's closing stretch promises compelling drama.