Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win could mean up to 11 Premier League teams qualify for European competition next season.
England typically receives four Champions League places, two for the Europa League and one in the Conference League play-off stage – a total of seven.
Two leagues each season receive an extra Champions League place based on average UEFA coefficients. England currently leads the standings comfortably, with more clubs remaining in this season’s European competitions than leading rivals Spain, Germany and Italy, meaning the top five in the Premier League would all qualify.
There are additional places for the winners of the Champions League and Europa League, if not already qualified. Arsenal and Aston Villa are in the Champions League quarter-finals, with Manchester United and Tottenham at the same stage of the Europa League.
The next team down in the league table qualify for the Europa League, along with the FA Cup winners.
Newcastle secured the Conference League spot with their Carabao Cup win, but could upgrade to the Champions League or Europa League through their league position – they are currently sixth with a game in hand on the teams above them.
That would see the Carabao Cup winners’ place transfer to the leading team in the league not already qualified for Europe. The same is true for the second Europa League place should the FA Cup winners qualify via the league.
The Conference League winners also qualify for next season’s Europa League, with Chelsea still in contention.
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For 11 teams to qualify for Europe, the following must happen:
– England earns a fifth Champions League place.
– Villa win the Champions League and finish outside the top five – or Arsenal, though they are second and highly unlikely to fall out of the top five.
– Manchester United or Spurs win the Europa League, and Chelsea win the Conference League while slipping out of the qualifying positions in the league.
– Newcastle qualify for at least the Europa League through their league position to vacate their Conference League spot.
That could potentially leave the following qualifiers:
– Champions League (seven): Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Newcastle through league position; Aston Villa as Champions League winners; Manchester United or Tottenham as Europa League winners.
– Europa League (three): Brighton through league position; Fulham as FA Cup winners; Chelsea as Conference League winners.
– Conference League (one): Bournemouth, inheriting the Carabao Cup winners’ spot from Newcastle as the highest non-qualified team.
