Premier League could reach seven Champions League clubs

The Premier League has already secured a fifth Champions League berth for next season — and that number could still increase further.

Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League quarter-final first leg ensured England earns an extra slot through UEFA’s country coefficient rankings. It is the second straight season the Premier League has gained an additional place, leaving English clubs guaranteed at least five Champions League spots next year.

Current league context

• Liverpool occupy fifth in the Premier League, one point clear of sixth-placed Chelsea. Aston Villa sit fourth.

How more English clubs could join the Champions League

• If Aston Villa win the Europa League but finish outside the top four domestically, England would get a sixth Champions League entrant.
• If Liverpool win the Champions League and finish fifth in the league, the holders’ automatic place would pass down and increase England’s total.
• If two English clubs win European trophies and finish fifth and sixth in the league, that combination would open a seventh spot for the Premier League.
• Nottingham Forest could also qualify by winning the Europa League.

Which country might get the other extra spot?

UEFA awards additional places to two associations based on their coefficients. With England already guaranteed one of those extra places, Spain currently look most likely to claim the other, ahead of Germany and Portugal.

UEFA coefficient table (April 7)

How the coefficient system works

National rankings are determined by club results in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. Each season a country’s total points are divided by the number of clubs it entered in Europe to produce an average score. Match points are awarded as follows: two points for a win, one for a draw, none for a loss. Additional bonus points are given for reaching and advancing through group and knockout stages, with much larger bonuses in the Champions League (for example, for topping a group) than in the Europa or Conference Leagues.

A route to seven English teams

A plausible pathway to a record seven English representatives would be: Liverpool win the Champions League while also finishing inside the Premier League top five, which would free up their league-based qualification place; Aston Villa finish sixth but win the Europa League, securing automatic entry; and the league place freed by Liverpool would then pass down to the seventh-placed Premier League side (currently Brentford). That combination would produce seven English clubs in next season’s Champions League — an unprecedented total.