How SEVEN Premier League clubs could qualify for Champions League next season

The Premier League could be set to dominate the Champions League next season with potentially SEVEN clubs earning spots in the competition.

UEFA’s revamped competition has thrilled this season, with the new-look league stage followed by an exciting last-16 stage. There is still British interest in the competition, with Arsenal and Aston Villa having progressed to the quarter-finals.

The Gunners face a tough task in the form of Real Madrid having dominated PSV. Meanwhile, Unai Emery’s men will take on Paris Saint-Germain after their win against Club Brugge.

And while there is plenty of twists and turns left in the Champions League, attention looks set to turn to next year where an unprecedented amount of teams could take to Europe’s top table:

As it stands, the Premier League boasts FOUR automatic Champions League places. And they’re handed out relatively simply.

The teams finishing in the top four spots come the end of the season are given those places. As it stands, that would be table-topping Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea.

But plenty could yet change with even 10th-placed Fulham just seven points off the pace and firmly in contention with ten games of the season left to play. All of Manchester City, Newcastle, Brighton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth will also all be hoping to squeeze into the top four.

So while the automatic places are relatively straightforward, a new UEFA rule complicates things slightly. The governing body of the European game has two further Champions League spots and hand each of those to the federations with the two-highest coefficient score heading into next season.

A coefficient ranking is based off of how their clubs perform in UEFA’s three competitions: the Champions League, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League. Each club gets two points for a win and one for a draw.

And to work out the coefficient, all of those points are added together and divided by the amount of clubs a federation has in European competitions. And once the federations are decided, the clubs finishing outside of the normal Champions League qualification places get the extra spot. So in the Premier League, that means fifth-place would qualify.

Fortunately, the Premier League is really well placed to be handed one of the extra spots. England’s UEFA coefficient sits at 108.8 at this stage and that looks set to increase with five out of the division’s seven clubs still in Europe.

Italy’s coefficient is at 94.7, with Spain’s lower down at 91.5. Germany look highly unlikely to be earning the extra place with their coefficient sitting at 85.5 with just three of their clubs remaining in European competitions. France look even more unlikely with their score at 70.9 with just two clubs remaining in Europe.

So, that’s the first five but there could be two more Champions League spots to play for. The Champions League winner automatically qualifies for the competition so Arsenal and Aston Villa will be assured of their place should they lift the trophy.

But the Premier League’s cap would only increase should either one of the two not qualify through their league position. It’s a similar story for the Europa League winners, who get a place in the Champions League.

That means Manchester United or Tottenham could potentially qualify but only if they don’t already due to their league position. And as it stands, neither side look set to get anywhere near to the top four but still have a realistic chance of playing Champions League football.

Okay, this is where it gets slightly trickier to work out. There could be as many as 11 English clubs playing in Europe playing next season but a lot of that has to happen first.

As it always has, the top four will qualify for the Champions League alongside the bonus UEFA place. Should Aston Villa win the Champions League, and Man United or Tottenham win the Europa League, as well as each trophy-winners finishing eighth, ninth or tenth, that would see two further Champions League places.

All of those would see the Europa League places drop down to sixth and seventh place, albeit the FA Cup winners MUST finish in the top seven. Chelsea would also book a Europa League spot if they win the Conference League and finish eighth, ninth or tenth.

Finally, that would leave the Premier League’s only Conference League spot to 11th place in the table. And as it stands, that would hand Crystal Palace that place.