EPL STILL lags behind Serie A and the Bundesliga in the race for a fifth CL spot

The Premier League is still third in the race for a fifth Champions League spot - but English clubs have a higher possible ceiling than German ones in UEFA's rankings.

English clubs are on track to miss out on another place at Europe's top table behind Serie A and the Bundesliga.

A lot hinges on tonight's Europa League and Europa Conference League matches - particularly West Ham's match against Freiburg, with David Moyes' team down 1-0 from the first leg.

The extra places - called the 'European Performance spots' - are awarded to the two nations that perform best in Europe this season. Italy and Germany occupy those spots as it stands.

The Premier League is still miles ahead on average over the last five seasons, which determines how many European spots we get, but that has no bearing on the special 'additional' places.

Serie A leads the way this season with 16.571 points on average per club, with a maximum possible ceiling of 23.713 if their remaining teams excel.

All of their sides competing in Europe made it out of the group stages, but losing Inter Milan, Napoli, and Lazio in the last 16 of the Champions League is a major blow to them.

AC Milan, Roma, and Atalanta all remain in the Europa League, with the first two in a strong position to progress, while Fiorentina are still in the Europa Conference League.

The Bundesliga sits second with 15.928 points per club, with a maximum possible ceiling of 23.071.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have both progressed to the last eight of the Champions League and they still have Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg in the Europa League.

The Premier League is third with a score of 15 points per club - but our ceiling is higher than the Bundesliga, with a potential of 23.625.

Arsenal and Manchester City reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League has helped a lot, but England's chances were hampered by Manchester United and Newcastle finishing bottom of their groups.

That's why tonight is so important - especially for fans of Tottenham and Aston Villa, the two sides locked in the race for fourth and fifth.

Liverpool are on course to progress to the last eight of the Europa League as they host Sparta Prague tonight and are 5-1 up on aggregate.

However, Brighton lost 4-0 at Roma and West Ham lost 1-0 at Freiburg, meaning both could exit the competition tonight, with the Seagulls almost bound to crash out.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa are bringing a 0-0 draw with Ajax back to the Midlands and the Premier League will be hoping they can make it through for a nice boost in points.

Bizarrely, Czechia have the third-highest possible score due to Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague being left in the Europa League, and Viktoria Plzen still standing in the Europa Conference League.

Every win by a club in any competition is worth two points, while a draw is worth one point.

Teams that make the last 16 of the Champions League get five points as a bonus treat, and then one more point for each further round they progress.

Clubs in the Europa League get one bonus point for each round from the last 16.

Meanwhile, in the Conference League, there is a bonus point available for making it to the semi-final and final.

Four extra places are on offer for next season's Champions League, which will be expanded to 36 teams from the current 32.

Two extra places will be decided by the 'European Performance spots'.

One of the additional places will go to the club who finish third in the league ranked fifth by UEFA's coefficient, with another being awarded to a domestic champion, increasing the clubs qualifying through the 'Champions Path' from four to five.