The Premier League had nine teams in European competition this season - just imagine if 10 were to qualify? Qualification for European competition has become pretty complicated in the past few seasons. This has largely been caused by Uefa's new European Performance Spots (EPS).
These are the extra places in the Champions League given to the two leagues with the best overall record each season. The Premier League has secured one of the two berths for 2026-27, while the second will go to either the Spanish La Liga or German Bundesliga. It means there will be at least eight English teams in Europe next season.
But what happens if an English team wins one of the European competitions? England still has four teams active - and is guaranteed to have a representative in the final of the Europa League. Could there be six teams in the Champions League again?
And how does the Premier League get to 10 in Europe? The logic of the EPS is simple. But other factors complicate matters.
It has two pillars: it is applied after all other considerations about domestic and European cup winners; it always provides one additional place to the overall allocation. So England was set to have seven teams in Europe before securing an EPS - but now will have at least eight. As it stands - and subject to who wins the FA Cup and where they finish - that now means this: The team finishing fifth will go into the Champions League The team finishing sixth will go into the Europa League The team finishing seventh will go into the Conference League The top five have pulled away in recent weeks, with the last places held by Liverpool and Aston Villa on 58 points in fourth and fifth respectively.
There is an eight-point cushion to Brighton in sixth place. The battle now is for the positions below - and it could yet be that sixth gets a route into the Champions League. Just seven points separate Brighton (50) from 13th-placed Crystal Palace (43), and the Eagles have a game in hand.
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