Premier League: Qualification for Champions League, Europa League and Conference League permutations as run-in heats up
The Premier League could have as many as NINE teams playing in European competition next season, but for the European places in the top flight to drop down one place, the FA Cup winners - Chelsea face Man City in Saturday's final - need to finish inside the top seven
Tuesday 12 May 2026 16:33, UK
While Aston Villa's progress to the Europa League final will have been cheered by Champions League-chasing Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford, the outcome of Saturday's FA Cup final between Man City and Chelsea also has significant European consequences for several other Premier League clubs.
Villa are fifth in the Premier League and if they finish in that position and win the Europa League, sixth place in the Premier League will also qualify for next season's Champions League.
That could open the door for a first-ever appearance in Europe's elite club competition for either Bournemouth, who currently hold sixth, or Brighton or Brentford, who are in seventh and eighth respectively.
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Chelsea and Everton have fallen away from Bournemouth in the race for sixth, after dropping points in the most recent round of fixtures, while Fulham and Sunderland are now both out of the running for a top-six finish.
However, if Villa win the Europa League and move above Liverpool - who they are level with on points with and host on Friday Night Football - into fourth, it will just be the top five teams in the Premier League that qualify for the Champions League.
Arsenal, Man City and Man Utd have already secured a top-five finish in the Premier League and a place in next season's Champions League, while Villa and Liverpool both require just three more points from their final two matches to confirm a spot in Europe's premier club competition.
But there are more scenarios which could play out to boost the number of Premier League sides in Europe next season...
Who qualifies for Europe?
Thanks to England's strong UEFA coefficient ranking, the Premier League has been awarded an extra fifth place in the Champions League for next season.
So currently, the top five teams in the Premier League go into the Champions League in addition to two Europa League qualifying places (the team finishing sixth and the FA Cup winners) and a single Conference League space (Carabao Cup winners).
Man City have already secured a Champions League spot, so their Conference League place as Carabao Cup winners will be passed on to the next highest finisher in the Premier League who hasn't qualified for Europe. So that means sixth is Europa League, seventh is Conference League.
How does winning the FA Cup affect things?
If Chelsea, who currently sit ninth in the table, win the FA Cup, they will qualify for the Europa League.
If they finish sixth, then the Europa League spot via Premier League position would go to seventh, and the Conference League spot would go to eighth.
However, if the Blues end up outside the top seven, they will just take up their spot in the Europa League as FA Cup winners, with no extra European place given to the Premier League.
Meanwhile, if Man City are victorious at Wembley on Saturday afternoon, Pep Guardiola's side - who are guaranteed a top-seven league finish - will pass on their Europa League spot to seventh, and eighth would qualify for the Conference League.
If Crystal Palace win the Conference League, they qualify for the Europa League - in addition to the above.
But if Villa win the Europa League...
Villa finish third or fourth: The Premier League's top five go into the Champions League, sixth into Europa League, seventh into Conference League - and then factor in the knock-on impact of the FA Cup winner.
Villa finish fifth: The extra Champions League spot would be passed on to sixth and the Premier League would give up its Europa League spot for league position.
Villa finish sixth: The top five teams would qualify for the Champions League through league position and Villa would qualify through the Europa League. The Premier League would also give up its Europa League spot through league position in this scenario.
In either of those last two scenarios, if Chelsea win the FA Cup and remain outside the qualification places, they would take England's one remaining Europa League spot.
If Man City win the FA Cup, the Europa League spot would be passed on to seventh.
So the Premier League could have NINE places in Europe next season: six in the Champions League, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League.
A final-day conundrum?
There are lots of moving parts and possibilities... but one is that Brentford or Brighton may prefer to LOSE on the final day.
Brentford's last fixture is at Liverpool. If Brentford are sixth by then, a Liverpool win could help keep Aston Villa in fifth.
Brighton are home to Manchester United and, if in sixth spot going into the final day, and if United have allowed Villa and Liverpool to close the gap on them, the Seagulls would also benefit from ensuring United remain above Villa in the table.
The Europa League final is on the Wednesday before the final weekend of the Premier League.
So if Villa have won that final, it would be in Brentford and Brighton's interests to play their part in Villa finishing fifth, so sixth becomes a Champions League place, rather than a Europa League place - which it would be if Villa won the Europa League and finished fourth.
One to keep an eye on!
