Premier League European places: State of play for teams chasing Champions League, Europa, Conference League

Thanks to skyrocketing financial might over the past two decades, the Premier League has emerged as a behemoth among European competitions.

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While the best teams in England must still battle tooth and nail for European silverware, the Premier League has proven its superiority in terms of depth.

The likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and England’s other top clubs have largely met their match against other European giants across UEFA’s top leagues, but the league’s ability to place its other clubs in European competitions and perform at every level makes it a titan among the forest.

As more English clubs enjoy success on the European stage, the league continues to gain more qualifying places across UEFA competitions, and 2025/26 is no different.

The Sporting News takes a look at which clubs are in the hunt for Champions League, Europa League and Conference League qualification, and what potential scenarios could play out to help the most English clubs find themselves among European tournament fields next season.

Which Premier League teams have qualified for Europe?

As things stand, the following teams are in a position in the Premier League to qualify for European football in 2026/27:

*Teams in bold are guaranteed a place in that competition

UEFA Champions League

Arsenal
Manchester City
Manchester United
Liverpool
Aston Villa

Arsenal and Man City are certain of finishing in the top five and are therefore guaranteed to be playing in next season’s Champions League.

Manchester United went into the latest matchday knowing a win over Liverpool would secure their place. However, due to Brighton and Hove Albion losing to Newcastle United, the Red Devils could now be certain of a top-five place if Bournemouth lose to Aston Villa.

Liverpool and Villa can secure their Champions League places if they win their next matches.

UEFA Europa League

Brentford
2026 FA Cup winners (Manchester City or Chelsea)

Brentford can still qualify for the Champions League but will be out of the running if Villa and Liverpool win on Sunday. They have a one-point cushion to Brighton in seventh, but they will be overtaken by Bournemouth if the Cherries beat Villa, and by Chelsea if the Blues defeat Nottingham Forest.

UEFA Conference League

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton are in seventh as things stand, but they will drop down the standings if Bournemouth or Chelsea win.

Tracking the race for Europe looks in 2024/25 Premier League

Here is a breakdown of the Premier League teams seeking to qualify for Europe in 2025/26.

Rankings and places updated after matches on Saturday, May 2

Champions League

Europa League

Conference League

Outside the qualifying positions — In the hunt

How the Premier League’s European qualifying places can change

Throughout the course of the season, many things can affect how the Premier League hands out its various European qualifying places.

So far, with three matchweeks remaining to be played and still the FA Cup final to be contested, a number of things can change moving forward.

Here is a look at what has already been decided up to this point, and what can still be determined moving forward.

Will the Premier League get a fifth Champions League place?

With the reorganisation of the Champions League to the Swiss Model, UEFA has earmarked two places in the Champions League group stage to be given to teams from the two best-performing associations across European competition the previous season.

The Premier League has already mathematically confirmed a fifth spot in next year’s Champions League competition, one of two leagues to be given an extra slot.

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You can read more about how this took place by clicking here.

What happens if a Premier League team wins a European title?

The winner of each European competition in 2025/26 will earn an automatic berth in the competition above the one they won. If a Premier League club wins a European competition and has already qualified via the table, its place will fall to the next club that has not already qualified for the indicated competition.

A total of six Premier League clubs theoretically could qualify for the Champions League, with the additional fifth-place slot plus either Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest potentially winning the Europa League after failing to secure a Champions League berth through table finish.

If a Premier League team wins the Champions League or Europa League title while having qualified already via table position (namely, Arsenal win the Champions League or Aston Villa win the Europa League while finishing top five domestically), it WOULD NOT AFFECT the European qualifying places for England next season.

This is because if one of these two European winners have already qualified via table position in their respective domestic league, the extra slot does not fall to another team in their association. Instead, their place in the league phase falls to the reigning European domestic champion with the highest individual club coefficient that has not already qualified directly to the league phase.

Because each of the domestic champions of the top 10 highest-ranked European leagues all qualify directly for the league phase, it means the highest-ranked club from outside the top 10 European leagues (currently Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine) would be upgraded to guaranteed league phase qualification. From there, the upgrades trickle all the way down qualifying until an extra team is added to the early stages of qualification that would otherwise not have been included.

How does the FA Cup winner affect European qualification?

The winners of the 2025/26 FA Cup will qualify automatically for the Europa League league phase.

IF the winner of the FA Cup has already qualified for the Champions League or Europa League via table position, this qualifying position will fall to the next-highest team in the table not to have qualified for the Europa League.

Thus, if Man City win the FA Cup, seventh place would become a Europa League position. Meanwhile, if Chelsea win the FA Cup, they would qualify directly for next year’s Europa League assuming they do not also finish in sixth place or higher.

How does the Carabao Cup winner affect European qualification?

Man City won the 2025/26 EFL Cup meaning they would have an automatic route into the Conference League playoff round.

However, since Man City have already mathematically confirmed a place in next year’s Champions League, 7th place in the Premier League table now becomes a Conference League qualifying spot.

This spot could be potentially moved further down the standings by other circumstances listed above.

How many Premier League clubs could qualify for Europe?

Given all the circumstances above, a significant number of English clubs could potentially be playing in Europe next season.

At minimum, the Premier League will see eight teams qualify for Europe. The base number each season is seven, with the additional Champions League place they have already earned added to the mix.

Across all three European competitions, the maximum number of clubs that could potentially qualify is 10. This would occur IF all of the following occur:

• Nottingham Forest win the Europa League title OR Aston Villa win the Europa League title but fail to finish top five in the Premier League table.
• Crystal Palace win the Conference League title.

If both of these occur, the following European places would be handed out:

• Champions League (6):
  • Arsenal
  • Man City
  • 3rd place in Premier League table
  • 4th place in Premier League table
  • 5th place in Premier League table
  • Aston Villa/Nottingham Forest
• Europa League (3):
  • Next highest in Premier League table not yet qualified (6th place unless Aston Villa finish 6th)
  • Chelsea (FA Cup winners) OR Next highest in Premier League table not yet qualified (7th place unless Aston Villa finish 6th/7th)
  • Crystal Palace (Conference League winners)
• Conference League (1):
  • Next highest in Premier League table not yet qualified (7th place unless Aston Villa finish 6th/7th)

The maximum number of Premier League teams that could be playing in next season’s Champions League is six, with the five qualifying through the table plus a sixth should Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest win the Europa League without qualifying directly via league finish.

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