The Premier League may have 5 Champions League spots next season

The possibility of the Premier League winning another spot in the Champions League next season makes opposing fans also cheer for their rival.

UEFA Champions League 2024/25: how will the competition format change?

Tottenham and Manchester United fans know better than most that their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League could ultimately rest with Arsenal and Man City if the two clubs succeed in Europe. Not only that, if this club flies the glorious Premier League flag in the Champions League, then in the Europa League, the task is given to Brighton, Liverpool and West Ham.

Why another place in the Champions League?

The Champions League will expand at the beginning of next season from the current 32-team format to 36 teams. Of those four additional group stage spots, one will be awarded to the country that finished fifth this season in the UEFA club coefficient rankings (currently France) and one will go to a poor national champion. than came from somewhere across the continent through qualifying. The remaining two spots will belong to the countries with the best results in European tournaments this season.

The latter two positions are being called "European Demonstration Points" by UEFA and could help the fifth-placed club in the Premier League enter the group stage next season. So which country is leading the race to win another spot in the Champions League? After the end of the group stage in December, Serie A and Bundesliga took the lead.

The fact that MU and Newcastle United ranked fourth in the group stage and were eliminated early from the Champions League has affected their chances of winning a position in the Top 2 of the Premier League, especially when Serie A and Bundesliga have 3 teams in the group stage. knockout round, compared to two Premier League teams.

But at least one of those tournaments will lose a team next month, when Bayern Munich and Lazio meet in the knock-out round. Meanwhile, Napoli faces Barcelona and RB Leipzig will face Real Madrid. The fact that the Premier League has all three Europa League representatives reaching the knock-out round is a guarantee, especially when they are all among the favorites to go far.

The long history of Spanish clubs in European competitions means they are a threat to claim another Champions League spot, despite also losing two teams in the group stage.

But Opta's projection model - based on a combination of team rankings, each team's historical and recent achievements as well as the attention betting market odds - predicts they have only a slim chance to claim one of the additional places, with the Premier League having a chance to top the coefficient rankings.

What do Premier League clubs need to do this season?

If only this were as easy as saying “Arsenal need to get into round X, Brighton need to avoid elimination until Y and Villa need to do Z” but there are so many moving parts here, that any calculation becomes futile. same complexity. In essence, it is a case of Premier League clubs as a whole having to go as far as possible in their competitions, while picking up representatives of their closest rival nations in the process.

Champions League champions Man City will have the chance to defend their crown, while Arsenal are qualified to progress past the round of 16 for the first time in 14 years after being drawn against Porto. It's important that they avoid each other for as long as possible if they're both going to make it through this round.

Defending Champions League champion Man City will have the opportunity to defend their throne to help the Premier League get another spot in the UCL.

The same is true for the three Premier League teams in the Europa League. Liverpool is a strong candidate for the championship, while Brighton and West Ham are the teams most likely to compete with The Kop.

Bookmakers are predicting a great victory for the British when Villa is also the favorite championship candidate in the Conference League. If Villa can go deep, it will be a much-needed advantage, especially for their opponent Fiorentina, who was defeated in last season's final against Frankfurt.

Who will benefit from the additional Champions League qualification?

Reaching the latter stages of the Conference League could be doubly beneficial for Villa as they are one of the teams that could finish fifth in the Premier League this season.

Villa is the leading championship candidate in the Conference League

Tottenham hopes to improve after the return of captain Son Heung Min. Although MU has not been in good form in the last 2 matches, it is still a candidate competing for 5th place.

Opta's prediction for the club to finish in fifth place:

- Aston Villa: 39.90%

- Tottenham: 29.10 %

- MU: 16.30%

- Newcastle: 7.30%

How can coefficient points be accumulated?

The coefficient scores that contribute to the ranking are calculated as an average rather than a total value, in order to eliminate the advantage that countries with more representation in Europe have. The equation is simple: the number of points accumulated by the teams in a national championship divided by the number of competing teams.

So, because there were 8 English teams competing in Europe at the start of the season, each English team's points were divided by 8. Here's how each country accumulates those points: UCL = UEFA Champions League, UEL = UEFA Europa League, UECL = UEFA Europa Conference League.

• 2 points – All wins from group stage (UCL, UEL, UECL)

• 1 point – Win all qualifying and play-off matches (UCL, UEL, UECL)

• 1 point – All draws from group stage (UCL, UEL, UECL)

• 0.5 points – All draws in qualifying and play-off matches (UCL, UEL, UECL)

• 4 points – Participate in group stage (UCL)

• 4 points – Participate in Round of 16 (UCL)

• 4 points – Leading the group stage (UEL)

• 2 – Group stage runner-up (UEL)

• 2 – Leading group stage (UECL)

• 1 – Group stage runner-up (UECL)

• 1 – Teams that pass the group stage (UCL, UEL)

• 1 – Semi-finalists (UECL)