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.

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
• Aston Villa
• Liverpool

Arsenal and Manchester City have long been certain of finishing in the top five and are therefore guaranteed to be playing in next season's Champions League. Manchester United confirmed a place as well with a win over Liverpool in early May.

After beating Liverpool down the stretch of the season, Aston Villa confirmed a spot in next season's Champions League even prior to their Europa League final. Arne Slot's side need one more point on the final day to confirm their Champions League place, or Bournemouth to drop points.

UEFA Europa League

• Bournemouth
• Brighton and Hove Albion

With just one match remaining, Bournemouth have mathematically ensured themselves of at least Europa League football next season, and can still qualify for the Champions League, although it seems like a longshot. They are three points back of Liverpool and also six differential points behind as well.

Man City won the FA Cup but have already qualified for the Champions League, so the Europa League position granted to them as winners falls to the Premier League table, meaning a second spot is up for grabs in the standings.

Brighton are seventh in the table with a game left, a point above Brentford and two clear of Sunderland, but the Seagulls face a potentially tough assignment at home to Manchester United on the final day.

Chelsea were officially eliminated from Champions League contention when Bournemouth drew Man City, and they are a longshot for Europe in general.

UEFA Conference League

• Brentford

The Bees are currently eighth, a point back of Brighton and three behind Bournemouth, although the Cherries have a game in hand.

Sunderland's win at Everton means they are only a point behind Brentford, and Chelsea could move level with the Keith Andrews' team if they beat Spurs. Everton and Fulham are mathematically still in the hunt, but it's very unlikely they will manage it.

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 before Newcastle United vs. West Ham UNited

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 two full 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. This is known as the European Performance Spot

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.

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 Aston Villa 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 in the top four domestically), it would not affect the European qualifying places for England next season.

However, if Villa finish in fifth place and beat Freiburg in Europa League on May 20, the team finishing sixth WOULD qualify for the Champions League.

This is because fifth is not a designated Champions League place, but awarded as the European Performance Spot. If Villa finish fifth having already qualified for the Champions League through winning the Europa League, then the EPS will be passed down to sixth.

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. If the team in sixth ends up in the Champions League, that Europa League spot will not drop down to seventh position. It will instead be passed on to another country. 

A similar situation will occur in relation to a Champions League spot if Villa win the Europa League but finish above Liverpool in fourth. In this instance, 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 FA Cup 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.

As Man City won the FA Cup in 2025/26 and had already qualified for the Champions League via their league position, seventh place in the league standings now carries Europa League qualification.

How does the Carabao Cup winner affect European qualification?

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

However, because of the circumstances detailed above, eighth place in the Premier League is now a Conference League position.

How many Premier League clubs could qualify for Europe?

A high 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. However, there is only one specific scenario in which that could occur.

• Aston Villa win the Europa League title but finish fifth in the Premier League table.
• Crystal Palace win the Conference League title.

The reason for this is that should Aston Villa finish top four and win the Europa League title, their qualifying spot for the Europa League crown would fall to another club in Europe. However, should they finish outside the top four, they would qualify for the Champions League via their Europa League title.

Because the fifth Champions League place awarded to England by UEFA is not locked into the fifth-place finisher, but instead awarded to the "highest-placed team not already qualified for the competition," it would fall to sixth place in the standings.

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

• Champions League (6):
  • Arsenal
  • Man City
  • Man United
  • 4th place in Premier League table
  • 6th place in Premier League table
  • Aston Villa (Europa League winners)
• Europa League (3):
  • 7th place in Premier League table
  • 8th place in Premier League table (via FA Cup winners Man City)
  • Crystal Palace (Conference League winners)
• Conference League (1):
  • 9th place in Premier League table

However, if Aston Villa finish top four, which is most likely, then England would have eight or nine participants in Europe regardless of their fate in the Europa League final. Only Crystal Palace's finish in the Conference League final would affect the number of qualifiers.