How 11 Premier League teams could qualify for Europe

Eleven Premier League teams in Europe? It sounds preposterous, but it is possible.

Qualification for European competition has become pretty complicated in the past few seasons.

This has largely been caused by the 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 secured one of the two berths for 2026-27 after Arsenal won 1-0 at Sporting on Tuesday.

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?

Could there be seven teams in the Champions League? And 11 teams 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 the EPS - but now will have at least eight.

As it stands - and subject to who wins the FA Cup - that now means this:

It looks like being an exceptionally tight race for fifth place, which is currently held by Liverpool on 49 points.

Just seven points separate Arne Slot's side from 13th-placed Bournemouth.

Chelsea (48) sit in sixth followed by Brentford (46), Everton (46), Fulham (44), Brighton (43), Sunderland (43), Newcastle (42) and Bournemouth (42).

If Liverpool win the Champions League and finish in the top four, then nothing changes in terms of England's European spots. There will still be five teams in the Champions League, and eight in Europe.

The place reserved for the Champions League titleholders will pass to the league champions in qualifying with the best Uefa coefficient.

That is likely to be Rangers if they win the Scottish Premiership.

If Liverpool finish outside the top four, the Premier League will have six teams in the Champions League:

Liverpool's precise final position will decide the Premier League's total European allocation.

If Liverpool finish fifth, where they are now, the EPS passes to the Premier League's sixth-placed team.

The Premier League would then surrender a place in the Europa League. Overall, England would still have eight European places.

Why is a Europa League place given up? This is all about applying the EPS after all other factors.

So in this example, Liverpool have won the Champions League but finished in a league position that qualifies them for the Europa League.

Uefa rules state that the berth in the lower competition has to be forfeited and passed to another league.

For instance, La Liga had no team in the first edition of the Conference League because Villarreal won a European competition and finished in seventh.

Then, after the place has been given up, you apply the EPS.

But could Liverpool winning the Champions League give England a ninth European spot? Only if they finish outside the domestic European places.

Right now that would be outside the top six - or the top seven if, say, Manchester City win the FA Cup.

As Liverpool are only three points ahead of seventh-placed Brentford, it is very much a possibility.

The first thing to remember is that the Europa League winners qualify for the Champions League.

If Aston Villa win it, the scenario is exactly the same as the one described above with Liverpool.

So if the Villans finish inside the top four, nothing changes for the Premier League in terms of England's European places: the team in Champions League qualifying with the best coefficient moves up to the league phase.

If Villa are outside the top four, where they finish will decide if a European place is forfeited or if the Premier League gets an extra team in Europe - just as with the Liverpool example above.

But it is different with Nottingham Forest - as they cannot qualify through a domestic route.

So if Forest win the Europa League, there will be a sixth team in the Champions League, and at least nine in Europe.

The only way this can become a reality is if the Champions League and Europa League winners are both English - and both finish outside the Premier League's top four.

Villa have a five-point cushion over fifth-placed Liverpool, so it seems less likely to happen if Unai Emery's team win the Europa League.

But if Liverpool win the Champions League - while finishing outside the top four - and Nottingham Forest win the Europa League, there would be seven English teams in the top competition.

There is a scenario too in which the team finishing seventh in the Premier League qualifies for the Champions League.

It involves Liverpool winning the Champions League, Villa the Europa League, and those two teams finishing fifth and sixth - in either order.

If that happens, the EPS place would go to the team in seventh.

This is because at the time the EPS is applied, seventh would be the first league position which has not qualified for the Champions League.

But in this case, there would still be eight teams in Europe overall - because England would forfeit one of its two Europa League spots, plus its only Conference League position.

As the table shows, all seven European positions in the table would be for the Champions League.

Who got the eighth European place there - and in which competition - would depend on who won the FA Cup.

If it was won by a team who had not qualified for Europe by any other means - say, Leeds - they would go into the Europa League.

But if, say, Manchester City won it, the team finishing eighth in the Premier League would go into the Conference League.

The Conference League winners, remember, qualify for the following season's Europa League.

And Crystal Palace - England's representatives - have only a very slim chance of qualifying for Europe domestically.

So, if the Eagles win the Conference League, it is likely they would take up an extra place in the Europa League as a titleholder.

That would mean the Premier League had at least nine clubs in Europe.

If Palace and Forest were both to win European trophies, that would guarantee 10 English teams in Europe.

When Uefa devised this system, it believed the idea of 11 teams from one country qualifying for Europe was so far-fetched as to be barely worth mentioning.

But it is possible.

For it to happen, English teams need to win all three European competitions and finish outside the qualifying domestic league positions.

So, right now, that means finishing outside the Premier League's top six.

That would become the top seven if, say, Manchester City were to win the FA Cup.

In the most likely scenario, Liverpool, Forest and Palace would win the three European trophies.

Liverpool's final position could also impact other clubs in the table - in terms of which league positions will qualify for which competition.

Say, for instance, Liverpool finish seventh and win the Champions League - meaning they qualify for next season's competition as holders.

In this example, sixth is the Conference League place before the EPS is applied.

Then the EPS is added, meaning fifth place qualifies for the Champions League, and everything else drops down one.

Liverpool do not need the place in the Conference League, so this jumps over them and is given to eighth.

Similar logic applies if Liverpool finish in sixth and win the Champions League.

The Conference League place is forfeited - then when the EPS place is applied, the Europa League place jumps over Liverpool and is given to the team in seventh.

This will depend on who lifts the trophy at Wembley on 16 May.

Manchester City face Southampton and Chelsea take on Leeds in the semi-finals on the weekend of 25 April.

If City win it, the European places will drop down one.

So after the EPS, sixth and seventh will be in the Europa League and eighth in the Conference League.

If Chelsea lift the trophy, the Blues would need to finish inside the top seven for the Conference League place to transfer to eighth.

Should Southampton or Leeds win the competition, they would play in the Europa League and there would be no change for other teams.

With many teams now in contention for fifth, and a huge number of permutations about how far down the European places could go, it promises to be a fascinating battle.