The Premier League has secured at least five places in next season’s Champions League after UEFA confirmed England had earned a European Performance Spot (EPS) for a second successive year following Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Sporting in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
UEFA awards two extra Champions League places to the domestic leagues that accumulate the strongest overall results across Europe’s three club competitions. England’s advantage was built earlier in the campaign when all nine of its representatives reached the last-16 stage, and coefficient points from that run left the Premier League well clear at the top of the EPS table even though only five English teams progressed to the quarter-finals.
The guaranteed fifth place carries practical consequences for next season’s qualification: the club finishing fifth in the Premier League will be assured a Champions League spot, a benefit Newcastle United enjoyed for the 2024-25 campaign. Liverpool currently occupy that crucial fifth slot on 49 points, but the battle for the position is tightly packed. Chelsea sit on 48, followed by Brentford and Everton on 46, Fulham 44, Brighton and Sunderland 43, and Newcastle and Bournemouth on 42 — a spread of just seven points from fifth to 13th.
Spain looks set to claim the other EPS place, with La Liga the clear challenger behind England, though Germany and Portugal remain in contention. The Bundesliga could yet mount a late surge after Bayern Munich’s 2-1 victory at Real Madrid on Tuesday, and Freiburg’s Europa League tie with Celta Vigo offers further opportunities for coefficient gains. If the EPS slots ultimately go to the Premier League and La Liga, the same pair of domestic leagues would top the EPS table for a second straight season.
The extra spot has knock-on effects for how many English clubs could reach the Champions League. If Aston Villa — currently fourth on 54 points and in the Europa League — wins that competition while finishing outside the top four domestically, the Premier League would have six representatives in the Champions League. Similar permutations apply to Liverpool, who face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday: a European trophy together with a fifth-place domestic finish could elevate an additional English club into Europe’s top competition.
Nottingham Forest remain in the Europa League quarter-finals and, as Tottenham did previously, could clinch a Champions League berth by winning the Europa League while finishing outside the Premier League’s top four. In a scenario where multiple English sides secure European silverware and finish mid-table, the Premier League could see six — or potentially even seven — clubs qualify for the Champions League.
With the domestic campaign entering its decisive phase and several English clubs still active in Europe, the fight for fifth promises to be intense over the remaining fixtures. The guaranteed EPS place removes some uncertainty for whoever finishes fifth, but it also raises the stakes across the table as clubs weigh domestic priorities against European ambitions.