After the round of 16 matches of European cups recently, 4/6 Premier League teams had to say goodbye to the Champions League, leaving only Arsenal and Liverpool. The teams that had to say goodbye were Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle.
In the Europa League, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest advanced to the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, in the Conference League, Crystal Palace also did the same, helping English football maintain 5 teams to the quarter-finals of European cups.
With English teams still present in large numbers in the European Cup quarter-finals, plus very good previous achievements, the Premier League is almost certain to have 5 Champions League spots next season. In a dream scenario, English football may have 11 representatives participating in European cups in the 2026-2027 season.
The Premier League will have 5 teams participating in the Champions League next season based on the ranking order after round 38. In theory, the FA Cup champion and ranked right after the Champions League group (6th) will have a ticket to play in the Europa League next season. Finally, the League Cup champion will have a ticket to participate in the Europa Conference League.
However, if considered simply like that, the scenario of 11 English teams participating in European cups next season will not happen, everything is much more complicated when fully calculating the possibilities.
6/8 teams in the FA Cup quarter-finals are Premier League teams. Up to 4 of them are Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool in the Top 6 Premier League. If any of them win the FA Cup and still maintain their current position in the EPL standings, the 2nd place in the Premier League's Europa League participation will belong to the 7th place team.
If 1 of the remaining 4 teams West Ham, Leeds, Southampton (from the Championship) and Port Vale (League One) win the championship, they will directly win that 2nd spot. When this scenario occurs, English football already has 7 teams participating in European tournaments, with the 8th spot waiting to be competed for.
Manchester City's victory in the League Cup final means that they have qualified for the Conference League qualifying round. However, if The Citizens finish in the Top 5 of the Premier League, that spot will be transferred to the next team in the standings who does not win a ticket to the European Cup, which is the 8th team.
Nottingham Forest has the opportunity to repeat Tottenham Hotspur's achievement last season by finishing right above the relegation zone and winning the Europa League title. This will help them become the 6th team to win a Champions League ticket and the 9th English team to participate in European competitions in the 2026-2027 season.
Oliver Glasner's termination of his term leading Crystal Palace with the Conference League title this season will help them secure a ticket to the Europa League next season, becoming the 3rd English team to participate in this tournament and the 10th team in European cups.
Finally, whether there is another European cup spot for English teams depends on Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Currently, Villa is ranked 4th with 54 points but has only won 1 match in the EPL since February 11. They have a not too difficult schedule in the near future but still hide many risks when facing Nottingham and Tottenham - teams threatened with relegation. By the end of the season, they will also face Liverpool and Manchester City.
Liverpool is currently 5th with 49 points. Chelsea is only 1 point behind them, while Brentford and Everton are 2 points behind, while Fulham (44 points), Brighton, Sunderland (43 points), Newcastle and Bournemouth (42 points) are closely following.
If Liverpool and Aston Villa maintain their positions in the Top 5 and win the Champions League and Europa League respectively, Champions League spots for winning those tournaments will not be transferred to other teams. Last season, the Conference League title helped Chelsea win a Europa League spot, but that achievement was further enhanced when they finished the season in the Top 5 and won a Champions League spot.
Currently, Crystal Palace is unlikely to win a ticket to participate in European cups from the Premier League door, so competing for a spot in the EPL will be without the defending FA Cup champion. If Liverpool and Aston Villa both drop out of the Top 5 Premier League but win European cups.
At that time, they will join the Top 5 to become the 6th and 7th English teams to participate in the Champions League. The team ranked 8th along with Crystal Palace (if they win the Conference League) and the FA Cup champion or the team ranked 9th, will become 3 teams participating in the Europa League, bringing the total number to 10.
Ultimately, the 10th-placed team will qualify for the Conference League, leading to 55% of Premier League teams participating in European nights in the 2026-2027 season.
