Champions League boost that will be welcomed by Aston Villa as they hunt return to Europe's top table
The Premier League remains on course to be awarded a fifth Champions League place for next season – but results in Europe this week could be key.
Aston Villa remain in the hunt for a top four spot - but their recent form has seen then slip down to fourth and only two points ahead of Liverpool.
Here is a closer look at how the extra spot could be awarded:
How could English clubs be awarded an extra place?
Each season UEFA awards one European Performance Spot (EPS) each to the two countries whose clubs collectively performed best in the previous season’s European competitions.
This is in addition to the number of spots that country gets from the regular access list – in England’s case there are four regular spots, so the EPS would make it five.
How is the table looking right now?
England currently leads the country coefficient rankings for the 2025-26 season, ahead of Spain in second and Germany in third.
How is the league table worked out?
Points are awarded for wins and draws – two and one respectively across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. Additional points are made for progressing through the rounds and bonus points were given for the position clubs finished in the league phase, weighted in favour of Champions League clubs.
Points earned are then divided by the number of teams each country entered into the European club competitions at the start of the season – in England’s case, nine.
So how do things look now?
None of England’s six Champions League representatives won their last-16 first-leg ties and only Arsenal and Liverpool appear particularly well placed to progress to the quarter-finals after a draw and narrow defeat respectively in their away ties.
In the Europa League, Nottingham Forest trail Danish side Midtjylland after the first leg, though Aston Villa are well placed to progress after winning 1-0 away to Lille. Crystal Palace’s progress in the Conference League is uncertain after they were held to a goalless draw at home by AEK Larnaca.
Third-placed Germany are effectively 33 points behind England in the table. They have five of their original seven clubs still involved, with Bayern Munich a shoo-in for the Champions League quarter-finals after their thrashing of Atalanta. However, none of the other four clubs hold leads heading into the second legs, with Europa League duo Stuttgart and Freiburg trailing
