Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth all have an outside chance of qualifying for Europe – but need Chelsea to win the Conference League and finish seventh in the Premier League.
The final matches in the Premier League take place on Sunday and there is still a scenario in which 10 of the teams, external would be playing in European competition in 2025-26.
Six English clubs will be in the Champions League – Liverpool and Arsenal have already secured their spots and will be joined by three of Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.
Manchester United play Tottenham in the final of the Europa League in Bilbao, Spain on Wednesday and the winner of that match will also be in next season’s Champions League.
Crystal Palace’s 1-0 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final has taken the Eagles into the 2025-26 Europa League, where they will be joined by whichever team finishes sixth in the Premier League.
The complication comes with Newcastle, whose Carabao Cup victory has ensured themselves a Conference League place at least. But if they finish sixth they would go into the Europa League instead, while a top-five place for Eddie Howe’s team would move them into the Champions League instead.
Chelsea play Real Betis in the Conference League final on Wednesday, 28 May, with the winner qualifying for the Europa League. But Enzo Maresca’s Blues also could still claim Champions League football with a top-five Premier League finish.
If Chelsea win the Conference League and come seventh, that would open up their Conference League place to the Premier League team which finishes eighth – with Brighton, who beat Liverpool 3-2 on Monday, in that spot, although Brentford and Bournemouth could still overtake them.
It is a similar situation if Chelsea win the Conference League and come sixth, with Newcastle seventh, meaning eighth in the Premier League would again be enough for European competition.
If Chelsea lose the Conference League final or finish in a Champions League place, the picture becomes much clearer.
The top five plus the Europa League winners would be in the Champions League, Crystal Palace and the sixth-placed team would be in the Europa League and the side that finishes seventh in the Premier League would be in the Conference League.
