Manchester United are strong favourites to secure Champions League qualificationplaceholder image
Manchester United are strong favourites to secure Champions League qualification | AFP via Getty Images
Man Utd aim to return to the top continental club competition next season.
Michael Carrick's side are currently third in the league table, with just seven matches left of the campaign. They sit one point ahead of Aston Villa in fourth and six points above Liverpool in fifth. United eyed a top-four finish at the start of the season, but they don't even have to finish that high anymore.
The Premier League has officially secured a fifth Champions League spot for next season's competition after Arsenal defeated Sporting 1-0 in Lisbon on Tuesday night. The victory boosted the Premier League's Uefa coefficient ranking and guarantees it as one of the two leagues that will be rewarded with an additional Champions League qualification spot.
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Premier League awarded additional Champions League place
There are guaranteed to be at least five Premier League teams in the Champions League next season. Uefa awards an additional place to the two nations that perform best over the course of the current campaign, with England uncatchable at the top of the table.
Every nation is ranked based on the performance of its clubs across the three European club competitions, with points then divided by the number of clubs competing in Europe that season. The nations are then ranked in a table based on the average score of each club.
There are two points awarded for every European win, one for every draw, and no points for a defeat. Bonus points are also awarded based on finishing position during the initial league phase, as well as for each stage a club goes deeper into the competition. Points are also weighted more heavily for Champions League success, compared with the Europa League and Conference League.
The Premier League has already confirmed one of the two additional Champions League places for next season, with Spain on course to secure the second ahead of both Germany and Portugal. It means the top five teams in the Premier League will play in the Champions League next season.
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