England is barreling toward securing a fifth spot in the UEFA Champions League next season, for the second straight season, as Premier League clubs continue to pace the field in European competitions.
**MORE** — [What we learned from the Champions League knockout draw](https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/what-we-learned-from-the-champions-league-draw-which-premier-league-sides-got-the-best-paths-to-the-quarters)
After completing the league phase of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League, English clubs are miles ahead of every other league and the Premier League is the only league with all of its European qualifiers (all nine of them) still competing. The two nations which finish with the highest average coefficient scores (points are won with each positive result in the three European competitions) will earn an extra place for the 2026-27 season.
Italy and Germany each secured the extra spots for the 2024-25 season (the first one for the new format), while England and Spain did so ahead of the current campaign.
There were six Premier League clubs in the Champions League this season thanks to Tottenham Hotspur winning the Europa League, and that could well be the case again with Aston Villa finishing 2nd in the league phase and looking like one of the favorites to lift the trophy in Istanbul this spring.
1. **England** — 20.958 points — 9/9 remaining
2. **Portugal** — 16.600 — 4/5
3. **Germany** — 16.214 — 6/7
4. **Spain** — 15.531 — 6/8
5. **Italy** — 15.500 — 6/7
6. **France** — 13.750 — 5/7
7. **Poland** — 13.625 — 3/4
8. **Greece** — 12.100 — 4/5
9. **Cyprus** — 11.906 — 2/4
10. **Denmark** — 11.750 — 1/4
Now that England’s dominance of European competitions has been clearly established, which Premier League clubs might benefit come the end of the season? As it turns out, quite a few of them…
Latest Premier League standings — The race for Champions League qualification
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. **Arsenal** — 16-5-3, +29 GD, 53 points
2. **Manchester City** — 14-5-5, +26 GD, 47 points
3. **Aston Villa** — 14-4-6, +9 GD, 46 points
4. **Manchester United** — 11-8-5, +8 GD, 41 points
5. **Chelsea** — 1-7-6, +15 GD, 40 points
6. **Liverpool** — 11-6-7, +6 GD, 39 points
7. **Brentford** — 11-3-10, +4 GD, 36 points
8. **Fulham** — 10-4-10, -1 GD, 34 points
9. **Everton** — 9-7-8, -1 GD, 34 points
10. **Sunderland** — 9-9-6, +1 GD, 33 points
11. **Newcastle** — 9-6-9, 0 GD, 33 points
12. **Bournemouth** — 8-9-7, -3 GD, 33 points