As many as 11 Premier League clubs could compete in Europe next season under a specific scenario, which would cause fixture chaos and scheduling headaches for the 2026/27 campaign
Newcastle United players celebrate
Newcastle could be one of 11 Premier League teams that qualifies for Europe this season(Image: Steve Welsh/PA Wire)
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As many as 11 Premier League clubs could be vying for European competition next season, potentially causing a scheduling conundrum for the 2026/27 season. Newcastle United are one of the clubs who will be hoping to qualify for a European tournament for next term.
Arsenal and Liverpool are the only Premier League representatives left in the Champions League, following the last-16 exits of Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle.
The Magpies exited the competition at the last-16 stage thanks to an 8-3 aggregate defeat to Barcelona earlier this month. Eddie Howe and Co. now have just the Premier League to focus on this term, where they are currently in 12th place and seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool.
Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, have both advanced to the Europa League quarter-finals, while Crystal Palace are preparing for a Conference League tie next month.
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With the race for Champions League qualification as unpredictable as ever at this stage of the season, numerous clubs have a realistic shot at European competition next term.
There's a chance that 11 teams could be competing in Europe next season, but a series of scenarios would need to unfold for this to become reality, reports the Mirror.
To begin with, Liverpool (Champions League) and either Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest (Europa League) would need to triumph in their respective competitions this season.
Liverpool are set to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final, while Villa will square off against Bologna in the Europa League and Forest will challenge Porto.
Not only that, but both clubs would also need to finish outside the Champions League qualification places, which would be the top five in the English top flight.
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England are widely expected to be awarded one of the two European Performance Spots given by UEFA to teams that finish in the top two leagues with the highest coefficient.
If Liverpool and Villa were to win both their European competitions and finish outside the top five simultaneously, then that would mean seven English teams would qualify for the Champions League for next season. This would be the top five clubs in the Premier League, plus Liverpool and either Forest or Villa, and gives Newcastle an extra chance to earn a spot in next season's elite cup competition in Europe.
Palace also have a role in this scenario, as they would need to also win the Conference League this season and finish outside the top six in the Premier League.
This would mean that Palace and two more Premier League teams would earn a place in the Europa League. That leaves the final English team to qualify for next season's Conference League, which would then take the total number of teams up to 11 that are competing in Europe next term.
This could, as a result, cause a scheduling dilemma for the Premier League going forward next season. A total of 11 teams competing in Europe would mean that several top-flight matches would need to be rearranged with league phase/group stage and potentially knockout fixtures in mind.
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