Manchester United defeated Liverpool 3-2 on Sunday, confirming their return to the UEFA Champions League (UCL) for the first time in two years.
Arsenal and Manchester City are also already guaranteed to feature in European football’s elite club competition next season, meaning at least two more spots will remain unfilled.
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Teams that finish in the top five will automatically qualify for the Champions League, but there is also a scenario in which the sixth-place team will qualify for next season’s competition.
How can the six Premier League teams qualify for the Champions League?
The English Premier League has been allocated a fifth spot in the Champions League, known as the European Performance Spot (EPS), which is given to the two leagues with the best results in Europe’s three major club competitions.
If Aston Villa win the Europa League (which usually qualifies for the Champions League in its own right) and finish fifth in the league, the team finishing sixth will earn an EPS spot to play in the UCL.
If Villa finish fourth and win the Europa League, the EPS slot will not be carried over and the fifth place team will qualify for the final Champions League and the sixth place team will qualify for the Europa League.
Villa are currently trailing Nottingham Forest 1-0 after last week’s Europa League semi-final. The second leg will be played at Villa Park on Thursday.
Meanwhile, if 16th-placed Forest win the Europa League, they will become the sixth English team to qualify for the Champions League.
Liverpool’s path to qualification
The loss to United leaves Liverpool in fourth place with 58 points after 35 games, with three games remaining and six points behind sixth-placed Bournemouth.
Liverpool only need one point to qualify if Bournemouth lose or draw their next game (away to Fulham), but if the Cherries win that game the Reds will need a further four points to qualify.
Arne Slott’s side face a difficult battle against top-half teams, including a trip to fifth-placed Villa.
May 9: Liverpool vs. Chelsea May 17: Aston Villa vs. Liverpool May 24, 2026: Liverpool vs. Brentford
Aston Villa’s path to qualification
Villa, who lost 2-1 at home to Tottenham on Sunday, are also fifth in the table with 58 points from 35 games. They are behind Liverpool on goal difference.
Like Liverpool, if Bournemouth lose or draw their next game they will need one point to qualify, but if the Cherries win they will need four points.
May 10: Burnley vs. Aston Villa May 17: Aston Villa vs. Liverpool May 24: Man City vs. Aston Villa
Bournemouth’s path to qualification
The Cherries strengthened their unlikely bid to qualify for the UCL with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday, taking them to 52 points after 35 games.
Given the six-point difference, Bournemouth’s chances of finishing in the top five look slim. They need to win at least two of their last three games and hope that either Liverpool or Villa drop as many points.
But even if sixth place were good enough to qualify for the Champions League, the Cherries are strangled by Brentford and Brighton in seventh and eighth respectively.
9th May: Fulham v Bournemouth 19th May: Bournemouth v Man City 24th May: Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth
The path to Brentford qualification
The Bees, who sit seventh, have 51 points from 35 games and are seven points behind Liverpool and Villa with three games remaining, so their chances of securing a top-flight finish are even higher. However, there is a good chance of 6th place.
9 May: Man City v Brentford 17 May: Brentford v Crystal Palace 24 May: Liverpool v Brentford
Brighton’s path to qualification
Brighton, who are in eighth place, have 50 points and can only move into the top five if they win their remaining three games and either Villa or Liverpool do not get more than one point in their final game. Even if they were able to win every game, even if Liverpool or Villa picked up one point for the rest of the season, they would need to be better on goal difference to finish fifth.
9th May: Brighton vs Wolves 17th May: Leeds vs Brighton 24th May: Brighton vs Man United
Chelsea’s path to qualification
Chelsea sit in ninth place with 48 points, but with four games remaining, they could theoretically finish the season with 60 points if they can finish the rest of the season with a 100% win rate.
However, given that the Blues have lost their last six games in the Premier League, that seems highly unlikely. The first test of the match will be tonight against Forest at Stamford Bridge.
May 4: Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest May 9: Liverpool vs. Chelsea May 19: Chelsea vs. Tottenham May 24: Sunderland vs. Chelsea
Everton’s path to qualification
Incredibly, 11th-placed Everton have 47 points with four games remaining, so technically they could finish as high as fourth.
If they win all their remaining games, they will have 59 points. But to finish fourth, we need to hope that Villa and Liverpool draw and lose their remaining games, that they are better on goal difference, and that the teams above them drop a ton of points.
Will other teams qualify for the Champions League?
This is starting to get really ridiculous, but if results go well, several other teams could finish in the top six: Fulham (10th with 48 points), Sunderland (12th with 47 points), Newcastle (13th with 45 points), Leeds (14th with 43 points) and even Crystal Palace (15th with 43 points but with four games left).
