What Man City's FA Cup win means for Premier League places in Europe

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• Published16 May 2026, 17:14 BST

Manchester City lifted the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday - earning a place in the Europa League in the process.

But as City are guaranteed to qualify for the Champions League, the place in Europe for lifting the FA Cup will transfer to the Premier League.

Meanwhile, a host of Premier League clubs will be backing Aston Villa to win the Europa League - as it could yet secure Champions League qualification for whoever finishes sixth.

Villa will take on Freiburg in Istanbul on Wednesday - just four days before the final day of the league season in England.

Qualification for European competition has become pretty complicated in the past few seasons.

This has largely been caused by Uefa's new European Performance Spots (EPS).

These are the extra places in the Champions League given to the two leagues with the best overall record each season.

The Premier League has secured one of the two berths for 2026-27, with the Spanish La Liga claiming the other - just like last season.

It means there will be at least eight English teams in Europe next season.

With Villa, Arsenal and Crystal Palace all in a European final, what could this mean for the rest of the Premier League?

How the European places work and how they stand

The logic of the EPS is simple. But other factors complicate matters.

It has two pillars: it is applied after all other considerations about domestic and European cup winners; it always provides one additional place to the overall allocation.

So England was set to have seven teams in Europe before securing an EPS - but now will have at least eight.

As Manchester City also won the EFL Cup, the Conference League place for winning that competition also transfers to the Premier League.

As it stands right now:

• The top five will go into the Champions League

• The teams finishing sixth and seventh will go into the Europa League

• The team finishing eighth will go into the Conference League

The top five have pulled away in recent weeks, with the Arsenal (79 points), Manchester City (77), Manchester United (65) and Aston Villa (62 points) having booked their places in the Champions League.

Liverpool (59), who have played an extra game than those below them, are in fifth.

There is a four-point cushion to Bournemouth (55) in sixth place. Brighton (53) and Brentford (51) in seventh and eighth have the final European places.

Hoping to break into the top eight and qualify for Europe are Chelsea (49), Everton (49), Fulham (48) and Sunderland (48).

What if Arsenal win the Champions League?

Arsenal meet Paris St-Germain in the final of the Champions League on 30 May.

The Gunners are going to finish in the top four of the Premier League, so winning the Champions League cannot impact the allocation.

The place reserved for the Champions League titleholders would pass to the league champions in qualifying with the best Uefa coefficient.

That looks like it would be Shakhtar Donetsk.

For the Premier League to get a sixth Champions League place via this route, Arsenal would have needed to finish outside the top four.

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What if Villa win the Europa League?

The first thing to remember is that the Europa League winners qualify for the Champions League.

If Villa win the Europa League and finish in the top four, then nothing changes in terms of England's European spots. There would still be five teams in the Champions League, and eight in Europe.

The place in the Champions League reserved for the Europa League titleholders would pass to the team in qualifying with the best Uefa coefficient.

As it stands, that could be Portugal's Sporting Lisbon.

If Villa finish outside the top four, the Premier League will have six teams in the Champions League:

• The top four

• Villa as Europa League winners

• The EPS

Villa's precise final position would decide the Premier League's total European allocation.

If they finish fifth, the EPS passes to the Premier League's sixth-placed team.

And as we will know if Villa have won the Europa League ahead of the final day, it could present a titanic battle to finish in sixth.

Villa are fourth but, if on the final day they lose at Manchester City, and Liverpool win at home to Brentford, then the Villans will finish fifth.

And that could potentially put sixth into the Champions League.

The Premier League would surrender a place in the Europa League. Overall, England would still have eight European places.

Why is a Europa League place given up? This is all about applying the EPS after all other factors.

So in this example, Aston Villa have earned a place in the Champions League but finished in a league position that qualifies them for the Europa League.

Uefa rules state that the berth in the lower competition has to be forfeited and passed to another league.

For instance, La Liga had no team in the first edition of the Conference League because Villarreal won a European competition and finished in seventh.

Let's say Villa finish fifth. The Premier League gives up the Europa League place.

Then you apply the EPS, which goes to sixth - the first team not in the Champions League.

Seventh and eighth stay as they are - Europa League and Conference League respectively.

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What if Crystal Palace win the Conference League?

Crystal Palace will play Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final on 27 May.

The Conference League winners qualify for the following season's Europa League.

And Palace - England's representatives - cannot qualify for Europe domestically.

So, if the Eagles win the Conference League, they would take up an extra place in the Europa League as a titleholder.

That would mean the Premier League has nine clubs in Europe.

What is the maximum number of clubs in Europe for next season?

As Arsenal and Aston Villa will finish in the domestic European places, they cannot add an additional place by winning a European trophy.

It means that the maximum number for next season is nine:

• The top four in the Champions League

• Two teams in the Europa League (or one if Villa win the Europa League and finish outside the top four)

• One team in the Conference League

• Palace as Conference League winners

• The EPS

At the start of every season, the maximum is an unlikely 11.

For it to happen, English teams need to win all three European competitions with those clubs finishing outside the qualifying domestic league positions.

Related topics

• Europa League
• Premier League
• UEFA Champions League
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