Newcastle are among the few Premier League clubs who could be handed a lifeline in their hopes for European qualification next season.
Rule changes to the competition come into force for the 2024/25 campaign and will see the group stages replaced by a ‘Swiss model’ league format. 32 teams will play eight games each, with the top eight qualifying for knockouts and positions nine through 24 in a playoff to fill the other spots in the round of 16.
Among the changing rules include new ways in which clubs can qualify for the competition. A coefficient has been established which will offer another place in the competition to the top two performing countries – currently, these are England and Italy.
This would mean 5th (currently Aston Villa) place qualifies for the Champions League this season, with 6th and 7th (currently Man Utd and West Ham) making the Europa League and 8th (currently Newcastle) qualifying for the Europa Conference League. One of these places could be taken if a club outside the European places wins the FA Cup, although that currently seems unlikely with Man City vs Chelsea and Man Utd vs Coventry to semi-final line-up.
Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham are all competing in the quarter-finals of their respective European competitions and could hold the key for England’s coefficient ranking.
Our win at Fulham on Saturday saw us close the gap between ourselves and Man Utd (6th) to two points, but we could yet book our place in next season’s Europa League by finishing above West Ham in 7th. As things stand, win our game in hand over the Hammers and we’d do exactly that, with us currently just one point behind David Moyes’ men.
As for the Champions League, we still have a chance (albeit an extremely slim one) for Europe’s top competition if a particular scenario plays out. That’s if West Ham win the Europa League and finish fifth in the league. Victory for David Moyes’ Hammers would automatically qualify them for the Champions League meaning their fifth-place berth would shift to sixth.
TalkSPORT’s Callum Vurley indicated that there is a more crazy scenario that could see seventh place in the Premier League qualify for the Champions League:
“In theory, next season could see a club as low as seventh qualify for the competition but it would rely on both the Champions League and Europa League winners to be English clubs who finish fifth and sixth.”
