Who qualifies for the Champions League in the Premier League?

Ten points separate Newcastle United in third place and Brighton in seventh in the Premier League table. Manchester United are currently fourth in the table and teams who finish fourth normally guarantee themselves Champions League qualification, but this season could be different.

Premier League top four

Newcastle are in third spot on the same points (56) as Erik ten Hag’s United in fourth but with a much better goal difference and recently beat the Old Trafford outfit in the league.

Tottenham are fifth, three points behind Newcastle and United, while Aston Villa have performed well under Unai Emery and currently occupy sixth place with 47 points. Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton are having a fine campaign and sit just one point behind, in seventh with 46 points.

Champions League spots

The top four teams in the Premier League qualify for the Champions League group stage. At the time of writing, league leaders Arsenal, second-place Manchester City, Newcastle and Manchester United would all book their places in the 2023-24 edition of the Champions League.

However, finishing fourth and not qualifying for next season’s competition depends on the performances of Manchester United and Chelsea on the domestic and European stages.

Chelsea lose to Real Madrid

Chelsea are currently in 11th place in the Premier League and after Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League are unlikely to win the Champions League this year but stranger things have happened.

If Frank Lampard’s team do win the Champions League, they will go straight into the group stage of next season’s competition despite not being in the top four spots in the Premier League.

Manchester United face Sevilla in the Europa League on Thursday and will automatically qualify for the group stage of next season’s Champions League if they drop out of the top four in the Premier League but win the Europa League.

How many English teams can participate in the Champions League?

UEFA rules state there can only be a maximum of five English teams in the Champions League, which means if Chelsea or United won their respective competitions and were not in the top four at the end of the season, fourth place in the Premier League would miss out on Champions League qualification and drop into the Europa League group stage.