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How Arsenal did Liverpool and Chelsea a huge Champions League favour by defeating Sporting CP
Martin Macdonald
- 8 Apr 2026 07:30 CDT
- 2 min read
News
Chelsea and Liverpool have Arsenal to thank for boosting their chances of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
On Tuesday evening, the Gunners secured a 1-0 away win against Sporting CP in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie versus the Portuguese giants.
In doing so, they officially secured the Premier League an extra place in the Champions League for next season. That means that the club that finishes fifth in 2025/26 will qualify alongside the top four.
At the moment, the top four spots are taken by Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa.
Liverpool are in fifth, while Chelsea are in sixth. It looks like it could be a straight shootout between the Reds and the Blues for that final Champions League place, though Brentford are also in the mix in seventh.
UEFA grants an extra Champions League place the following year to the country whose teams perform the best across the Champions League, Europa League and the Europa Conference League.
England had nine competitors playing across those three tournaments this season and all progressed to the knockout stages.
Only two from six are in the Champions League quarter-finals - Liverpool and Arsenal - but enough coefficient points have been accumulated across the board, already, to gain the extra spot for next season.
Remarkably, the Premier League could have many as SEVEN teams in the Champions League next season if certain scenarios play out.
Should Liverpool go on to win the Champions League, that would allow for the extra place to drop down to sixth via the earned coefficient spot.
Uefa coefficient table (April 7)
| Country | Coefficient Average | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. England | 25.013 | 30.569 |
| 2. Spain | 20.281 | 26.593 |
| 3. Germany | 19.174 | 24.571 |
| 4. Portugal | 18.900 | 25.900 |
| 5. Italy | 18.174 | 22.000 |
| 6. France | 16.392 | 19.821 |
| 7. Poland | 15.750 | 15.750 |
| 8. Greece | 13.800 | 16.000 |
| 9. Denmark | 12.250 | 12.250 |
| 10. Cyprus | 12.156 | 12.156 |
Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are still competing in the Europa League and whoever wins that earns automatic qualification to the Champions League.
Villa are already likely to qualify for the Champions League as they are well-placed in the top four, so if they win the Europa, the coefficient spot for the Champions League could drop down a further place, to seventh.
The seventh place will only be gained if Liverpool win the Champions League and Aston Villa win the Europa League.
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