4 hours ago
1
This one gets a little bit confusing, but Villa's Europa League result against Freiburg will make things clearer.
Because England has won one of two Elite Performance Spots (EPS) for next season's Champions League, five Premier League clubs will feature in the competition instead of four. Like England, Spain have also guaranteed five clubs.
We already know that Arsenal, City, United and Villa are four of those.
But because of Villa's involvement in the Europa League final, there is a scenario where six English clubs qualify for the Champions League next term.
For that to happen, Villa would need to win the Europa League final and then finish fifth.
Currently, they are fourth - three points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool. That means Liverpool would need to beat Brentford and hope Villa lose at City for them to overtake Emery's team.
Fans of Bournemouth and Brighton will also hope this happens. If it does, it means one of them would join Liverpool and be a sixth English team in the Champions League.
The Cherries only need a point at Nottingham Forest to guarantee a top-six finish.
Meanwhile, the Seagulls would need to beat Manchester United and for Bournemouth to lose to finish sixth.
If Villa lose the Europa League final, it is simply the top five English clubs who will qualify for the Champions League.
Liverpool would only need a point to guarantee a top-five finish. But if they lose at home to the Bees, they would only not finish fifth if Bournemouth won at Forest and the Cherries overturned a six-goal deficit in goal difference.
