How seven Premier League teams including Tottenham and Chelsea can qualify for Champions League

Seven Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Tottenham, and Chelsea, could qualify for next season’s Champions League in a historic first for English football.

Every season, the Premier League's top sides battle it out to secure a top-four finish and with it, a coveted spot in Europe's most prestigious football tournament, the Champions League. While this race remains crucial this season, there could be alternative routes for three additional clubs to earn their place in the competition.

The top four Premier League positions continue to guarantee Champions League qualification, but thanks to England's coefficient rankings, a fifth spot is likely to be added.

Each country's league has a coefficient ranking, determined by the performance of its teams in European competitions, including the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League. Countries gain two points for a win and one for a draw.

The total points earned by clubs from the same league are then combined and divided by the number of that league's clubs participating in European competitions.

England currently tops the coefficient rankings with 108.8 points, followed by Italy with 94.7 points. Italy's standing took a hit when all its clubs were eliminated from the Champions League.

Therefore, the traditional top-four scramble in the Premier League could potentially expand into a top-five contest, courtesy of the impressive performances of English clubs on the European stage. There's also a possibility for a sixth and seventh club to join the fray, albeit through different qualification methods.

Victory in the Champions League guarantees automatic qualification for the following year's tournament. The two English clubs still in contention are Arsenal and Aston Villa.

Hypothetically, if either of these teams were to clinch the Champions League title but fail to secure a qualifying spot in the Premier League, they would still make it as a sixth side.

The same principle applies to the Europa League, with the triumphant team earning an automatic ticket to the next season's Champions League. This means that despite Tottenham Hotspur's and Manchester United's underwhelming Premier League campaigns, should either lift the Europa League trophy but miss out on a 'top-five' finish, they could become the seventh team to qualify for Europe's elite competition.

Unfortunately for Chelsea, they don't have the freedom of two routes. Enzo Maresca's men will have to earn the spot the old fashioned way in the Premier League. The Blues currently sit fourth, but they have a list of teams below them scrapping for that exact spot.

While there are many variables to consider before the 2024-25 season concludes, it's more than possible for fans to see an unprecedented seven English teams gracing the Champions League next term.