Aston Villa have guaranteed themselves a spot in the 2026-27 Champions League after a 4-2 win against Liverpool on Friday.
Both teams had entered the match on equal points, fifth and fourth respectively, but Unai Emery’s side solidified their top-five finish after putting four goals past last season’s Premier League champions.
After a Morgan Rogers opener, Liverpool equalised via a Virgil van Dijk header early on after the break, but it only took four minutes for Villa to go ahead again. A second-half Ollie Watkins brace and a John McGinn late goal sealed their Champions League qualification, despite Van Dijk’s second of the night in stoppage time.
The result meant Emery’s men put themselves three points above Liverpool with only one league game left for each team to play.
With Villa also in with a chance of winning the Europa League, qualifying for UEFA’s premier club competition twice over, and Manchester City able to win the FA Cup — a qualifying route to the Europa League — there is much yet to play for.
So how did Friday night’s game at Villa Park impact the Premier League’s race for Europe?
Are the Champions League spots looking clearer?
Aston Villa’s win has guaranteed them a Champions League spot for the second time in three seasons, with Emery’s team last appearing in the competition in 2024-25 when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.
A spot for Liverpool in next season’s Champions League is still not guaranteed, however. They sit fifth with one game to play and while they can’t be caught in this round of matches, the pressure will be on to secure a top-five finish when Brentford visit Anfield on the last day of the season.
Villa are guaranteed Champions League football regardless of their Europa League final result (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Why do Villa have an important part to play for other teams?
Fourth and fifth may not be the only Champions league positions still to play for, as Villa are crucial in the possibility of a sixth space opening up.
They next face Freiburg in the Europa League final on Wednesday before taking on title-chasing Manchester City at the Etihad in their final league game of the season on May 24.
If they win the Europa League and finish fifth, Champions League qualification will extend to sixth place in the league.
Due to a quirk in UEFA’s European Performance Spots system, however, sixth place will not qualify for Europe’s premier club competition if Villa finish fourth. If they win their final game against City, only the top five teams will qualify.
What does this mean for the other teams chasing European football?
For the hope of a sixth Champions League place, and increased places in Europe, the teams below fifth will hope Villa drop points against City — to take them down from fourth — but win the Europa League on Wednesday.
If Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth win their next game, they will now only be one point behind Liverpool in fifth heading into the season’s final matches.
They are in a good position but have a tough final two fixtures. Bournemouth are sixth — which could be a Champions League spot — but face title-challengers City on Tuesday before Nottingham Forest the next Sunday. Forest are, on paper, an easier opponent but have not lost in the league in eight games.
Two points behind them are Brighton and Hove Albion in seventh. They are currently in a Conference League spot with games away to Leeds and at home to Manchester United left to round off their season.
Brentford and Chelsea are too far back for Liverpool dropping points on Friday to impact them greatly, eight and ten points back respectively.
Calum McFarlane’s men are four points and two places from the final Conference League spot as it stands, with games against relegation-threatened Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland still to play. If they lose on Saturday in the FA Cup final, they would miss automatic Europa League qualification but need to climb only one place to play in Europe next season.
How does Saturday’s FA Cup final affect the Europe spots?
Winning the FA Cup is another route for teams to qualify for the Europa League, and so another way in which the number of European competition spots can change.
If Manchester City beat Chelsea at Wembley, given they are safely in the 2026-27 Champions League already, another Europa League place would be awarded on the basis of Premier League standings, making eighth place enough for European football.
If Chelsea — currently sitting in ninth — were to win, however, and Villa beat Freiburg while finishing fifth, the top flight’s seventh-placed team would go into the Conference League.