Newcastle United, Aston Villa & West Ham European hopes handed major boost after UEFA rule change

Newcastle United will be hoping to secure European football for a second successive season as they head into the final 10 games of the Premier League campaign.

The Magpies currently sit 10th in the table, two points off eighth, three points off seventh, seven points off sixth, 13 off fifth and 16 off fourth place - where they finished last season. Champions League qualification for a second successive season is highly unlikely for The Magpies, but there is a realistic chance of Eddie Howe's side securing European football.

But a UEFA rule change coming into place next season means for the first time, a side finishing fifth in the Premier League could qualify for the Champions League on league position alone.

This is due to a new Swiss-league format introduced by UEFA which will see four more teams enter the competition, which includes one extra place for the top two performing leagues.

How extra Champions League place works for 2024-25

The two leagues whose clubs perform the best overall in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League competitions in 2023-24 will be granted an extra Champions League spot for the 2024-25 campaign.

Despite Newcastle and Manchester City finishing bottom of their respective Champions League groups and Brighton & Hove Albion getting knocked at the last-16 stage in the Europa League, five English teams still remain in the latter stages of the three European competitions.

England currently sit behind Italy and Germany in the 2023-24 UEFA country coefficients that will decide which two leagues get the extra spot. But England are likely to finish in the top two positions due to having five of the 24 quarter-finalists across the three competitions following last week's round of fixtures.

Arsenal and Manchester City are in the quarter-final of the Champions League while West Ham United and Liverpool are in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League. Italy have four of the remaining 24 sides while France, Spain and Germany each have three.

But there are some difficult ties for English clubs in their respective quarter-finals. Arsenal face Bayern Munich while Man City play Real Madrid in the Champions League.

In the Europa League, Liverpool face Italian side Atalanta and West Ham play Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Aston Villa face Lille in the Conference League quarter-final.

Should all English sides progress to the semi-finals, it would guarantee a fifth Champions League qualification spot this season in the Premier League.

What this means for Newcastle United?

The potential of an extra place in the Champions League does not impact England's places in the Europa League or Europa Conference League as it did when the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool won the Champions League despite finishing outside of the top four.

Should fifth place qualify for the Champions League this season, the automatic Europa League spot drops to sixth place. An additional Europa League spot is given to the FA Cup winners, however, if the winners have qualified for the Champions League or Europa League based on league position then the Europa League spot drops down to the next highest-ranked Premier League side.

Last season Brighton qualified for the Europa League having finished sixth as Manchester City, who won the Premier League and FA Cup, had already qualified for the Champions League.

Hypothetically, if England are granted an extra Champions League place and a side win the FA Cup having already qualified for the Champions League or Europa League, the second Europa League qualification place will drop to seventh.

But the only clubs remaining in the FA Cup currently inside the European places are Manchester United and Manchester City. 11th placed Chelsea and Championship side Coventry City are the other two sides left in the competition.

Newcastle will be wanting one of either Manchester United or Manchester City to win the FA Cup in order to give themselves the best chance of qualifying for Europe.

Liverpool have already won the Carabao Cup this season which grants a place in the Europa Conference League. But with Liverpool likely to finish in the Champions League places, the Conference League spot will then drop to the next highest ranked Premier League side.

Should an additional Champions League place be granted, the Conference League qualification spot will then go to eighth place.

Newcastle could move back into the European places after the international break should they beat seventh placed West Ham at St James' Park on March 30 (12:30pm kick-off). A win would see The Magpies leapfrog The Hammers in the Premier League table.

But there is also Brighton, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea and Fulham all looking to secure a place in Europe with just six points seperating West Ham in seventh and Fulham in 12th.

How many English teams can qualify for European football?

The European places in the Premier League cannot drop lower than eighth as things stand. But it is technically now possible for as many as 11 English clubs to qualify for European competition.

England currently has an allocation of seven places which could potentially be added to with an extra Champions League spot as well as the winners of all three European competitions in the improbable scenario that all three finished outside of the European places in the Premier League.

England have had eight clubs in Europe this season as a result of West Ham winning the Conference League while finishing outside of the European places.

It has been suggested UEFA could consider putting a limit on the maximum number of clubs allowed to qualify from the same nation during the same season.