Topics: Liverpool, Manchester United, Champions League, Europa League, Premier League, UEFA
Liverpool may have inadvertently given rivals Manchester United a major boost in their pursuit of Champions League football next season.
United were dumped out of Europe early on in the current campaign, finishing bottom of their Champions League group behind Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray.
They now face a huge battle to qualify for European club football's top competition after a difficult campaign under Erik ten Hag.
United are currently sixth, 11 points off the top four with only 11 games remaining in their league season.
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There is, however, a chance that the Premier League could be awarded an extra place in the Champions League next term.
As part of the upcoming changes to the competition's format for the 2024/25 campaign, two European leagues will be awarded an extra spot in the Champions League based on their clubs' performances in UEFA competitions this season.
At present, those two extra places are heading to Italy and Germany based on UEFA co-efficient rankings for the current campaign.
Italy's Serie A is currently on 16.000 points for the season, followed by Germany's Bundesliga on 15.214. The Premier League is currently third on 14.625.
Liverpool were the only English team to win in European competition on Thursday evening; Jurgen Klopp's side beating Sparta Prague 5-1 in the Europa League.
Brighton were thrashed 4-0 by Roma in the Europa League, while West Ham lost 1-0 in the same competition. Aston Villa, meanwhile, drew 0-0 with Ajax in the Conference League.
Liverpool's win combined with Aston Villa's draw added 0.375 points to England's co-efficient ranking, closing the gap to Germany in second place.
With six English clubs still competing in European competition this season, the Premier League has a strong chance of gaining the extra Champions League spot – which would see fifth place qualify for the competition.
Tottenham currently occupy fifth place in the Premier League and are six points ahead of United, having played one game less.
Should Ten Hag's side overtake Spurs and finish fifth, they will be hoping the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City have won enough games in Europe this season to ensure their efforts are not in vain.
