Newcastle United set for UEFA update with Liverpool & West Ham United on the brink

Newcastle United aren’t in action this week but what happens elsewhere is set to provide a clearer picture of what is required to secure European qualification.

The Magpies’ 4-0 victory against Champions League chasing Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon moved them up to sixth in the Premier League table, and that is where they ended the weekend after West Ham United and Manchester United failed to win their respective matches versus Fulham and AFC Bournemouth.

As it stands, sixth position would secure qualification for next season’s Europa Conference League after Liverpool - who are guaranteed a top four finish - won the Carabao Cup. There will, however, be plenty of moving parts between now and the end of the campaign, but this week’s European and FA Cup matches could go a long way to deciding that.

Cheering on English clubs in Europe

Currently, fifth place is a Europa League spot but there is a possibility it could instead seal a Champions League football based on co-efficient ranking.

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. This is decided by whose clubs perform best across all three of UEFA’s European competitions.

England are currently third behind Italy and Germany in the 2023-24 UEFA country coefficients after first-leg defeats for Liverpool and West Ham against Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively, has put them on the brink of an exit.

Meanwhile, Arsenal and Manchester City drew their first legs against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid with Aston Villa the only English side to emerge victorious with a 2-1 win at home to Lille.

With one Italian and two German teams looking to dump three Premier League clubs out of Europe in the second legs this week, English hopes of landing an extra Champions League place are dwindling. Should that scenario play out, the pressure would be on Man City and Aston Villa to win their competition.

Fifth spot may not sound like it would benefit Newcastle as they currently sit 10 points below but it would have a knock-on effect on Europa League and Conference League qualification.

Should fifth place qualify for the Champions League, the automatic Europa League spot drops to sixth and the Conference League spot drops to seventh. It could potentially drop to eighth if the FA Cup winners have already qualified for Europe.

The FA Cup and European qualification - howay Man City

And that brings us on to this weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals between Manchester City vs Chelsea and Coventry City vs Manchester United.

If the winners finish outside of the European places, that club will qualify for the Europa League and sixth place will remain a Conference League spot.

Chelsea, Man United and of course, Coventry, a Championship side, are all below Newcastle currently. So, no one should criticise any Geordie for cheering on Man City in the weeks to come...