How Man United can get UEFA coefficient boost even if Liverpool and West Ham exit Europa League

The UEFA coefficient ranking is currently the talk of the football world, with an additional spot in next season's Champions League up for grabs.

As the competition expands to 32 teams, two leagues will gain an extra spot in Europe's premier club competition next season. The leagues to benefit will be determined by the UEFA coefficients, which are based on the performance of their teams in each of the three European tournaments.

At present, Italy's Serie A is leading the race for an extra spot, while the Premier League and Bundesliga are vying for the other. This means that finishing fifth in the Premier League this season could potentially lead to Champions League qualification.

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However, the Bundesliga currently holds second place in the UEFA coefficient table. They extended their lead last night after Bayern Munich triumphed over Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final, and Manchester City were also eliminated at the hands of Real Madird.

This makes it challenging for England to secure the additional spot by the end of the season, but not unachievable. The Europa League and Europa Conference League also factor into the equation, although the outlook there appears difficult as well, reports football.london.

Liverpool enter Thursday's Europa League quarter-final second leg trailing Atalanta 3-0, while West Ham host German champions Bayer Leverkusen needing to overturn a 2-0 deficit. Neither team looks likely to progress as it stands.

However, Manchester United could receive a boost in their slim hopes of qualifying even if Liverpool and West Ham are eliminated tonight. United are currently 10 points behind Tottenham in fifth, 13 from Aston Villa in the all-important fourth spot - but crucially with a game in hand.

The coefficient is calculated by awarding points for wins and draws and progressing through rounds in European competition. This total is then divided by the number of teams that country has in Europe that season.

England had eight teams in Europe this year, so all our accumulated points are divided by eight, compared to Germany's seven. Both West Ham and Liverpool can win their games in the second leg and still be knocked out.

With two points awarded for a win, that would add an extra four points. Even if Leverkusen lose but progress to the semi-finals, it would contribute one point to the Bundesliga.

If Aston Villa triumph in France and reach the Conference League semi-finals they would also gain two points, plus an additional point for reaching the last four. In this scenario, England's coefficient ranking would average 17.75, with Germany's averaging 17.78, making it incredibly tight.

In such a situation, United, as well as Spurs and Villa themselves would be dependent on Unai Emery's side going all the way and accumulating coefficient points for the Premier League in the Conference League. This is because Bayern Munich and Leverkusen are in the semi-finals of their competitions and there are no English clubs to counterbalance them.

Erik ten Hag would greatly benefit if West Ham could defeat Leverkusen and eliminate them cleanly. Additionally, a comeback victory for Liverpool, securing their place in the semi-finals, would also be advantageous, potentially paving the way for the fifth-placed Premier League team to enter the Champions League.

United would also need to hold up on their side of the bargain, showing a turn of form to rise up the table and into the Champions League places. Even if the extra spot doesn't go to England, missing out on that could leave seventh place as the last to bring European football.