Is England on course for fifth Champions League spot?

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The Premier League is in a dominant position for the extra places in the Champions League and Europa League [Getty Images]

With the knockout phase of all three European competitions having started, how is the race for the extra places in the Champions League shaping up?

The two nations which perform best across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League this season will be handed European Performance Spots (EPS) by Uefa.

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That means fifth place in the Premier League table could go from being a Europa League place to a ticket into the Champions League - Newcastle benefited this way last season.

But will an English club get that reward again?

How do European Performance Spots work?

To work out who are the successful nations, Uefa takes into consideration the overall performance of clubs in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

It creates an average by taking the total coefficient score and dividing it by the number of clubs each league has in European competition.

So let's say the Premier League has a total score of 185. Divide that by nine clubs and you get an average of 20.56.

The top two leaguesin the table get an extra place in the Champions League.

Each win - regardless of the competition - is worth two coefficient points, with a draw worth one.

The key differential is in bonus points awarded based on clubs' finishing positions in the league phase and knockout rounds, as these are much higher in the Champions League.

By way of an example, the teams that finish 25th-36th in the Champions League got six bonus points - even though they were eliminated.

Yet the team who finished top of the Conference League table - Strasbourg - received just four points.

Bonus points for progressing through the knockout rounds are also weighted. In the Champions League it is 1.5, Europa League 1, and Conference League 0.5.

This means it is almost certain that one of the top European leagues will get the extra places each season because they have more clubs in the Champions League.

What does the table look like?

ENGLAND

England is the only country to still have all teams active - and there are nine of them.

It will be very hard for England to throw it away from this position.

But nothing should be completely taken for granted, as England seemed destined to get an EPS slot in 2023-24 only to suffer a terrible set of results in the quarter-finals.

England can consolidate its position with results in the knockout play-off rounds. It has three teams active, while only Italy (five) of the major European leagues has more.

Newcastle are through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

Nottingham Forest are in a strong position after securing a 3-0 victory at Fenerbahce, while Crystal Palace drew 1-1 away to Zrinjski Mostar.

As a picture of how far England is ahead, Portuguese clubs are effectively 13 wins behind, for German sides it is 16 wins. Then for the Italian teams it is 19 victories and for the Spanish clubs 22.

GERMANY

The Bundesliga is well placed to take an EPS slot alongside England with five teams active.

However, after Borussia Dortmund threw away a first-leg advantage to be eliminated by Atalanta, the door remains open.

Bayer Leverkusen got through in the Champions League knockout play-off round, while Stuttgart have the advantage in the Europa League.

Germany's chances could be hampered if Leverkusen draw Bayern Munich in the last 16.

SPAIN

With eight teams in Europe, Spain needed to have a strong campaign.

Chances were severely damaged by Villarreal and Athletic Club's Champions League elimination.

While Spain have six teams still active, each win is worth less to the coefficient than those of their rivals for second place.

La Liga does have three teams in action in February: Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Celta Vigo.

Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid are through in the Champions League. Celta Vigo won 2-1 away to PAOK in the Europa League.

ITALY

Serie A had a slow start but it remains in contention despite losing Napoli from the Champions League in January.

With Italy having five teams in action in February, there has been the potential to significantly boost its score.

However, Inter Milan lost both legs of their Champions League tie against Bodo/Glimt and Juventus went out to Galatasaray.

Atalanta found a way to get past Dortmund while Bologna and Fiorentina take leads into Thursday's games.

But it is difficult for Italy from here.

PORTUGAL

Portugal did not seem to really stand a realistic chance of making the top two after Santa Clara were knocked out out of the Conference League in the qualifying rounds.

Still, it moved into the knockouts with four teams active but will need all to go very deep to have any chance.

But Benfica's exit from the Champions League left them pointless in February, and it is difficult from here.

FRANCE

It has been a disappointing season for Ligue 1 teams, starting with Nice's failure to make it through Champions League qualifying.

It has not got much better from there for Nice, as they were theneliminated from the Europa League.

France's chances have been further reduced by PSG knocking out Monaco, while Lille also lost at home to Red Star in the Europa League.

POLAND

It will come as a surprise to many to find Poland so high up in the table, and that it was in the top two for a while. But Poland will not be here for long.

All four of the country's teams have been playing in the Conference League, while over a third of its points were picked up in the qualifying rounds.

At least the remaining trio are potentially at opposite ends of the Conference League bracket.

GREECE

With Olympiacos knocked out of the Champions League, Greece is down to three teams and a long way behind the top two slots.

All of its remaining teams will play in February to boost the score, but not one picked up a win so far.

CYPRUS

Another surprise name on the list, boosted by Pafos reaching the Champions League for the first time.

But with only two teams still active, and both in the Conference League, Cyprus is not a contender.

DENMARK

Only FC Midtjylland remain,and Denmark is now mathematically out of contention.

What are the key future dates?

Last season, the Premier League's extra place in the Champions League was confirmed on 8 April.

Such has been the high level of English clubs' performance in the top competition this season that it could come earlier this time.

Here are some key dates for the diary:

24-26 February: Knockout play-off round second legs are played for all three competitions which will result in 24 more teams being eliminated.

27 February: Draws are held to place the top eight teams in each competition into the knockout bracket. This is very important as it creates the full path and determines each league's maximum coefficient score. It sets out potential meetings of clubs from the same league, or rival leagues for an extra Champions League place.

17-19 March: Second-leg ties for the round of 16 take place in each competition, with another 24 teams knocked out.

14-16 April: Quarter-final ties are completed. It is possible that the extra places will be confirmed.

5-7 May: Semi-final second legs take place, with the finals being held at the end of the month.

How does the Premier League race for Champions League places look?

Premier League leaders Arsenal (61 points) are five points ahead of Manchester City (56) with Aston Villa (51) in third.

Manchester United (48) are currently fourth and, right now, the extra place in the Champions League would go to fifth-placed Chelsea (45). Liverpool are in sixth place (45).

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

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