Why West Ham's victory over Freiburg is huge for Premier League clubs

West Ham United's emphatic victory over Freiburg on Thursday evening handed the Premier League a huge boost in the race for an extra Champions League spot next season.

The Champions League will change format next season and there will be room for extra clubs in the competition, with UEFA handing out that additional qualification spot to the two countries whose teams perform best in Europe this season.

Currently, Italy sit top of UEFA's coefficient rankings, with Serie A likely to receive an extra team in next season's Champions League as a result, and West Ham's 5-0 triumph over Freiburg has boosted the Premier League's chances of receiving an additional spot as well.

Germany's Bundesliga currently holds second place in the rankings but, with just three teams left in Europe - Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen - they are unlikely to extend their lead over England, who still have five teams across Europe's three competitions.

Manchester City and Arsenal are flying the English flag in the Premier League, with Liverpool and West Ham in the Europa League. Aston Villa are still going strong in the Europa Conference League as well.

England's coefficient is likely to rise above Germany's before the end of the season, meaning the Premier League is expected to be handed a fifth automatic Champions League spot.

Arsenal, Liverpool and City appear set to battle it out for the top three places in the Premier League but the likes of Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and West Ham may now have two Champions League places to be fighting for, rather than just one.

Further down the table, an extra Champions League spot would also open a new route to either the Europa League or Conference League.

The teams that finish sixth and seventh in the Premier League could end up qualifying for the Europa League, while eighth could sneak into the Conference League - a huge boost for Chelsea as they seek to claw their way back into European competition.

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