All three English teams are seeded for the Europa League’s round of 32 draw, which means they will avoid any other group winners as well as the top teams dropping down from the Champions League.
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There are just two restrictions in the next round, teams from the same country can not play each other in the round of 32 and can not be drawn against a side which progressed with them in the group stage.
Ej offers plays and predictions for the Thursday slate of Europa League matches, while also reviewing the last two days of Champions League that brought group stage to an end.
But here’s the opportunity: the UEFA coefficient, the ranking that’s based on results of each league’s clubs in Europe in the past five seasons and that determines the number of teams each league can field, takes into account both Champions League and Europa League matches.
Liverpool can be drawn against all of the same teams, apart from Sion, who they have already faced in the group stages.
Whilst the pressure was on for the Premier League sides in the Champions League, for Spurs and Liverpool the Europa League has, as of yet, not proved too much of a distraction.
At Manchester United, there appeared to be rather less concern about dropping out of the Champions League than there was at Arsenal or Chelsea, despite the chaos and speculation that followed their 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg. A tie with Borussia Dortmund could be a fascinating one where Jurgen Klopp be reunited with his former club.
United, Porto, Olympiakos and Bayer Leverkusen were the four best third-placed sides to drop out of the Champions League.
The Premier League clubs will discover their fate on Monday when the draws will be made, but before that let us take a look at who they can meet in the next round.
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Liverpool could face a host of teams that finished second in the table.
