CL, EL and ECL 26/27: Draws & Premier League Pots | OneFootball

Premier League clubs are days away from learning who they will face across the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.

England will be represented by nine teams across each of UEFA’s three competitions, including Crystal Palace, who secured their place in the Europa League by winning the Conference League.

Read on as we take a look at the draws for each competition and when Premier League clubs will find out their potential opponents.

Champions League 2026/27 draw and format

The league phase draw for the 2026/27 Champions League will take place on Thursday in Monaco.

Thirty two out of the 36 teams set to compete in Europe’s premier tournament have secured their spot, while the other four slots will be decided through the qualifying rounds.

The final draw cannot be finalised until the second leg of the final qualifying-round fixtures are completed on Wednesday evening.

Every team will face two clubs from each of the four pots. Four matches will be played at home and away, although a computer system will determine each fixture during the draw.

The pots are based on UEFA’s club coefficient rankings, which measure results in European competitions over a five-year period. 

Premier League champions Arsenal are drawn alongside Liverpool and Manchester City in Pot 1, while Manchester United and Aston Villa are both in Pot 2 on their return to Europe’s top competition.

The Champions League will also follow its usual league phase format for a third season running.

The top eight teams will go straight into the last 16, while clubs finishing from ninth to 24th will enter a two-legged knockout play-off.

Teams finishing 25th or lower will be eliminated from the competition.

The winners of those play-offs will then face one of the top-eight teams in the round of 16, setting up the route towards the quarter-finals.

Europa League & Conference League 2026/27 draw and format

The other four Premier League clubs are set to compete in Europe’s lower competitions, although Brighton & Hove Albion are yet to confirm their spot in the Conference League.

Bournemouth, Sunderland, and Palace will compete in a historic Europa League campaign for each side and will discover their opponents after the qualifying phase ends on Thursday.

The 2026/27 Europa League draw has been scheduled for Friday, August 28 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and will begin at 12pm UK time.

The three English representatives will get a first look at the teams they will face in the competition as they make their first appearances in the new version of the Europa League.

The trio have been placed in Pot 3, although the final make-up of the pots will not be confirmed until the qualifying-round matches are completed.

That means Premier League supporters will have to wait until those ties conclude before learning the full list of clubs involved and the final pot positions.

The draw will follow a similar format to the Champions League. Each club will be given two opponents from each of the four pots and will play eight league-phase matches in total. 

Teams will play one home and one away fixture against clubs from each pot. UEFA’s draw system will also prevent clubs from facing another team from the same country during the league phase. 

That means Bournemouth, Palace, and Sunderland cannot face off until the knockout stages.

The Conference League draw will follow immediately after the Europa League, and Brighton will hope to have secured their spot in Europe’s third-tier tournament before then.

The Seagulls were held to a goalless draw in the first leg of their qualifying clash against Tromso.

However, they will look to ride the wave of their 4-0 Premier League opening victory over Aston Villa when they welcome the Norwegians to the Amex Stadium for the second leg.