What Manchester United finishing sixth will mean for Europa League qualification

Manchester United are fighting to qualify for the Europa League this season after being held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley on Saturday afternoon.

The Reds looked to be on their way towards a much-needed victory this weekend when Antony latched on to a loose pass to open the scoring at Old Trafford. However, a late penalty conceded by Andre Onana was converted by Zeki Amdouni to ensure the points were shared.

The result means that United can no longer catch fourth-placed Aston Villa this season after their 2-2 draw with Chelsea. Erik ten Hag's men can still finish fifth but it is looking unlikely that will be enough to enter the Champions League.

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UEFA is expanding the elite European competition next season and two of the extra places will be awarded to the teams who are ranked first and second in the coefficient standings. Italy has already secured one of the top spots, while Germany is almost guaranteed to bag the other ahead of England, who only have Villa left competing in Europe.

This means the Premier League's European qualification spots will be decided in the same way they were last season. The top four in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League, fifth will automatically enter the Europa League with sixth set to join them or drop into the Europa Conference League.

For sixth place to be a Europa League spot, it would need the FA Cup winners to have not qualified for Europe through their league position. Of course, the FA Cup final shall be contested by United and fierce rivals Manchester City.

Therefore, if City are victorious at Wembley Stadium, sixth place will