Manchester city and Liverpool help the future of English Premier League

Manchester City and Liverpool's success in Europe means England have a tighter grip on the fourth Champions League spot for the 2018/19 campaign.

Their fourth-place spot, based on UEFA association coefficients, was in danger of being lost for the 2017/18 season before Juventus' Champions League round-of-16 exit at the hands of Bayern Munich last month, but that has been secured.

A poor performance in Europe next season could still be detrimental for the 2018/19 season if Italian sides are successful, but the gap over Italy has been stretched in recent months.

Liverpool face Dortmund on Thursday for a place in the Europa League semi-final

In December, after Manchester United's exit from the Champions League at the group stage, England's overall lead over Italy was just 3.054.

But that lead has now been stretched to 4.845 following Manchester City and Liverpool's progress in Europe, as well as Juventus and Lazio's exit at the round of 16 stage of the Champions League and Europa League respectively. 

European League - Current coefficient standings

COUNTRY	11/12	12/13	13/14	14/15	15/16	TOTAL
Spain	20.857	17.714	23.000	20.214	20.071	101.856
Germany	15.250	17.928	14.714	15.857	15.857	79.606
England	15.250	16.428	16.785	13.571	13.250	75.284
Italy	11.357	14.416	14.166	19.000	11.500	70.439

All eyes turn to Liverpool on Thursday night as they look to further strengthen their hold over Italy, who cannot gain any more points in Europe this season. They host Dortmund in the Europa League last eight, with the scores at 1-1 from the first leg.

The coefficient is calculated by working out an average score for the country, which is gained by dividing the number of 'points' obtained by the total number of clubs representing a country. England have eight clubs this season; Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Southampton and West Ham.

England's fourth Champions League spot for the 2017/18 season was secured when Juventus were knocked out by Bayern last month

That resulting number is then added to the results of the previous four seasons to calculate the coefficient, making a five-year run. The total of those five years is the decisive number, with England's currently standing at 75.284 and Italy's at 70.439 (4.845 difference).

How do you gain 'points'?

• Each team gets two points for a win in either European competition and one point for a draw, though points are halved for matches in the qualifying and play-off rounds.
• Clubs that reach the last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals or final of the Champions League, or the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final of the Europa League, are awarded an extra point for each round.
• In addition, four points are awarded for participation in the group stage of the Champions League and four points for qualifying for the last 16.
• The total amount of points a country gains is then divided by the number of clubs representing that country.

Italy will claw back 3.893 points on England when the 2011/12 season is knocked off the run of five seasons in the summer, which on present standings would reduce England's lead to 0.952 at the kick-off of the 2016/17 season.

For England to lose fourth spot in the 2018/19 season, Italian teams would have to out-perform the English by 0.952 points, which has happened only once since 2002/03.