Erik ten Hag's chances of being sacked by Man Utd have just shot up

Erik ten Hag's chances of remaining Manchester United manager next season may have just been dealt a major blow.

Ten Hag is fighting for his Old Trafford career after a disappointing second campaign at the helm.

United are currently sixth in the Premier League – 11 points off the top four.

Speculation is growing over whether Sir Jim Ratcliffe will decide to sack Ten Hag at the end of the season and bring in a new manager.

Several names have been linked with the job including England boss Gareth Southgate and former Chelsea manager Graham Potter.

Ten Hag may very well need to qualify for the Champions League if he is to keep his job next season.

But his hopes of doing that were dealt a blow on Thursday night following Liverpool's shock 3-0 defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League.

That's because that result, coupled with West Ham's 2-0 loss at Bayer Leverkusen, has damaged the Premier League's chances of securing an extra spot in the Champions League next season based on co-efficient rankings.

As part of next season's changes to the competition's format, the two best-performing leagues in Europe this season will each get one extra place for 2024-25 campaign.

This is determined by each association's UEFA coefficient ranking for the 2023-24 season.

In the Premier League's case, this would mean gaining a fifth spot in the Champions League.

In seven of the past 11 seasons, the Premier League would have merited this extra spot based on England's coefficient ranking the previous season.

Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Atalanta on Thursday (Image: Getty)

But England is on course to miss out next season.

Following last night's results, the Premier League is now outside the top two leagues – with Serie A and the Bundesliga set to gain the extra spot.

Serie A clubs have gained 18.857 ranking points in European competition this season, followed by the Bundesliga (16.786) and the Premier League (16.750).

England could yet secure a top-two finish, and the extra place in the Champions League that comes with it, but that could rely on the likes of Liverpool and West Ham producing unexpected comebacks in their respective ties.

Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, UEFA

Rory O'Callaghan

Rory O'Callaghan is Editorial Lead at SPORTbible. He has previously worked for Sky Sports News, MailOnline and Reach covering football, cricket, boxing and MMA. Tested daily as a Liverpool fan in a Manchester office.

@rory_ocallaghan