Premier League clubs could get cash bonus for Europa League progress
The fear of losing one of the UEFA Champions League places to Italy has prompted the Premier League to devise plans offering teams participating in the Europa League a financial bonus should they progress into the later stages of the competition.
The Premier League could lose out on its fourth Champions League spot to the Italian Serie A from the 2017-18 season. UEFA even commented that England just about kept their four spots in the Champions League by narrowly beating the Italian league.
UEFA ranks the top leagues in Europa through its coefficient system with Spain leading Germany, England and Italy.
The league has understood that clubs not reaching the latter stages of the Europa League would greatly impact the coefficient ranking for England and there has been a discussion if an amount from the Premier League's £8.3 billion TV deal could be given to clubs who perform well.
The Europa League has seen a couple of English sides make it to the final with Fulham and Chelsea achieving the feat but most clubs in the league know the second UEFA competition isn't as lucrative as the Champions League and that Premier League survival is of a greater importance.
A range of other issues were discussed at the latest Premier League shareholder's meeting which included how to ease the fixture congestion that English clubs face due to their participation in the FA Cup and League Cup.
No more FA Cup replays?
Removing FA Cup replays and the two-legged League Cup semi-final were two ideas that were brought up for discussion. The Premier League does not have a winter break but many clubs and managers have spoken about the need for one.
The Premier League had earlier spoken about the chances of winter break being possible only when the FA cup replays are scrapped and the games from the competition are moved to midweek.
Liverpool have been one of the clubs that have had to play multiple games since the turn of the year due to their progress in the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League. Jurgen Klopp's men were knocked out of the FA Cup in a replay against West Ham and now face Augsburg in the Europa League on Thursday night, which would be their 14th game in 2016.