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It could actually be in Brentford’s favour to lose their final Premier League fixture against Liverpool.

Beating Liverpool on the last day of the Premier League season next month may not serve Brentford’s ambitions if the club hopes to qualify for the Champions League.

Surprisingly, Brentford might even have a reason to prefer losing their concluding league match to Liverpool, with the sixth-place position potentially offering a route into next season’s Champions League.

This scenario would only come into play if Liverpool end the campaign in a higher position than Aston Villa, which could make it advantageous for Brentford to allow Liverpool to collect all three points.

If Aston Villa go on to win the Europa League — a possibility that looks stronger as they have reached the semi-final stage — the Premier League’s sixth-placed team could be handed a place in the Champions League.

The Premier League has already been allocated five Champions League slots, covering positions one through five, due to the league’s strong European performance this season. However, if Villa lift the Europa League trophy, they would automatically qualify for the Champions League through that route.

If Villa finish in fourth place and also win the Europa League, the qualification spot would drop to the team in fifth – which is already a Champions League position.

On the other hand, if Villa end the season in fifth and win the Europa League, the additional qualification slot would be passed down to sixth place. At present, Brentford sit just two points away from that position, with four fixtures remaining on their schedule.

This means that by the final day of the Premier League season, Brentford could find themselves in sixth place, relying on Liverpool to beat Aston Villa in the standings. That outcome would secure Brentford a place in the 2026/27 Champions League campaign.

Of course, this complicated situation – similar to FourFourTwo’s detailed explanation of how as many as nine Premier League teams could make it into European competitions next season – depends on several moving parts.

For one, the Europa League final will not have been played by the time Brentford meet Liverpool, though the Bees will know whether Aston Villa have reached the final. Additionally, there would need to be a points gap of more than three between fifth and sixth places to ensure that Brentford could not finish in the top five on their own merit.

Likewise, Brentford would need to be more than three points clear of the seventh-placed side to guarantee that their league position cannot change on the final day.

Should this exact situation unfold, it’s likely that Brentford supporters everywhere will find themselves hoping their team goes easy on Liverpool, effectively helping ensure a fifth-place finish for Aston Villa.

Brentford return to Premier League action this weekend with a clash against relegation-threatened West Ham United.