EXPLAINED: The reason why Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton and Aston Villa are not in Europa or Conference League action this week and when fans will see them next

European knockout football got underway earlier this week as the Champions League round of 16 games kicked off, which saw Guardiola’s Man City pull out a convincing performance to beat FC Copenhagen 3-1.

The Europa League and Europa Conference league is set to follow suit, with knockout games set for this Thursday and Friday however some eagle eyed fans may notice the top competitors in the two tournaments are nowhere to be seen. 

Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton and Aston Villa all qualified through their respective groups and earned themselves a spot in the knockout stage of their competitions, so why don’t we see any of them in this week’s round of European football.

West Ham will be hoping they can reach the same heights in Europe as they did last year winning the Europa Conference League

Brighton will be aiming to continue their perfect start to European football life 

Here’s why…

No English club will be playing in the Europa League or Conference League this week because of the competitions qualifying rules.

The first knockout round of both tournaments is known as the knockout round play-off.

This round is contested by 16 teams, the teams which make up this number are the eight teams who qualified second in their group during the group stages and the eight teams who have dropped into the competition after finishing third in their groups in the competition one level above it.

So for the Europa League the eight teams will have dropped from the Champions League and in the Conference League the eight teams have dropped from the Europa League. 

Liverpool. West Ham, Brighton and Aston Villa don’t fall into either of these categories meaning they don’t have to participate in this stage of the competition.

Instead all of the English clubs as well as Rangers get to bypass this round of the competition and progress straight into the round of 16 because they topped their group in the group stages. 

What teams are playing in the play-off round of knockout football?

Aston Villa have been in flying form this year under Unai Emery and are strong contenders 

When is the round of 16 draw? 

The draw for the round of 16 in the Europa League will take place on Friday, February 23 and the draw for Conference League will be confirmed on February 22.

The draw will consist of 16 teams, the eight group stage winners will be drawn against the winners of the knockout round play-offs.

The first legs of the Europa League and Conference League round of 16 games are scheduled for March 7, with the second legs a week later on March 14. 

An all English round of 16 clash is impossible as no side can face another team from the same national association. 

The eight teams already seeded for the draw in both competitions are as follows.