West Ham top seeded in Europa league draw
UEFA have now confirmed the seedings and pots for the upcoming Europa League campaign.
There are three English teams, Liverpool, Brighton and the mighty West Ham
And the Hammers will join the Merseyside outfit Reds in Pot 1.
The Hammers. who won last season’s Europa Conference League and made the semi-finals of the 2021/22 Europa League, will be alongside Roma, Villarreal, Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta.
In a typical UEFA effort to make something simple unnecessarily complicated, we have been seeded in the top pot due to our co-efficient.
What you may ask is a co-efficient?
Well, it is the sum of points earned by clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons – points for wins, draws , how far you get in the competition etc , or 20% of the club’s association coefficient over the same period, whichever coefficient is higher.
After our famous victory in Prague, West Ham United’s CC is up to 50.000 exactly.
Clubs who have competed in Europe regularly in recent seasons have higher CCs and will therefore receive a higher seeding in the draw. For example, Liverpool’s CC is 123.000, Roma’s is 97.000 after their recent Conference League win and Europa League final appearance, and Villarreal’s is 82.000.
Any clearer? Nor am I
Anyway, this is how the draw will look
Pot 1
West Ham
Liverpool
Roma
Bayer Leverkusen
Villarreal
Atalanta
Pot 1 or 2
Sporting Lisbon
Rennes
Pot 1, 2, 3 or 4
Four losers of Champions League third round qualifying – League path
Four losers of Champions League play-off round – Champions path
Two losers of Champions League play-off round – League path
Ten play-off round winners
Pot 2 or 3
Real Betis
Pot 2, 3 or 4
Brighton
Freiburg
Toulouse