The Briefing: Fifth Champions League spot and other top stories

Our daily round-up of the latest news from clubs and players across the Premier League Here is your daily briefing for the latest Premier League stories on Wednesday 8 April. Premier League set to gain fifth Champions League spot The Premier League is set to gain an extra UEFA Champions League spot for a second consecutive season after Arsenal's 1-0 victory at Sporting on Tuesday night ensured that England would finish in the top two of UEFA's coefficient table, which measures how clubs from each nation perform across European competitions this season. According to UEFA, the two leagues with the highest "average points" by the end of the campaign "will each earn one automatic place in the (Champions League) league phase – the 'European Performance Spot' for the club ranked next-best in their domestic league behind those clubs that have already qualified directly for the league phase".Arsenal's win in Lisbon took England's average points to 25.031, which cannot surpassed by any nation outside the top two of the rankings, with Spain (LaLiga) in second. With the Premier League's top four guaranteed automatic entry into the Champions League's league phase, that would mean fifth place would also qualify. Liverpool, in fifth, are currently in pole position, but only three points separate them from Merseyside rivals Everton in eighth, with Chelsea and Brentford sixth and seventh respectively, in what is shaping up to be an exciting end to the season. Havertz backs Arsenal to have 'special' season Kai Havertz is confident Arsenal can have a “very special” season as they prepare to resume their Premier League title tilt against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday. After disappointing defeats to Manchester City in the EFL Cup final and Southampton in their FA Cup quarter-final, the Gunners returned to winning ways at Sporting in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night. Substitute Havertz scored the game’s only goal in stoppage time to add to his string of recent clutch strikes, following an 89th-minute equaliser at Bayer Leverkusen and a 97th-minute winner against Chelsea in the EFL Cup.And the German thinks his side’s late victory in Lisbon will give the Premier League leaders renewed belief ahead of The Run In. “We needed that as we were all frustrated with how the last couple of weeks went," Havertz told the Arsenal website. “But now it’s time to move forward, it's time to be positive, and it's time to all stick together as a group. “As players, staff, fans, we're all in this together and we still can make something happen this year. It can be something very special. That's what we're going to go for, and now it's time to win games.” Watch: The best of Raya so far this seasonHavertz also labelled David Raya “the best goalkeeper in the world” after the Arsenal No 1 produced a number of superb saves against Sporting. Raya has 15 clean sheets in the Premier League this season, four more than his nearest challengers, and can take another step closer to clinching the Premier League Golden Glove with a shutout against Bournemouth this weekend. A familiar face returns to Spurs Ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Sandro caught up with his former manager Roberto De Zerbi on a visit to the club’s training ground on Wednesday. A video on Spurs’ social media channels showed Sandro giving a warm greeting to the Italian boss – who he played under at Benevento in 2018 – and hugging captain Cristian Romero. Sandro posted the film on his own Instagram page, with the caption: “Let’s do this. Vamos.” The Brazilian, who made 81 Premier League appearances for Spurs from 2010 to 2014, has previously talked up De Zerbi’s managerial skills and recently told the club website: “He is so passionate and I’m so excited to see him at Spurs.” De Zerbi gets his Spurs reign under way at Sunderland on Sunday as he looks to steer his side clear of the relegation zone. It was announced on Wednesday that he has added two members to his backroom team – first-team fitness coach Marcattilio Marcattilii and senior professional development phase coach Marcello Quinto. They join assistant coaches Bruno Saltor and Andreas Georgson, individual development coach Cameron Campbell, and goalkeeping coach Fabian Otte at the north London club. Amad and Mbeumo praise Carrick’s man-management Amad and Bryan Mbeumo have hailed the impact of head coach Michael Carrick as Manchester United prepare to return to action after a 24-day break. Man Utd – who have not played since a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on 20 March – host Leeds United in the Premier League on Monday as they continue their push for Champions League qualification.Since Carrick took over as head coach in January, his side have won seven of their 10 Premier League games, losing just once, to climb up to third in the table. And Amad and Mbeumo have been particularly impressed by the man-management skills of former Man Utd midfielder Carrick.“He knows the club and has the DNA,” said winger Amad, speaking to reporters from the club’s four-day training camp in the Republic of Ireland. “His relationship with every player is very good. Sometimes this kind of manager can bring the club where they belong.Man Utd forward Mbeumo added: “He knows how to talk to us and we're going to try to take as much as we can from him. “It's been easier because he knows the place. It's been great to work under him.” Meanwhile, Lisandro Martinez has been training with Man Utd in Ireland, with Carrick confident the Argentinian defender will be fit to face Leeds having missed their last five games with a calf injury. ‘To have Licha back in and around us this week is good,” Carrick told the club’s website. West Ham boosted ahead of Wolves visit Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed Aaron Wan-Bissaka is available for West Ham United’s Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday. The defender missed West Ham’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Leeds having not returned in time from international duty with DR Congo, who qualified for FIFA World Cup 2026 after beating Jamaica in their intercontinental playoff final. But speaking about Wan-Bissaka ahead of the crucial encounter with Wolves, Nuno said: “Now he returns, he’s good, he’s working. Let’s see if he can help the team.”Nuno also declared Konstantinos Mavropanos is fine to play after he was ruled out of the Leeds match with concussion. Star winger Crysencio Summerville may also be back in contention, having missed three games with a calf injury, along with Jean-Clair Todibo and Callum Wilson. “Cry, JC and Callum Wilson are all improving, so we’ll see,” added Nuno. “We still have tomorrow to assess, and we’re positive that they can be available.”