The Premier League 'Big Six' support plans to revamp the Champions League

Man United, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs all want changes

Europe's top competition could be expanded to a 32 team format from 2024-25

The plans could mean FA Cup replays and League Cup second legs are scrapped

The number of teams competing in the Premier League could also be cut down

The Big Six Premier League clubs are privately supporting radical plans to expand the Champions League group stage to a 32-team league in a threat to the unity of English football, Sportsmail has learned.

To create space in the calendar for additional Champions League games from the 2024-25 season Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham are prepared to push for dramatic changes to the structure of the domestic game, including the abolition of FA Cup replays and removing the second leg of the League Cup semi-final.

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They would even consider cutting the number of teams in the top flight.

Liverpool are one of the teams backing plans to make changes to the Champions League

The number of teams competing in Europe's top competition could be expanded to 32

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The Premier League insist that their clubs remain united in their efforts to preserve the primacy of domestic football, which the organisation’s executive fear could be threatened if the European Club Association’s proposals — revealed by Sportsmail on Thursday — are implemented.

There are concerns that an expanded group stage involving 10 or 12 matches could easily be turned into a fully blown European Super League.

All 20 clubs signed up to a strongly worded statement from the Premier League opposing the expansion of the group stage to 14 matches last June, but it is understood there is growing interest from the Big Six in the latest proposals for reform amid growing splits behind the scenes.

The Big Six have held several meetings with other ECA members over the last six months and are increasingly coming to view the addition of four group matches as a reasonable compromise between the previous plan, which would have added eight games, and the status quo.

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The proposed changes could see a reduction in the amount of teams in the Premier League

The Premier League insists its clubs are united to preserve the primacy of domestic football

Richard Masters faces a challenge to deal with the proposals after his appointment this week

The attraction for the bigger clubs is more match-day revenue and a bigger Champions League TV deal which should not affect the value of the Premier League contract, as European games would continue to be played midweek, in contrast to an earlier proposal which involved moving the Champions League to weekends.

With combined domestic and overseas rights deals worth over £9billion the Premier League’s TV contract is far more valuable to English clubs than that covering the Champions League, and they would be loath to jeopardise that.

The Premier League’s smaller clubs are concerned by the ECA’s proposals, however, as in order to accommodate the additional games some domestic fixtures will have to be sacrificed.

The Big Six have already begun to alienate other clubs by holding private meetings away from the larger group and often travelling together to Premier League summits.

And the growing sense of schism will provide a huge challenge to new Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, who was appointed earlier this week.

Masters’ predecessor, Richard Scudamore, occasionally struggled to keep the clubs together during the latter days of his two-decade reign and bowed to pressure to give the Big Six a greater share of the overseas TV revenue last year. Maintaining unity will not be any easier for his successor.

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While the Premier League, EFL and FA are working to safeguard the existing structure of English football there is a growing acceptance that an expansion of the Champions League is inevitable by 2024 due to the demands of European heavyweights such as Real Madrid and Juventus.

His predecessor Richard Scudamore struggled to stand firm against demands of the Big Six

That date is significant as it is when the International Match Calendar agreed with FIFA expires and is also the start of a new Champions League broadcast deal, presenting an opportunity for UEFA and the leading European clubs to implement major changes.

The Big Six are increasingly supportive of such proposals and will demand changes to the domestic game in order to facilitate them, with the FA and League Cups most vulnerable.

Premier League clubs remain committed to playing in both the FA and EFL-run Carabao Cup as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed when the league was formed in 1992, but there is nothing to stop them changing the competitions’ structure.

The FA scrapped replays from the fifth round last season and may be willing to do away with them entirely after 2024 — freeing up two midweeks for additional Champions League matches — but they would demand that smaller clubs are compensated by altering the distribution of TV and appearance money.

Big Six sides including Man United and Spurs will support changes to the domestic game

FA Cup replays may be scrapped after 2024 to accommodate an expanded European schedule

The EFL resisted calls to change the two-leg semi-final format for the Carabao Cup during talks with the FA and Premier League over introducing a winter break two years ago, but could do so in the future.

The first two rounds of the League Cup had two legs until 2001 and the EFL have not ruled out making further alterations to the format, although they insist that is not on the table at present. A change in 2024 would also fit in with the EFL’s timetable as their five-year deal with Sky Sports expires that year.

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The Big Six have also held talks about seeking to reduce the Premier League to 18 teams, which would create another four fixture slots in the calendar, but such a change would require the support of 14 top-flight clubs, making it harder to introduce.