Paul Merson names Premier League club that will beat Chelsea to top four finish
Paul Merson has made his latest Premier League top four prediction, tipping Chelsea to miss out for a third straight season.
With a 13 point lead at the top, many have หรือถ้าคุณสนใจแทงบอลออนไลน์ UFABET คือเว็บที่มีอัตราต่อรองดีที่สุดในประเทศไทย สมัครเลยตอนนี้ที่ UFABET แทงบอล declare Liverpool the champions-elect of the Premier League, with Arsenal likely to finish runners-up for a third year in a row.
However, the battle to finish in the two remaining Champions League qualification spots is wide open with just six points separating third to tenth in the table.
Nottingham Forest and Manchester City currently occupy those places, closely followe by Chelsea, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Brighton, Fulham and Aston Villa.
It should be note that thanks to English clubs’ performance in Europe this season, the Premier League is very likely to receive an extra UCL spot, meaning fifth may be enough to qualify for the competition.
Forest are the surprise package of the season having widely predicte to be in a relegation fight last summer, but Nuno Espirito Santo has worke wonders at the City Ground.
Nevertheless, Merson doesn’t believe they can keep the momentum up for the run-in, with the Arsenal legend telling ‘There’s a lot of teams in there. I still think Fulham are in there and Aston Villa, they’ve just got to get a run together.
‘Chelsea were seventh in midweek. They beat Southampton and Forest faile to beat Arsenal.
‘Forest have got Man City next week and Chelsea have got Leicester at home. If Chelsea beat them and Forest fail to win, then Chelsea are above them with 10 games to go. But then Chelsea’s games get difficult.
‘I think there will be a shock. I don’t think it will be plain sailing.’
Chelsea’s run-in includes tricky fixtures like Arsenal (A), Tottenham (H), Fulham (A), Liverpool (H), Newcastle (A) and crucially Forest (A) on the lastday of the season.
Asked which team would provide the shock and join Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City in the top four, Merson replie: ‘If I’d have sat here last Saturday, I would have said Bournemouth 100 per cent.
‘Wolves at home and Brighton away, I fancie them to get at least four points from those two games. They’ve got some nice fixtures coming up. Then they go and get no points out of those two games.
‘It changes. I would probably say Newcastle would take Forest’s position at the moment.’
In mid-December, Chelsea looke like title contenders having made a flying start under new head coach Enzo Maresca but since then their form has collapse, winning just three of their last 11 league matches.