Paul Merson has predicted which Premier League clubs will finish in the top four. He predicts Arsenal and Manchester United to finish behind Liverpool.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte during the press conference
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted which Premier League clubs will finish in the top six at the end of the season.
While there has been no surprises with the teams chosen, it is the ranking that could raise same eyebrow. Fans could give him the stick if the prediction does not come out true.
Merson believes that Chelsea will win the Premier League this season and Tottenham will end up as runners up.
The Blues are four points ahead of Spurs with four games left to play, and all they need is to win their respective games to lift the trophy.
Four teams – Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal – are closely fighting for the third and fourth spots this season. Merson believes that Liverpool’s favourable run-in will see them holding on to the third place at the end of the season.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
“It was a big result for Liverpool in terms of finishing third and they, like City, have got a pretty favourable run-in,” Merson said to Sky Sports.
Manchester United are just four points behind Liverpool having played a game less, but Merson thinks they’ve got Europa League as their main priority at the moment.
“United, in contrast, have got too many difficult games and they’ve got to put their eggs into the Europa League basket right now,” he added.
“They’ve got to weigh it up. If they win their next three games in the Europa League then they’ll qualify for the Champions League, whereas if they win all four of their league games they could still miss out.”
Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat against Tottenham in the north London derby last weekend. Merson feels that the Gunners have some tough games and are just not playing good enough to win them all.
Here’s his final top six: Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.
Do you agree with Paul Merson’s predictions?
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho
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