Chelsea will make top four; United to lose out and Man City will be champions – Merson
As the Premier League takes a rest for the international break, Paul Merson has been asked to predict how the Premier League top four will look at the end of the season.
The former Arsenal player has Liverpool and Manchester United both missing out on Champions League qualification – and perhaps surprisingly fancies Tottenham for third and struggling Chelsea to secure fourth.
Here’s how the Soccer Saturday pundit is expecting the top four to look come the end of the season…
Champions
I can’t split Manchester City and Arsenal, I really can’t. Manchester City think they just have to turn up against the lesser sides and it doesn’t always happen, as we saw on Sunday at Aston Villa. It’s a really hard call but if you’re forcing me to pick one then I’ve got to with Manchester City because of their squad and what they’re doing without two of their best players. They’ve also been there and done it, which counts for a lot.
Merson predicts: Manchester City to win the league
Runners-up
Arsenal may have been bossed by Tottenham but they still didn’t lose the game, which may sound silly but for me it’s an important sign. Those points can make the difference come the end of the season. They were losing games like that a couple of seasons ago and, as much as they’ll be disappointed with that performance, they’ve still got a great chance to win the title.
Merson predicts: Arsenal to finish second
Third place
I know a lot of people are going to be surprised with this one but I’m going with Tottenham. I’ve been very impressed with them and they’ve completely changed my opinion. What they did at the Emirates was phenomenal. They’ve got a great young squad and a very, very good manager in Mauricio Pochettino. The key for them is their best players need to stay fit. People have got to start respecting Tottenham and I definitely think they’ll finish above Manchester United.
Merson predicts: Tottenham to finish third
Fourth place
It’s a head-or-tales one here for me. If Chelsea play like they did against Stoke they’ll win a lot of football matches. I know that sounds silly as they lost but their performance was so much better. Meanwhile, Manchester United never looked like scoring against West Brom until Jesse Lingard got them out of trouble with a stunner. You’ve got to go out to win football matches and they go out not to lose them. Chelsea have a lot of points to make up but I can see them going on a run while United are capable of drawing too many games. There’s still a long time for Chelsea to make up that gap and, while it’s a hard, hard one to call, I fancy Chelsea to just to edge it.
Posted by Janice Johnson (Source: isoccerng)
