Manchester City won their game against Fulham on Saturday to move one point above Arsenal, who plays Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Manchester City and Arsenal are likely to occupy the first two spots on the Premier League table this season.
The “Big” question is which teams occupy the third and fourth positions. Tottenham are already third and faces a huge task in Liverpool later on Sunday. Newcastle United are a force to reckon with this season as back-to-back win over Tottenham and Aston Villa saw them leapfrog Manchester United and Chelsea to a fourth position.
Liverpool are currently in 9th position after the defeat to Leeds United at Anfield last weekend.
However, Paul Merson expects Tottenham to drop from the top four and has backed Chelsea to finish above Antonio Conte’s side in the Premier League.
What are Paul Merson’s top four predictions?
Speaking on SkySport, The Arsenal Icon said: “I just don’t think Spurs get away with it, I don’t think they get away with keep going to the well as they have done.
“I just don’t see how they’ll finish third. Chelsea will finish above Tottenham.”
Asked about Tottenham’s chances of finishing in the top four, Paul Merson added: “I’m not sure. I think Liverpool win this weekend and close the gap on Tottenham.
“And Liverpool ain’t going away. People keep going “Liverpool, that’s it for them”, but no. I just don’t think Tottenham can keep going to the well. You can’t keep on being negative.
“Well Liverpool might not close that [gap], but that’s not to say Manchester United and Chelsea won’t.”
Paul Merson has urged Arsenal to focus on top four finish before thinking about winning the Premier League.
He continued: “I think there’s still a lot to do, I really do. There’s a long way to go.
“We’ve seen performances in the last couple of weeks at Southampton and Leeds where I know they went and got four points out of those two games but they could’ve got none.
“I mean there’s a turning point there. I think the fixtures have been quite kind in the way they’ve been spread out. They haven’t had back-to-back really hard games.
“Chelsea have got Arsenal at home, flying, Man City in the cup at home, flying, Newcastle away, flying. They haven’t had that Arsenal.
“When they played Liverpool they were struggling at the time. They played Tottenham at home and you’d rather play them there than away but they’ve done what they had to do.
“You saw with Liverpool last year they lost the title by a point on the last day. They didn’t beat Man City, they didn’t beat Tottenham and they didn’t beat Chelsea so didn’t beat any of the top four.
“But they beat all the other teams and that’s what Arsenal have got to do. They have to make sure they don’t lose [against Chelsea on Sunday].
“They shouldn’t lose sight of getting in the top four. Don’t start thinking about the league title right now, just keep chipping away but they were mighty impressive last weekend against Nottingham Forest.”
