Premier League legend Alan Shearer has named the two English clubs he believes will be eliminated in the battle for the top five places and thus miss out on the Champions League.
With only five games left for most teams, there is still plenty to play for at the top of the Premier League table this season. While Liverpool have virtually guaranteed the league title, there are now only nine points separating Aston Villa in seventh place and Arsenal in second place. This means that six teams still believe they have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
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Thanks to England’s high UEFA coefficient, at least five Premier League teams will qualify for the prestigious European tournament. And the popular expert Shearer is pretty sure which teams will be eliminated.
Unless some teams collapse at the very end of the season, we can safely assume that Arsenal – along with Liverpool – will secure one of the five Champions League places this season.
However, with Newcastle United in third place and just two points ahead of Aston Villa after the Birmingham side beat “The Magpies” in the previous round, the three remaining places are still open.
Reigning champions Manchester City, Chelsea and a surprisingly strong Nottingham Forest will all have faith in securing a place. But Shearer believes only one of these three teams will make it.
In a column for BBC Sport, the Newcastle legend revealed:
“As I said on MOTD2, I’d guess Chelsea and Forest will be the teams that go out – but the situation could change quickly. There will be ups and downs for all five clubs, but they all have good reasons to believe that they can do it. They also have the same motivation – getting to the Champions League is hugely important because of the financial benefits it brings.”
Chelsea face tough opposition
Although Shearer points out that Premier League games are becoming more difficult to predict as some teams no longer have anything to play for, he believes Chelsea’s schedule towards the end of the season could be a hindrance.
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He added:
“Even with that in mind, I still see Chelsea’s games as among the toughest, just because they have to play away to two of their rivals, Newcastle and Forest, at the end of the season.”
Shearer also noted that the poor form of stars such as Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer will no doubt slow down Enzo Maresca’s side in their Champions League dream.
At the same time, he argued that City, Villa and Newcastle will finish ahead of Forest, simply because of the experience and determination that comes with clubs of their size.
