Dwight Yorke
Dwight Yorke (Image: Getty Images)
Former Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke believes that his old club can pip rivals including Chelsea, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest to a place in the Champions League for next season, despite an inconsistent campaign up to now.
Villa have been excellent in the Champions League thus far and have progressed into the last 16 of the competition; they also have a favourable quarter final draw in the FA Cup later this month, but in the Premier League the Lions have struggled to knit wins together regularly.
Villa haven't won any of their last eight away games in the league and currently sit down in 10th after their beating received at Crystal Palace last time out. They are, though, still only five points off the top four with 11 matches to play - and the Premier League is likely to have a fifth spot because of a positive UEFA coefficient.
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Competition is stiff, though; Forest have taken advantage of other fancied clubs stumbling by placing themselves in the top four for most of the season. Newcastle too are a side with recent Champions League experience, while Brighton, Bournemouth and Fulham have enjoyed excellent seasons to date to place themselves in contention.
Yorke, who made almost 300 appearances for Villa and scored shy of 100 goals, believes that while the ongoing Champions League campaign will make Villa's Premier League bid a little more difficult, they possess the manager and the squad to fight on both fronts and nip in ahead of their rivals come the end of the season.
"I had Chelsea in there at one point. They’re really stumbling over the blocks at the minute though," Yorke told CasinoBeats. "With Forest, I have my doubts. It’s new territory for this group of players and can they sustain it? We’re about to enter the business end of the season, and sometimes you need that knowhow to get you over the line.
"Forest have been so good, performing way above everyone’s expectations, maybe the players can get a little complacent and take their foot of the gas because whatever happens to them between now and May, they’ve surpassed all expectations. I don’t know if they have the capacity to keep pushing for that top four spot.
"The first two pick themselves: Liverpool, Arsenal and I think it’s two from five or six. I can’t really see City getting out of their struggle, but they might just stumble over the line because of the experience.
"I will put City in the top four equation and then I want to say my old team Villa, but they have the Champions League, which could be a distraction. That could hamper them a little bit as well, but I’ll stick with them. I think Chelsea look a little bit vulnerable going into this last phase. I’ll go with Liverpool, Arsenal, City and Villa."
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