Another round of Premier League action is almost over, and Liverpool have come out of the weekend as big winners.
Man United still have to play Leeds on Monday Night Football, but Liverpool’s other top-five rivals were all in action this weekend. It could not have gone much better from our perspective, with Everton, Brentford, Chelsea and Aston Villa all dropping points.
Gary Neville discussed the Champions League qualification picture, with an updated view on who is likely to miss out by the end of May. Spoiler alert — it’s not Liverpool.
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It's going to be a LOT less than last year 😬
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Gary Neville has Liverpool qualifying for the Champions League
It was confirmed with Arsenal’s win over Sporting last week that five English teams will qualify for Europe’s elite competition next season.
Arsenal and Man City are ahead of the pack battling for a title, but it’s pretty tight after that.
Chelsea’s 3-0 loss to City has seen them fall out of striking distance from the Reds, and Neville doesn’t see Liam Rosenior turning that around.
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He said on The Gary Neville Podcast: “It feels to me now like Chelsea will miss out on Champions League football. And a few weeks ago, I think they were in a spot where I thought Villa were in freefall and that Chelsea, Liverpool, and United would get that third, fourth, and fifth spot.
“I actually think now that Chelsea are going to miss out because of what’s happened in the last few weeks and where they are. And I think Villa will get there, which I’m happy about. I think they’ve done a great job with Unai Emery. So, yeah. I think Chelsea are in a bit of a mess at the moment.”
Chelsea have been in freefall for weeks, and the performance at home to City on Sunday offered little to suggest a change in fortunes is on the cards.
Liverpool are the only team in the race still competing in the Champions League — for now, anyway —but they still look more likely to stick around in the top five. Opta are backing Liverpool to finish fifth.
Liverpool have the toughest run-in of any top-five contender
The four-point lead the Reds have on Chelsea is encouraging, but the fixture list to close out the season is far from.
They play five of the top eight teams in the Premier League in the coming weeks, including each of their rivals for Champions League qualification.
That gives Liverpool a chance to take valuable points from those sides, but there’s also the risk of losing points themselves and letting the likes of Chelsea back into the race.
These final weeks will be as much a test of mentality as anything else. A poor run of form could derail the season.
As it stands, though, Liverpool are in a strong position to hold onto fifth, and maybe even leap Villa or United to really create some distance.
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