Ex-Arsenal and England star Paul Merson (Picture: Getty)
Paul Merson has predicted where Chelsea and Manchester United will finish in the Premier League next season.
Both clubs will be disappointed by their efforts last season despite encouraging ends to the campaign.
Chelsea were down in mid-table for most of the 2023-24 season but won their final five games to climb to sixth and qualify for Europe.
Despite the promising run of form, the chaos at Stamford Bridge under Todd Boehly continued as Mauricio Pochettino left at the end of the season, with Enzo Maresca this week named as the Argentine’s replacement.
Maresca, one of Pep Guardiola’s former assistant managers, guided Leicester City to the Championship title last season and Merson reckons he will take Chelsea back into the top-four.
The ex-Arsenal and England star also believes Manchester United will challenge for a Champions League spot following their eighth-place finish last season.
United endured their worst-ever Premier League campaign under Erik ten Hag, who is yet to discover whether he will still be in charge come the new season.
Enzo Maresca replaced Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Given the potential competition at the top-end of the table next year, Merson has urged Tottenham to focus on winning a trophy rather than a top-four finish in the Premier League.
‘I’ve got a feeling for next season,’ Merson told Sky Sports. ‘I think Tottenham have got to concentrate on one thing. I think top four, Chelsea are going to be there, Man Utd can only get better – top four’s hard now.’
Spurs finished fifth in Ange Postecoglou’s first season in north London, narrowly missing out on a Champions League spot after briefly threatening to mount a surprising title challenge.
On Tottenham’s prospects for next season, Merson added: ‘I think a trophy would be amazing. I think that’s the way he’s got to go. I think it would have helped if they’d finished sixth and got in the Europa Conference League, because a trophy is a trophy.
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‘With the way Villa got beaten in this season’s tournament it made West Ham’s achievement a lot bigger. Before we just thought, “Oh, whoever gets in that is going to win it”, but that isn’t the case.
‘I think if Tottenham win a trophy that’d be amazing. I don’t think they have to get in the top four – I think they’ve got to win a trophy, I really do. I think trophies are the one.
‘I mean, you get in the top four and you do what Newcastle have done, you’re out [of the Champions League] by October. Everybody fights to get in it and 80 per cent of the teams getting in it haven’t got a chance of winning it.
‘Really they’re doing it for the money and really it should be for the fans and winning trophies for the fans. So if they can win the League Cup, or something like that, then I think it would be amazing for them, 100 per cent.’
Manchester United are yet to make a decision on Erik ten Hag (Picture: Getty)
Despite questioning Tottenham’s Premier League aspirations, Merson was impressed by Postecoglou’s first season at the club, especially as club legend and prolific goalscorer Harry Kane left last summer.
‘After where I said they’d come it’s been outstanding, because I didn’t see them finishing in the top half without Harry Kane,’ Merson said.
‘I thought they were so reliant on him and then a mate of mine text me and said, “We’ll be much better without him”. I thought they were at times.
‘But the squad isn’t big enough. It’s been alright this season – I think they [the fans] have seen a much better improvement in football and the entertainment.
Tottenham largely impressed in Ange Postecoglou’s first season at the club (Picture: Getty)
‘I’ve liked watching them as a neutral, but that’s not very good because when you’re watching a team and you like watching them as a neutral that’s telling you there’s going to be goals at either end and they’re a bit open.
‘But I don’t think he gets next year. I think the fans this year were alright, “It’s been an upgrade. It’s entertaining. We’re playing front-foot football”, but you can’t keep on getting beaten at Fulham away, there away and here away, and they’re getting battered by teams.
‘Sooner or later the fans are going to go, “Wait there a minute, we’re not having this”, so that’d be my only problem.’
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