Chelsea: Gary Neville predicts Liam Rosenior’s side to still finish in the top-five despite slipping to sixth after Arsenal defeat | Football News

Gary Neville believes that Chelsea will have enough to finish in the top five, which should be enough to claim a Champions League place next season.

The Blues’ defeat to Arsenal on Super Sunday means Liam Rosenior’s men sit sixth in the Premier League table with 10 games to go, three points behind Liverpool and six adrift of both Manchester United and Aston Villa.

Chelsea have still got to face all three of their fellow European contenders in the coming weeks, starting with Aston Villa on Wednesday night, and also have Champions League and FA Cup fixtures to contend with during the backend of the campaign.

However, Neville believes they will still have enough in the tank as he made his prediction on who he believes could miss out on Champions League football next season.

“I think United will definitely finish third,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.

“I can’t believe I’m saying that from where they were six weeks ago. But, they’ve got no distractions, something good is going on, all the momentum.

“I think Liverpool finish fourth and I think Chelsea will finish fifth. I hope Villa finish in the top five, I really do.

“I’ve said before that their manager is an experienced and wise guy. If they get some players back; midfield players being injured have cost them in the last few weeks.

“I just think it will Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. The only doubt will be Chelsea or Villa for fifth.

“Getting injuries like they’ve had in midfield has killed them a lot. Michael Carrick’s had Harry Maguire come back. He had Lisandro Martinez come back for a few games. He had Mbeumo and Amad come back from AFCON. He’s had some good fortune in players coming back for him. Unai Emery has lost players.

“Injuries will be a big factor. Other competitions will be a big factor. At the moment, they’re in danger Villa. They’re vulnerable in terms of the Champions League places.”

‘Jekyll & Hyde Chelsea need three more players’

Despite the defeat and believing that Chelsea could be at risk of missing out on Champions League football next season, Neville believes the Blues are only three players away from competing at the top of the table.

“I’ve never commentated on a team that makes me feel so many different emotions during a game about what they are,” he added.

“You can watch them in a match, and you can think they’re naive. You can think they’re too nice. You can think they’re electric. You can think they’re a great possession team. You can think, oh, they’ve got a lot of talent. You can think so many different things about them. You can think they’re ill-disciplined. And they’re all those things.

“In the first half, I was watching them and thinking, come on, you’re not making runs forward like it matters. In a game like this, that is not going to get you a victory.

“And then I watched them in the second half, and I think the complete opposite of that. You see them getting on the half turn. You see James on that far side whipping it.

“You see Hato making lots of runs forward down this left side. He was a lot more aggressive. You see Enzo Fernandez running forward with purpose alongside Joao Pedro.

“So many times during matches with Chelsea you flip from thinking they’re miles away, and they’re naive and they’re nice to thinking, right, if you get a goalkeeper, an experienced centre-back, you get an experienced centre-forward and you could be in business.

“They need a top-class goalkeeper and a top-class centre-back that’s experienced. And they need a top-class centre-forward to accompany Joao Pedro and Delap, not to replace them or get rid of them.”

‘Sesko becoming a gamechanger’

Neville was full of praise for Manchester United forward Benjamin Sesko after he produced the goods in the Red Devils’ comeback win over Crystal Palace.

Sesko was handed his first start by Michael Carrick since he arrived at the club, off the back of five goals in his seven previous league games.

He would end up scoring the winning goal for the third time during Carrick’s tenure, and Neville praised the Slovenian’s transformation.

“The confidence, the goals. The finishes he’s put in against Fulham, Everton, West Ham and Palace are four brilliant goals. They’re all very different goals,” Neville stated.

“He’s improved enormously. That’s the first time Michael Carrick has started him. So he’s obviously had doubts about him. But what he has done over the last four or five weeks while bringing him on as a sub. He’s working Sesko into form.

“That’s a game-changer for United. They cannot have another centre-forward come into the club and fail.”