Paul Merson has shared his forecast for Chelsea and Manchester United’s standings in the upcoming Premier League season.
Both teams are looking to improve upon their last season’s performances, which ended on a high note despite overall disappointment.
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Chelsea spent much of the 2023-24 season in the middle of the pack but surged to sixth place with a five-game winning streak, securing a European spot.
The end-of-season departure of Mauricio Pochettino added to the ongoing upheaval at Stamford Bridge under Todd Boehly’s ownership.
Enzo Maresca, recently appointed as Pochettino’s successor, is expected to leverage his experience as Pep Guardiola’s former assistant and his success with Leicester City in the Championship to propel Chelsea into the top four.
Merson, a former Arsenal and England player, also anticipates that Manchester United will be in the running for a Champions League position after finishing eighth last season.
Under Erik ten Hag, United experienced their most challenging Premier League season to date, with his future uncertain despite an unexpected FA Cup final victory.
With stiff competition expected at the upper echelons of the league next year, Merson suggests that Tottenham should prioritize securing a trophy over aiming for a top-four league finish.
‘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 campaign in north London, narrowly missing out on a Champions League spot after 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.
‘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.’
‘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.
‘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.’
