Paul Merson claims Man Utd has 'huge advantage' over Liverpool in top-four race

Liverpool faces a fight to claim a spot in the Premier League's top four this season, with Arne Slot's side trailing both Manchester United and Chelsea at the moment

Paul Merson believes Liverpool is at a disadvantage in the race for the top four(Image: Sky Sports)

Paul Merson believes Manchester United is the favorite to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League, with the pundit suggesting it has a major advantage over Liverpool and Chelsea.

Arne Slot’s side faces a real fight to land a spot in the Premier League’s top four this season. Although the Reds returned to winning form against Newcastle last weekend, they have struggled to put a consistent run of victories together after winning five straight games at the start of the season.

Liverpool has won just six of its last 19 league games, which has seen it fall well out of contention to defend its title - and a place at Europe’s top table next season looks in doubt as well.

The Reds currently sit sixth in the table, trailing both United and Chelsea in the race for the top four by two and one point respectively.

It’s not yet known whether a top-five finish would be enough to secure a spot in the Champions League, although the Premier League is well placed in that regard after five of its teams qualified for the last-16 of this season’s competition, while Newcastle secured a place in the play-off round.

Liverpool won’t want to leave it to chance in any case, although former Arsenal star Merson believes the Reds’ biggest rival has a clear advantage.

Liverpool trails Manchester United and Chelsea in the race for the top four(Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

“At the moment, I would say Manchester United are the big favourites to finish in the top five. That win over Fulham was a huge result,” Merson told Sportskeeda.

“They only play once a week as well, which is a huge advantage compared to Liverpool and Chelsea. So I would have to call them favourites even though it’s still very tight.”

Merson though does expect the race for the top four to remain tight, having back all three sides involved to pick up wins this weekend.

The Sky Sports pundit has predicted both United and Chelsea to win 3-1 against Tottenham and Wolves respectively, and has backed Liverpool to beat Manchester City by the same scoreline.

“I'd be shocked if Liverpool lost this football match!” he said. “They have bounced back well after conceding that last-minute winner against Bournemouth. 10 goals in the two games since then shows they are clicking in attack.

“Manchester City always let in goals. You check their results and if you've never watched them games, you would think they were flying. But the reality is that they have given away chance after chance in these games.

“Liverpool are not lackadaisical in front of goal. Manchester City, meanwhile, are all over the place at the back and could be blown away at Anfield.”