Premier League return news - Predictions: Who will finish in top six?
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Updated 15/06/2020 at 12:27 GMT
Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers have been backed to finish in the Champions League spots on the Game of Opinions podcast.
Premier League: Race for the top four
Image credit: Eurosport
With the Premier League set to return on June 17, we decided to gaze deep into the future and predict the season’s run-in.
Timo Werner may want to reconsider a switch to Chelsea with all four guests predicting them to finish sixth or lower, with Chris Wilder’s Blades and Nuno Santos' Wolves among the sides tipped to sneak into the top four.
Depending on the outcome of Manchester City's appeal against their Champions League ban, fifth place may be enough to secure a ticket to Europe's premier club competition.
Listen to the full episode now on all major podcast platform providers or dive into our arguments surrounding the top six in written form below.
Carrie Dunn - Blades to take shock Champions League spot
- 1. Liverpool
- 2. Manchester City
- 3. Leicester City
- 4. Sheffield United
- 5. Wolves
- 6. Chelsea
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It's obvious: Liverpool are going to win the Premier League, despite their best efforts to avoid doing so in record time before the season hiatus. Manchester City will trail in a distant second, while Leicester City will finish a sound third.
I'm tipping Sheffield United to take fourth. Hear me out on this one. I think they're a great team, well organised, and their form before the lockdown was just as good if not better than all the teams around them (oddly nobody outside of Liverpool has won more than three of their last five Premier League matches, which goes to show just how close, or perhaps how mediocre, those Champions League challengers are).
Wolves will end fifth. I think they and Sheffield United will benefit from the resumption behind closed doors; for all the talk about Manchester United and the like geeing themselves up for "big matches", they might not be so able to do it without the fans urging them on, perhaps. Plus of course when will Wolves and Sheffield United have the chance to challenge at the top of the table again? They'll be bang up for this. And Chelsea to finish sixth. Nothing more to say about them, really.
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Sheffield United, Wolves backed to finish in top four!
Pete Sharland - Wolves to sneak fourth, Chelsea outside top six
- 1. Liverpool
- 2. Manchester City
- 3. Leicester City
- 4. Wolves
- 5. Sheffield United
- 6. Manchester United
Let’s be honest, barring spectacular collapses the top three are all the staying the same. I’m really concerned for Chelsea. I think a lot of teams have figured out how to play against them and while giving Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek more time is a big bonus, I don’t think it is going to be enough.
Wolves and Sheffield United will really benefit as two teams who are well-organised and well-coached while United may benefit from the fitness of Marcus Rashford to claim the final Europa League spot.
Ben Snowball - Spurs to roar back in top-four race
- 1. Liverpool
- 2. Manchester City
- 3. Leicester
- 4. Tottenham
- 5. Manchester United
- 6. Chelsea
It's all about Tottenham chiselling at a seven-point gap to steal fourth. Harry Kane has finally broken the cycle of 'injury, hasty recovery, nurse body through major matches'. Son Heung-min is over a fractured arm and has slyly completed his national service in South Korea. Moussa Sissoko, back from knee ligament surgery, will reinforce a midfield that looked ominously porous over winter. Plus Jose Mourinho can now deploy his defence-led pressure-soaking brand of football without fear of the familiar groans from fans.
Manchester United will be squeezed out into fifth, with Chelsea welcoming Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech to the Europa League. Oh, and none of this Sheffield United and Wolves nonsense please.
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Jose Mourinho
Image credit: Getty Images
Marcus Foley - Fernandes to lead United into Champions League
- 1. Liverpool
- 2. Manchester City
- 3. Leicester
- 4. Manchester United
- 5. Sheffield United
- 6. Chelsea
The top three look nailed on so it's a battle between Chelsea, Manchester United, Sheffield United, Wolves, Arsenal and Tottenham for fourth through to sixth.
Spurs can be ruled out right away. Harry Kane says they need to win eight of their nine remaining games to make the top four and Spurs have put together a run of more than one win in a row three times this season – not going to happen. Arsenal too, have been solid if not spectacular since Mikel Arteta took over, winning four, drawing five and losing one since the Spaniard took over. It would take a spectacular run of results to seal even sixth.
Chelsea have been remarkably consistent, sitting in fourth or above since match day nine. However, they remain porous at the back and that impacts on their inability to close games - ultimately their inexperience will cost them.
Manchester United are an improved outfit with Bruno Fernandes in the mix, and that improvement has also been aided by a more solid base – with four clean sheets in their last five league games. They sit just three points off Chelsea so are best placed to capitalise on any slip. Sheffield United, a paragon of consistency this season, look a good bet to leapfrog Chelsea too, should they fall away. Wolves will stay where they are having failed to score in four of their last five games.
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