Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes both Arsenal and Tottenham will finish in the Champions League places this season.

While he is still adamant that Liverpool will recover to make the top four after a poor start to the campaign, he doesn’t think either Chelsea or Manchester United will be in contention:

“It’s still early doors, but I think the Premier League top-four this season will be Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in whatever order. Chelsea will obviously have a thing or two to say, but we’ll have to wait and see how Potter performs at Stamford Bridge, with the Englishman set to take over the reins from Thomas Tuchel imminently.”

“As for Manchester United, I don’t think they’ll make it because they still have a lot of work to do in terms of their squad. They’ve won four league games in a row, including victories against Liverpool and Arsenal, but I’m yet to be convinced by them. Arsenal are good and I believe they are in there for the long run, while I’m still backing Liverpool to turn it around in the coming weeks to secure a UEFA Champions League spot.”

Merson seems to have a lot of faith in the Gunners’ staying power this campaign, and that feeling looks justified, considering they have won five of their first six league fixtures.

The upheaval at Chelsea makes his prediction about the Blues well founded, but there will be a few raised eyebrows when it comes to his comments on Liverpool.

The Reds have looked very poor at times in the opening weeks of the season although, perhaps, with a manager of Jurgen Klopp’s calibre at the helm, they can turn things around.

When it comes to United, Merson’s doubts do seem to be warranted, especially after they lost 1-0 at home to Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday night.