Jamie Carragher tips Chelsea to miss out on Champions League in surprise Newcastle prediction
Jamie Carragher reckons Chelsea will miss out on the top five in the Premier League with the London club struggling for form.
Having once been talked about as title contenders, Enzo Maresca’s team has fallen away since the turn of the year, leaving them looking over their shoulders.
In the last ten games, Chelsea are 11th in the form table, having scored just 15 goals and conceded 13, allowing Newcastle to quickly close in and the North East side drew level on points following their 3-0 win over Leicester on Monday.
Following their Carabao Cup exploits, Newcastle also have a game in hand over Chelsea.
“Looking at the fixtures and Newcastle having a game in hand, I think Nottingham Forest will just do it, I think Chelsea will miss out as they have the toughest fixtures,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“Newcastle will make it and I think Man City will just make it as well. Those last four fixtures, you would expect Man City to win all four, even with the troubles they have had this season. I think Aston Villa will just miss out.”
Half of Newcastle’s remaining fixtures are against teams in the bottom half of the table while they still have to welcome Chelsea to St James’ Park in May.
Chelsea meanwhile have to play Liverpool and Nottingham Forest while balancing their fixtures in the Europa Conference League.
Manchester City are currently one point behind and also have a semi-final FA Cup fixture against Nottingham Forest to think about.
England looks almost certain to be granted an extra Champions League spot given their UEFA coefficient meaning fifth will be good enough for Europe’s premier competition.
Should Chelsea miss out on the top five, winning the Europa Conference League would grant them a Europa League spot for next season.
Chelsea’s latest disappointment came in a 0-0 draw away at Brentford in which Maresca chose to rest a number of key players.
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Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella and Pedro Neto all started from the bench as Chelsea laboured but Maresca defended his tactics.
“Not all of them were 100%,” he said. “The idea was to start one way and finish another way. The plan nearly worked because we created more in the second half but the volume probably wasn’t enough to win the game.”
“I am here to try to do the best for the club and players.
“I work every day with the players so I can see how they are. I am not sure if Spurs at home is harder than Brentford away. For me, they are all complicated.”
