Jamie Carragher believes that Nottingham Forest will miss out on Champions League qualification following their crushing defeat by Brentford.
The former Liverpool defender reckons the final spot will be fought over by Aston Villa and Chelsea, while Manchester City and Newcastle will advance with ease.
Indeed, Carragher has backed City and the Magpies to finish ahead of second-place Arsenal, who remain in the competition and travel to Paris in the semi-final second leg next week.
‘I still think Newcastle and Manchester City can actually catch Arsenal,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘Just with the situation Arsenal have in the Champions League, Bournemouth at home won’t be easy, then they go to Anfield, they’ve also got to play Newcastle as well. It’s a brilliant race.
‘Aston Villa have to win in the next couple of games to give themselves a fighting chance.’
City moved into third place after a 1-0 win over Wolves on Friday night, ten points clear of Villa who have a game in hand. Villa are coming off a miserable week after suffering a devastating last-ditch defeat at the Etihad before crashing out of the FA Cup.
Jamie Carragher believes that Nottingham Forest are out of the running for Champions League qualifcation
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side suffered a crushing 2-0 home defeat by Brentford and have lost three of their last four matches
Carragher reckons Chelsea will find it tough to qualify because their challenging slate of games which include clashes against Liverpool, Newcastle and Forest
Unai Emery’s men have arguably the toughest remaining fixtures but the progress of Tottenham and Manchester United – their final two opponents – in the Europa League may work in their favour.
‘Playing Spurs and Manchester United in their last two games might actually fall into their lap in terms of the Europa League final as well,’ he added. ‘I think this is going to go right to the wire. I don’t think Nottingham Forest are going to make it now, Villa might make a late push. I still think Chelsea will find it difficult looking at their fixtures.’
The Blues’ slate includes clashes against the newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool, United and fellow Champions League chasers Newcastle and Forest on the final day.
Last month, Opta’s supercomputer predicted that City, Newcastle and Forest would join Liverpool and Arsenal in the top five.
Villa are the next hopeful to play, as they welcome Fulham to Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.
