Former English footballer Paul Merson has offered his prediction on who will emerge as the eventual winner in this closely fought battle.
Sky Sports pundit backs Aston Villa to take the 4th spot
Speaking on Sky Sports, the former Arsenal midfielder Merson predicted who will claim the final 4th spot between Aston Villa and Spurs.
He backed Unai Emery’s team to clinch 4th place, highlighting Tottenham’s challenging upcoming fixtures and their inconsistency, referencing varying outcomes such as their 3-0 defeat to Fulham and recent 4-0 loss against Newcastle United.
Merson said (quotes via TBR):
“They have got the hardest games, Tottenham, they can affect the Premier League by playing the three teams, but I have just got to go with Aston Villa at the moment.
“I have to go with Villa. I think they are so up and down at the moment, Tottenham, you know the Fulham result, they got slaughtered and then last week against Newcastle, it’s so up and down, it’s a bag of revels at the moment, they need consistency.”
Ange Postecoglou’s side cannot afford any more setbacks if they intend to secure the last spot to compete in Europe’s elite competition next season.
The battle for the fourth Champions League spot in the Premier League will be a fierce battle between Tottenham and Aston Villa
Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal are all almost guaranteed to secure the top three spots, leaving Spurs and the Villains to compete for the coveted fourth place in England’s top flight
The Lilywhites are currently in 5th place with 60 points, 3 points behind Aston Villa in 4th place
However, Tottenham still have a game left, which could close the gap on Villa
Former England national footballer Paul Merson has given his predictions on who will win this fierce battle
Sky Sports expert backs Aston Villa for fourth place Former Arsenal midfielder Merson has predicted on Sky Sports who will secure the final four spot between Aston Villa and Spurs
He backed Unai Emery’s side to secure fourth place, underscoring Tottenham’s difficult games ahead and their instability
He pointed to different results, including the 3-0 defeat against Fulham and the recent 4-0 defeat against Newcastle United
Merson said (quoted via TBR): “They play the toughest game, Tottenham
They can have an impact on the Premier League by playing against these three teams, but at the moment Aston
“I have to go with Villa
I think it’s very up and down at the moment, you know the results at Tottenham, Fulham, they lost badly and then last week against Newcastle
So we’ve had a lot of ups and downs and we’re celebrating a lot now, but they need consistency if Ange Postecoglou’s side want to secure the last spot in Europe’s elite competition next season
, further setbacks cannot be tolerated
ANGE POSTECOGLOU CALLS OUT TOTTENHAM PLAYER AND EXPLAINS EXACTLY WHO’S TO BLAME FOR NEWCASTLE DEFEAT, HE DIDN’T HOLD BACK
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou speaks to the media after their 4-0 loss to Newcastle in the Premier League at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon
Postecoglou on why his team was so vulnerable on the break
We allowed them to dictate the way the game was played, ended up being a transition game, a lot of it was self-inflicted by us, we weren’t brave on the ball, we’ve been really good this year at understanding that when we have the ball we can be a threat, certain players, we just shied away from that today. When you do that you allow the game to be played on Newcastle’s terms. When that happens especially away from home it’s hard for us to then claw it back once it’s got away from us
More from the Spurs boss
There’s no point sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. There’s another game in two weeks. We’ve just got to get ready for that. It’s not the first time it’s happened to us and it won’t be the last. It’s part of our growth. Sometimes that growth is painful. That’s part of it and you’ve just got to embrace it, use it and get ready for the next challenge
Postecoglou is here
Newcastle were good, credit to them, I thought they were really good today. We just didn’t really get a grip of the game at all. Right from the start it felt like we allowed Newcastle to dictate the way the game was played, we never really wrestled control at any stage. We paid a price for that.
1Postecoglou made one change to face Eddie Howe’s side from the lunchtime clash with Rodrigo Bentancur replacing Pape Matar Sarr after the Uruguayan impressed in the second half of the 3- 1 for Tottenham against Nottingham Forest last weekend
Spurs have the chance to put pressure on Aston Villa if they get a positive result at St James’ Park on Saturday, when Unai Emery’s side travel to Arsenal on Sunday
However, to do this, the north London team tried to succeed after a poor performance against Tottenham last season
Almost 12 months ago, under the guidance of Cristian Stellini, they collapsed to a miserable 6-1 defeat, with Newcastle scoring three goals in the first nine minutes and five in 21 minutes
Under the leadership of Postecoglou, Spurs took revenge this season with a 4-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
This time the visitors had a few chances early on, but completely blew things up midway through the first half to score Newcastle twice in two minutes
Newcastle increased the score to 3-0 at the break thanks to Bruno Guimaraes’s overhand pass into the path of Isak into the home team’s net
The fourth goal came for Newcastle late in the match
They threatened to score from a free-kick and they did so when Fabian Schar jumped highest to head home
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those to question Postecoglou after the match
Scroll down to see his latest update from the press conference at St James’ Park
2Tottenham had a memorable day against Newcastle United as the North London club suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat
For the second year in a row, Tottenham were defeated by Newcastle United
Last season, the Magpies scored six goals against Spurs
That season they defeated them by scoring 4 goals and moved up to 6th place in the Premier League
Micky van de Ven was criticized on social media for his performance against Newcastle
The defender was brought down by both Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon on his way to score
Shearer blames Tottenham duo for Newcastle goal But Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has blamed two other Tottenham players
Shearer named Destiny Udogui and Pedro Polo, who he believes were the ones who scored for Eddie Howe’s men
Polo, who was forced to be substituted early in the second half due to injury, had “no idea” where Isak was when he scored his first goal, said Shearer, who spoke to Premier League Productions
3 Shearer said Udogi did not have enough strength as the ball was played over the top to Gordon who assisted Isak
“Udogi is terrible and not strong
Polo has no idea where Isaac is and defeats Van de Ven
That’s a great ending
”From Tottenham’s point of view, how poor they are
How weak they defend
Tottenham were overtaken by Aston Villa
” This defeat leaves Spurs fifth in the Premier League
Aston Villa, who defeated Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, moved up to fourth place
The battle to qualify for Europe in the Premier League is becoming fiercer every week, with Newcastle also in contention to qualify for next season’s Europa League
Spurs will have a crucial game in the Premier League against Arsenal later this month in the race for the title
First Destiny Udogie was dispossessed by Anthony Gordon and the England international played in Alexander Isak to rifle home a low shot. Then not long after the restart, Pedro Porro sliced a clearance back into the Spurs penalty area and it flew straight to Gordon to score.
