Owen Hargreaves has predicted who he thinks will make the Premier League top-four after both Arsenal and Tottenham suffered defeat on Saturday.
Tottenham were stunned by a late Leandro Trossard goal as Brighton snatched a 1-0 victory in north London on Saturday, meaning that they beat both Arsenal and Spurs away from home within the space of a week. This then handed Mikel Arteta's side with a fantastic opportunity to take back control, but they also lost 1-0 as Jan Bednarek handed Southampton a narrow win.
Elsewhere in the top-four race, Manchester United held off Norwich to win 3-2 at Old Trafford after Cristiano Ronaldo netted a stunning hat-trick, keeping the Red Devils in the hunt. With so many twists and turns already occurring with six games remaining, Hargreaves has given a fresh prediction on who he thinks will secure a Champions League spot.
With Liverpool and Manchester City clear at the top, and Chelsea with a healthy advantage in third, it really is a viscous scrap for fourth spot, but Arsenal, Tottenham and United keep stumbling when the opportunity presents itself. United may have won on Saturday, but it was off the back of two poor performances.
And Arsenal have now lost three consecutive league matches, while Tottenham's recent run has come to an end. Fourth spot is there for the taking, but so far no side has stepped up and taken control.
Hargreaves believes that Tottenham will do enough to hold fourth spot though, as he said on Premier League Productions: "Fixture-wise, it’s tough for Arsenal. They struggled against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton.
"They’ve got Chelsea, Man United, West Ham, Leeds and Tottenham coming up. Looking at Arsenal’s fixtures I’m saying no. I know they’re close but if you’re losing and not scoring against Palace, Brighton and Southampton, you’re going to struggle. It’s made it really difficult for them.
"Tottenham are still in the driving seat because they’re ahead. Arsenal have that game in hand but I think Arsenal will fall short with the fixtures they’ve got. Manchester United are just too inconsistent. Tottenham should be able to get the job done."
And former Tottenham star Darren Bent agreed with Hargreves' prediction, although he hasn't ruled Arsenal out completely. Bent added: "You can’t rule Arsenal out because as we’ve seen, the teams around them are inconsistent. Spurs are inconsistent, so are United.
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"Arsenal have still got the opportunity but they need to find some consistent form from somewhere. You can’t be losing three games in a row. After that run they shouldn’t really been anywhere near it but the fact is they are because the race for the top-four has been so poor.
"We’ve seen that Tottenham are capable of going on a run and I expect them to do that. It’s still in Spurs’ hands because Arsenal and United are so inconsistent."
Arsenal and Tottenham are still yet to meet in a highly anticipated north London derby, and it could decide who takes the Champions League spot, with the stakes as high as ever. But if United can put together a late winning run, and the two London sides remain inconsistent, they could sneak it.
