Manchester United are languishing in 13th place following their thrashing by Tottenham – and Erik ten Hag is already facing an uphill battle to finish in the Premier League’s top four
Crisis at Old Trafford: Ten Hag under fire after Spurs defeat
Dwight Yorke has snubbed his former club Manchester United in predicting which teams will finish in the top four of the Premier League this season.
Former United striker Yorke reckons defending champions Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool are certainties to occupy the top three places. But Yorke did not include United in the teams who can finish fourth, after their miserable start to the season, and predicted a three-way fight between Tottenham, Aston Villa and Chelsea for the final Champions League spot.
“I think that Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool are the top three teams in the league,” Yorke told Prime Casino. “They’re all capable of winning the league this year. I know Liverpool is not a lot of people’s choices. I’m not biased because I played for Manchester United. I’m not that type of person.
“I think Liverpool have got an outside chance of winning the league this year, simply because their attacking ability is up there with the very best. I think they have players who can win you games defensively, such as Virgil van Dijk and the rest of their backline. They keep the ball well, and they can come very close.
“Arsenal, they’ve been pushing. I think that with Arsenal, when it comes to the nitty gritty, they just come up short. I think with all the hype and talk about them, when it comes to the business end they just seem to come up short. I feel there’s something they can’t get over and City will always be City. It’s simple – if you finish above City you’re going to win the league.
“Fourth place is anybody’s guess. I would think that Tottenham are in their equation now after their performance, and that wasn’t the case two weeks ago. Aston Villa will be there, and Chelsea look like they’re getting an identity under Enzo Maresca, they’re free flowing. I expect those three to do well, but I can’t pick out one in particular for fourth.”
Asked to identify the best striker in the Premier League right now, Yorke said it was impossible to look beyond City goal machine Erling Haaland, who already has 11 goals from eight matches. “I think Haaland, he’s the No.1, for sure,” said Yorke.
“I think Ollie Watkins will get a mention, because he’s consistent. And the third one, I like another boy at Villa – Jhon Duran. he looks a real handful and a bit different from the rest. He’s got that good presence about him.
“I would take a chance on him, he looks like the real deal. What I look for is people who are hungry, and he’s got that. In terms of the big boys, Arsenal haven’t got an outstanding No. 9.
“At Liverpool, I like Darwin Nunez and people go on about him missing chances, but I like his presence and what he brings. He needs to get a bit more confident in front of goal. He’s got all the attributes. He’s still relatively young and can only get better. I also like Alexander Isak.
“There’s the guy at Ipswich, Liam Delap, he’s a real surprise player. Watching him yesterday against Villa, I thought, ‘Bloody hell, he looks a handful.’ You can just go by one game, but he looks like a threat.”
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