“If they follow this direction’ – Alan Shearer makes final shock Chelsea prediction on Premier League table
BBC pundit Alan Shearer does not believe that Chelsea will finish the season in the Premier League’s top six.
Speaking on the Rest Is Football podcast (quotes via Football.London), Shearer said he can see that the Blues are improving under the management of Mauricio Pochettino but he thinks the best the club can hope is qualification for the Europe Conference League:
“They are certainly getting better and have improved in the last month or so. I do trust Pochettino. I think he’s a really good manager – we said if he was going to be given time he was going to have to be given because it wasn’t going to happen automatically.”
“I don’t think they will make the top six but I think they will challenge for seventh or eighth to get into the Europa Conference League. I think it will get better but I don’t expect them to be in the top six.”
Chelsea’s recent form suggests they are going in the right direction
After winning against Tottenham and drawing versus Manchester City at home, the Blues have certainly begun to improve on their early season performances.
4 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats from their opening 12 league matches does perfectly demonstrate, though, their lack of consistency and that will need to change if they want to move closer to the European spots.
A game against Shearer’s former club will be a good test for Pochettino’s team
Chelsea’s next opponents Newcastle have won 5 of their 6 home games this season so Saturday’s match at St James’ Park will give us a better indication of whether the Spurs and City results are the start of a positive trend.
The Magpies do have plenty of injury problems so the Blues have a decent chance of securing the points if they perform at their best.