Arsenal legend makes U-turn in his Chelsea prediction for this season after Potter appointment

Arsenal legend Paul Merson makes a U-turn in his prediction for Chelsea this season

In his column for Sportskeeda (h/t Football.London), Arsenal legend and renowned Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson makes a U-turn in his prediction for where Chelsea will finish in the Premier League this season.

Having included the Blues in his top four at the start of the 2022/23 season, Merson has now excluded them from the list in this column.

Merson, who is a former Arsenal and Aston Villa star, believes that the new Chelsea manager Graham Potter may find this job a step too far, hence the team may miss out on finishing in the Champions League places.

Here are some of the quotes from his column:

“It’s still early doors, but I think the Premier League top-four this season will be Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in whatever order.”

“Chelsea will obviously have a thing or two to say, but we’ll have to wait and see how Potter performs at Stamford Bridge, with the Englishman set to take over the reins from Thomas Tuchel imminently.”

Despite his reservations about Potter, Merson likes the former Swansea City manager and believes he is capable of bringing success to Chelsea in the future.

Potter was appointed on Thursday, a day after Thomas Tuchel was sacked, following a defeat to Dinamo Zagreb on the opening night of the Champions League.

The Blues are currently sixth in the league table, with 10 points from six games. While that is not a devastating start to a season, the performances have not been up to the mark so far. Scraping wins against Everton and West Ham United are examples of that.

Merson is probably right to reserve his comments about Chelsea’s finishing position. The club is currently undergoing a transition, with new owners arriving in the summer and now a manager appointed a week after the deadline day of the transfer window.

Although Potter has signed a five-year contract and is promised time by the owners, he would be under pressure to get this team back to winning ways and playing good football soon.

More Chelsea News:

• Chelsea players were sick of Thomas Tuchel and his antics on the sideline
• Chelsea and Manchester United line up a move for Wolves recruitment chief Matt Hobbs
• Raphinha explains the reason behind rejecting a move to Chelsea in favour of Barcelona

After the weekend’s game against Fulham getting postponed due to the death of the Queen, the Englishman will most probably take charge of his first game against RB Salzburg in the Champions League.