Paul Merson has admitted he would be shocked if Chelsea finished above his former club Arsenal in the Premier League this season.
The Blues have made a good start to the season and currently sit third in the league, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference having played out a 1-1 draw with the Gunners before the international break.
Chelsea have exceeded many people’s expectations of them at this stage of the campaign, and Enzo Maresca himself recently admitted the team were currently ahead of his expectations.
Merson would be shocked if Chelsea finished above Arsenal
The Blues are currently on course to qualify for the Champions League but the table is very tight with just four points between them and Manchester United in 13th position.
Chelsea only have one win from their last five Premier League games, but face a more favourable run of fixtures after the international break, starting with Saturday’s trip to Leicester.
Not many would have expected Chelsea to be ahead of Arsenal at this stage and it goes to show the contrasting fortunes between the two clubs at the start of the season.
Whether the Blues can stay ahead of their rivals for the remainder of the campaign remains to be seen, but Merson admitted he would be shocked if that happened having previously expressed concerns Chelsea could become flat track bullies.
“I would be shocked if Chelsea finished above Arsenal though,” he told Sportskeeda as cited on X.com.
“Their squad is really young and I doubt they can get third place this season.
“If they win the Europa Conference League and finish inside the top four, that would count as a successful campaign.”
It would certainly go down as a shock if Chelsea were somehow able to finish ahead of Arsenal, but with how tight the table is and the competitiveness of the Premier League anything is possible.
Whilst Chelsea fans would love to finish ahead of Arsenal having not done so in the last two seasons, as long as they qualify for the Champions League it really won’t matter to the majority of supporters.
