Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson says he would be “shocked” if Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea don’t finish in the top four this season.

While he was less certain about who will be the fourth team to secure Champions League qualification, Merson is very confident that Jurgen Klopp’s side will be near the top of the table once again:

“Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea pick themselves as the top three in whatever order and I’d be shocked if anything else were to happen. I’ll put Manchester United in the reckoning for a place in the top four because they are a massive club, but they haven’t done enough business at this point in time to stand a chance of securing UEFA Champions League football, so it should be between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. If I had to pick one of the two north London side, I’ll have to go with Arsenal.”

In terms of the actual Premier League title, Merson has backed City but he thinks that Liverpool could make it “tight once again” if Klopp can get new signing Darwin Nunez “firing immediately”.

His major concern about the Reds is their ability to handle the loss of Sadio Mane who he feels was an “unbelievable player” for the Merseyside club.

Nunez’s ability to hit the ground running is the key for Merson if Liverpool are to make up for Mane’s absence. With the Premier League kicking off in three weeks’ time, we don’t have much longer to wait before we see the contenders in action.