Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson is backing Liverpool to finish above Chelsea in the race for the top four this season despite the Reds’ awful league form in recent months.

Jurgen Klopp’s side currently sit in sixth place, five points off West Ham in fourth, but Merson not only believes that the Hammers will fall away, he thinks Chelsea may also lose out to Liverpool during the run-in:

“If Chelsea have a good March, that’s it, they are in. But, I worry about Chelsea scoring enough goals. I can’t see them blowing teams away. I’ve always said Liverpool will make it but when push comes to shove, it so hard to stick with them, at the moment. It’s hard to get away from their form and the fact the luck is not with them…”

“It feels like I’m just going with the name and not looking at the performances and results. The teams they haven’t beaten is very worrying. I don’t know why, but I have to stick with Liverpool. Please don’t ask me why but I’m keeping the faith with Jurgen Klopp and his side.”

It seems Merson has gone with the Premier League champions simply on reputation alone, rather than any particular belief that they can turn around their current form.

The former Arsenal player is actually a Chelsea fan so you would have thought he’d back his team, but it seems his gut is telling him to go with Liverpool.

Whether that trust will be rewarded at the end of the season, we shall see. Klopp’s men face Sheffield United at the weekend before playing Chelsea at Anfield on Thursday week.