Jamie Carragher has offered his verdict on whether or not Manchester City will be playing Champions League football next season.
Jamie Carragher will be revelling in the downfall of Manchester City this season, with his own team Liverpool flying high at the top of the Premier League table.
The big concern for Pep Guardiola and the Man City fans is that Champions League qualification for next season is far from guaranteed.
City are currently sitting in sixth spot in the Premier League table, one point adrift of fourth placed Chelsea and fifth placed Newcastle, although they have played a game more than the Toon.
Kylian Mbappe and co humiliated Manchester City in the Champions League this season, when Real Madrid eased through the play-off tie with the Premier League side.
And Pep will be desperate to guide his side back to the top table of European football.
Missing out on next season’s Champions League would be a total disaster for Manchester City.
Jamie Carragher on whether Manchester City will make the Champions League
As things stand, the top four in the Premier League table are guaranteed to qualify for Europe’s premier competition next season.
However, that number could increase to five, if England is granted an additional Champions League spot ‘based on the collective success of Premier League clubs in European competitions this season’ (Premier League’s official website).
It will be a real struggle for City during the final seven games of the season, there’s no doubt about that.
However, their final four fixtures of the season really do look very winnable.
But how does Carragher see the Champions League race panning out?
He made a prediction regarding Man City, when speaking on the Sky Sports Football podcast:
“I think Nottingham Forest will just do it. I think Chelsea will miss out. I think they’ve got the toughest fixtures.
“I think Newcastle will make it. And I think Manchester City will just make it as well. Because I look at those last four fixtures, and I look at Manchester City’s there, I think you’d expect them to win all four of those games, even with the troubles that they’ve had this season.
“So I think with that run-in as well, they’ll just do it. I think Aston Villa still got the FA Cup, still got two Champions League games at least. We’ll see.
“So I think Aston Villa will just miss out. So for me, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Man City to make it.”
What Ederson has told Pep Guardiola about Manchester city squad
If Pep is to guide his City side back to where they were previously, he needs to listen to Ederson.
The Brazilian goalkeeper made it very clear last week that the current crop of Man City players have reached the end of their cycle:
“It’s good to bring in these young players, to plan for the future, because there are a lot of players who are already at the end of their cycle at City, so I think it’s always welcome, good new options to start planting the seeds of the future.”
That was a clear message from Ederson that Guardiola needs to spend big on younger, hungrier and even more talented players this summer.
However, that will not be possible unless Manchester City qualify for the Champions League again.
