{"id":9461,"date":"2026-05-08T04:30:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T04:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=9461"},"modified":"2026-05-08T04:30:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T04:30:48","slug":"paul-merson-makes-man-utd-and-liverpool-premier-league-claim-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=9461","title":{"rendered":"Paul Merson makes Man Utd and Liverpool Premier League claim | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e.png?w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28278789\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Ex-Arsenal and England winger Paul Merson (Picture: Sky Sports)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Paul Merson says he would back Liverpool to finish above Manchester United in the Premier League next season \u2018all day long\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>United finished just 15th last season, 14 places and 42 points behind Arne Slot\u2019s Premier League champions Liverpool.<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool have dropped off considerably this term, however, not only failing to retain the Premier League trophy but potentially missing out on a top-four finish.<\/p>\n<p>Manchester United, in contrast, are on course for a third-place finish with three games remaining after completing a double over Liverpool with a 3-2 win at Old Trafford last week.<\/p>\n<p>United\u2019s form under interim boss Michael Carrick has even led to suggestions the Red Devils could compete for the Premier League title next season.<\/p>\n<p>But Merson fully expects Liverpool to restore their dominance over arch-rivals Manchester United next season and believes a return to Europe could hurt United domestically.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Liverpool were shocking in the first half against Manchester United last Sunday,\u2019 Merson told Sportskeeda.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2273908905.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28279703\" alt=\"Manchester United v Liverpool - Premier League\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Manchester United are thriving under Michael Carrick (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018When they came back into the game and made it 2-2, I was expecting them to go on and win but they ended up losing the game! I\u2019m not worried about Liverpool next season though, I think they\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If someone asks me who among Manchester United and Liverpool will finish higher in the\u00a0Premier League\u00a0next season, I would actually back Arne Slot\u2019s team all day long!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I say that because Manchester United have played only once a week this season, and that\u2019s a lot easier compared to what Liverpool went through.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2274545284.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28279707\" alt=\"Manchester United v Liverpool - Premier League\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Liverpool have gone backwards under Arne Slot (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018Let us go through their players, Senne Lammens has been good, Benjamin Sesko is now finding some form, Bruno Fernandes incredible, Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo are shining under Michael Carrick, while Matheus Cunha has been excellent and Bryan Mbeumo has done alright.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Just look at Liverpool on the other hand. The two centre-backs haven\u2019t been good enough, Milos Kerkez has been poor, they miss Trent and haven\u2019t covered that position well enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Apart from Dominik Szoboszlai, none of their midfielders have performed well, both Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz have had their own issues and yet, if they had beaten Manchester United, they would have been level on points!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018That says a lot and I believe Liverpool can finish above United next season.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Lately, there has also been noise around the lack of intensity shown by this Liverpool team. But I\u2019m not surprised by it because I believe many of these players will have one eye on the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018None of them want to be injured and it is only a natural reaction, especially when Liverpool have nothing to play for at the moment.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Manchester United will hope to continue their fine form on Saturday when they visit Sunderland, while Liverpool welcome struggling Chelsea to Anfield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"\/><br \/>\n<strong>Facebook,\u00a0<\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Chelsea tipped to sell \u00a330m signing after just one season<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Arsenal make approach to sign \u00a339m PSG star after Champions League final<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Cole Palmer\u2019s stance on Manchester United transfer as Chelsea set asking price<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/> Paul Merson makes Man Utd and Liverpool Premier League claim | Football<br \/>\n<br \/>#Paul #Merson #Man #Utd #Liverpool #Premier #League #claim #Football<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-Arsenal and England winger Paul Merson (Picture: Sky Sports) Paul Merson says he would back&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[729,317,326,540,230,1030,570,325,471],"class_list":["post-9461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-claim","tag-football","tag-league","tag-liverpool","tag-man","tag-merson","tag-paul","tag-premier","tag-utd"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073.png",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073-300x158.png",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073-768x403.png",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073-1024x538.png",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073.png",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073.png",1200,630,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073-1024x538.png",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/paul-merson-ef1e_1778196073-540x340.png",540,340,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a 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