Race for Europe: Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher’s verdict on Man City, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Chelsea | Football News

As the Premier League season enters the final straight, the race for the European spots is heating up.

Newcastle have already assured themselves of a place in at least the Conference League next season after winning the Carabao Cup.

If they also finish in the top five of the Premier League – or top six if the FA Cup winners also finish in the top five – their Conference League play-off place will go to the next-highest ranked team not qualified for Europe in the Premier League.

Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have their say on the other teams in the mix…

Manchester City

Jamie Carragher: “Even though Man City won it’s been a bad midweek for them. They’ve beaten Leicester at home, while Villa have gone to Brighton away and won. That’s a tough game. Newcastle, after winning the cup, against Brentford is not easy also. Chelsea had the derby game against Tottenham.

“You see all those teams winning there, it makes it really exciting between now and the end of the season. A lot of it is going to go down to head-to-head, there are so many teams in there – they are going to come up against each other.

“Omar Marmoush has been brilliant, he’s been a superstar for them since he’s come in and he’s going to have to be that for the rest of the season, if Erling Haaland is going to be out for six weeks, for Man City to get there. They will miss out without Haaland up top.”

Gary Neville: “The FA Cup is big for City, getting into the Champions League too, but if they can win the FA Cup, it would be a fantastic season for them.

“This is an off-season, a big off-season. But the idea of still winning a trophy when you’re having a bad season and getting into the Champions League is something that shouldn’t be disregarded.

“When you see what they’ve won in the last few years, there was going to be a drop-off at some point. But if you win a trophy in the season you drop off, you would snap your hand off.”

Aston Villa

Neville: “I fancy them to finish strong. Unai Emery knows how to do this. I said at Christmas that I thought they would finish strongly but there are a lot of teams there doing well. Nottingham Forest, what a great position they’re in.

“Villa are a club that Everton should look at. If you look at Everton and where they are now, Villa have been there in the last few years. Everton are a huge club and if you think what if they had that Villa quality, especially in wide areas? But they didn’t.”

Carragher: “It’s a difficult one with Villa, asking what you would rather have. Just keep going and build that momentum. They do have a great squad. You see the players they were bringing off the bench at Preston. They just have to go for everything.

“I would love to see them win the FA Cup. It would be difficult to win the Champions League. You want to win it, but sometimes there’s that feeling of just being in the Champions League and just getting to the semi-finals. Imagine the night they would have at Villa Park! To win the FA Cup, teams go so long without a trophy.”

Nottingham Forest

Neville: “Do you remember Leicester a few years ago? There was a season when Manchester United beat them and they were knocked out of the Champions League. There’s still a bit to do for Forest left. There are only eight games but just make sure you get over the line here. If you lose two or three, the others behind them won’t lose many.

“But what a great position they’re in. A fantastic result last night and everyone wants to see them in the Champions League given how well they’ve done. It’s a real scrap otherwise.

Carragher: “It would be great for the league, just like Leicester winning the league. Nottingham Forest getting into the top four would be fantastic. It almost feels like they deserve it now. They’ve got enough to stay in there, they will be fine.”

Bournemouth

Carragher: “They’re a little bit like Forest, they’ve been so good that you’re now disappointed to see them drop off. I didn’t want to see them drop off in the same way you don’t want to see that with Forest. This bump has been going on for five or six weeks now, this isn’t a couple of weeks. They’ve got to turn it around because you don’t want to ruin what has been a brilliant season for them.”

Chelsea

Carra: “Chelsea have been so inconsistent for the last three or four months, but they’re still there. It shows how many points have been dropped by the teams around them. There’s a real fight on there. The top three will make it and the other two positions could be absolutely anyone.”