Jamie Carragher has predicted that Tottenham are favourites to clinch the final Champions League qualification spot over Liverpool since Antonio Conte’s side have a kinder fixture list than the Reds.
Spurs had a real opportunity to tighten their grip on fourth place when they travelled to Molineux Stadium on Saturday after Newcastle United had fallen to a 2-0 loss to Manchester City earlier in the day.
However, the Lilywhites failed to take advantage as Adama Traore’s late strike gave Wolves all three points.
To make matters worse, Liverpool thrashed Manchester United 7-0 at home on Sunday to move within three points of Tottenham with a game in hand.
The comprehensive nature of the win means that Jurgen Klopp’s side now boast a much superior goal difference to Spurs but Carragher believes that the Lilywhites still hold an advantage in the race for fourth.
When asked who he expects to clinch the spot between Tottenham and Liverpool, the pundit said on The Gary Neville Podcast: “I think there’s probably a better feeling around Liverpool, even though I think Tottenham, this season, have probably performed better on a lot of occasions.
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“I still favour Tottenham, because I’ve actually looked right at the fixture list and they’ve got a lot more favourable fixtures than Liverpool do.”
However, Carragher did suggest that the nature of Liverpool’s win against their fierce rivals was a real shot in the arm for their top-four hopes.
He added: “Manchester United were so bad in that second half and Liverpool were so good.
“Liverpool felt like the way they were a few years ago. [It was] just a shock all around for Manchester United.
“When you see Liverpool put in a performance like that, you think how have they been that bad for that much of the season?
“It’s an embarrassing result for United, when you win by six or seven, it’s almost like United become the story. For Liverpool, it gives them a huge lift in getting them into the top four.
“Getting in the top four will be huge in terms of recruitment. Next week away at Bournemouth won’t be easy, and then they’ve got a really tough week.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Neither Spurs nor Liverpool have shown any sort of consistency so far this season. So, it is too early to make confident predictions regarding who will clinch the fourth spot.
One can argue that if Tottenham beat Milan to progress to the quarterfinal of the Champions League, that will work to Liverpool’s advantage in the race for fourth as the Reds can afford to concentrate on the league, now that they have effectively been knocked out by Real Madrid.
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