Alan Shearer fires warning at Chelsea amid Premier League top five race

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea are seventh in the Premier League (Photo: Getty)

Alan Shearer has warned Chelsea that they have a major disadvantage to their Premier League rivals as they battle for Champions League qualification.

While the Premier League title race is all but over, with Liverpool and Arsenal almost certain to finish first and second, the race for the top-five and European football is incredibly close.

At the time of writing, just five points separate third to seventh place, which could become two if Chelsea beat Fulham on Sunday and Nottingham Forest don’t beat Tottenham on Monday.

A top five finish will be enough to secure UCL football for next season, with Newcastle United, Manchester City, Forest, Aston Villa and Chelsea the contenders.

At Christmas, the Blues were considered title contenders and certain to qualify, but a big dip in form means it is now far from guaranteed and Shearer believes they are set for a difficult few weeks.

‘Looking at the fixtures, there’s no doubt in my mind that Chelsea have the toughest run-in,’ the legendary striker told Premier League Productions.

‘The league might be done for Liverpool. Obviously Newcastle is a huge one.

‘And that last game against Nottingham Forest, they could be playing for everything, who gets a Champions League place. So that for me is the toughest run-in.’

Additionally, Enzo Maresca’s team take on Fulham, Everton and Manchester United and also have to navigate the semi-finals of the Conference League, where they’ll take on Swedish side Djurgardens.

While winning the Conference League would qualify Chelsea for the Europa League and end their four-year wait for a trophy, it is the Champions League that the fans and club hierarchy value most and failure to reach it would be a huge blow for the under-fire Maresca.

Newcastle’s top five hopes were dashed when they lost 4-1 to Aston Villa (Photo: Getty)

Following a great run of form, Newcastle were well-placed to finish in the top five, but a bruising 4-1 defeat at Villa Park on Saturday has made things very interesting.

But Shearer is confident his former club will recover, adding: ‘I don’t want to be too disrespectful to Ipswich but if you want a game so soon after you’ve taken a beating then you’d want a team in the relegation zone at home and they’ve got that Newcastle.

‘I thought everything Kieran Trippier said was right, they were beaten by the better team, they didn’t deserve anything, well done Aston Villa.

‘It’s been a tough time for them and they’ll move on but it is a great game to come back to. You just got to accept it.

‘They’ve had an unbelievable season and look at the big picture: They’ve won a trophy, they’re sat in third with five games left. They would have snapped your hands off for that at the beginning of the season.’

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