Alan Shearer names TWO teams who he thinks will miss out on Champions League qualification

Alan Shearer has picked the two Premier League teams he thinks will fail to qualify for the Champions League as the battle for the top five heats up.

With just five games left for most clubs, there is still plenty to play for at the top of the Premier League table this season.

While Liverpool all but guaranteed to take home the title, just nine points currently separate Aston Villa, who are seventh, and second-placed Arsenal meaning that there are still six clubs who will believe they have a chance to qualify for the Champions League.

Due to England's UEFA coefficient rating, at least five Premier League sides will qualify for the elite European competition, and popular pundit Shearer is pretty sure he knows exactly which clubs are going to miss out.

Barring a fairly spectacular collapse at the end of the season, it's safe to assume that, alongside Liverpool, Arsenal will take one of the five Champions League spots up for grabs in the Premier League this season.

But with Newcastle United in third and just two points ahead of Aston Villa following the Birmingham club's win over the Geordies last weekend, the remaining three places are still very much up for grabs.

Reigning champions Manchester City, Chelsea and a high-flying Nottingham Forest team will all fancy their chances of picking up one of those spots, but Shearer thinks only one of these three sides will make it.

Writing for BBC Sport, the Newcastle legend revealed: "As I said on MOTD2, right now my guess would be that maybe Chelsea and Forest will be the teams who miss out - but that situation could change very quickly.

"There will be ups and downs for all five clubs involved but they have all got valid reasons for thinking they can and will make it.

"They all have the same incentive too - getting in the Champions League, or not, is massive because of the financial rewards it brings."

Ollie Watkins scored the opening goal during Aston Villa's 4-1 win over Newcastle United. (Image: Getty)

Despite pointing out that Premier league fixtures will become increasingly hard to predict as some teams will no longer have anything to play for, Shearer believes that Chelsea's run-in until the end of the season could hold them back.

He added: "Even with that in mind, though, I still look at Chelsea's fixtures as being among the toughest, just because they have got to travel to two of their rivals, Newcastle and Forest, as part of their run-in."

Shearer also noted that a dip in form for stars like Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer will no doubt hold Enzo Maresca's side back in their hopes for Champions League football.

While he argued that City, Villa and Newcastle will finish ahead of Forest simply due to the experience and desire of clubs of their size.