Former Arsenal midfielder and beloved Sky Sports’ Gillette Soccer Saturday pundit Paul Merson has predicted the 2026/27 Premier League top six, making several controversial claims ahead of the new campaign.

The Gunners will begin their title defence with a home match against newly promoted Coventry City on Friday night, while the rest of the traditional ‘big six’ will be going through periods of transition this term. Michael Carrick – having taken over at Manchester United in January – is the longest-serving manager among the expected chasing pack.

It means this season will be immensely difficult to predict, made all the more challenging by Chelsea and Tottenham’s incredible net spend after seasons in which they really struggled. Merson has given guesswork a shot, though, making huge claims about both Liverpool and the aforementioned Red Devils.

Paul Merson Rules Out Both Manchester Clubs in Premier League Title Race

Lee Smith via Reuters

Manchester City have finished below second in just two of the last 10 seasons, with their lowest finish being just third. However, with Pep Guardiola passing the baton to Enzo Maresca – and Rodri leaving the club for Barcelona – Merson believes the perennial champions could slump to fourth this time around.

He told the Metro, after tipping Arsenal to successfully retain their title with “nobody capable of touching them”: “After watching the Community Shield, I said the one thing Manchester City cannot do is sell Rodri. And they did it after the game.”

Similarly, Merson finds it hard to imagine a title challenge from United as they prepare for their first full season with Carrick in the Old Trafford cockpit. No team picked up more points than United in the league following his interim appointment in January, earning 39 points from his 17 games.

Merson fears that a lack of squad depth and the added pressures of Champions League football will take its toll on the Red Devils, predicting them to finish all the way down in sixth: “I just worry about Manchester United with Europe. We saw it last season at times – their squad is wafer thin.

REUTERS/Phil Noble

“If Bruno Fernandes got injured, then you’d really worry. And yes, they have Youri Tielemans in there but I don’t see a dominant midfield.

‘Manchester United will have their ups and downs – and I don’t expect them to be challengers. It’s too early for that.”

Where He Predicts Liverpool, Chelsea & Tottenham To Finish

Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

Instead of the Manchester clubs, Merson believes Liverpool will find an elixir to last season’s woes to become Arsenal’s biggest title challengers this coming term. If Andoni Iraola can get the best out of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, then the former Bournemouth managers has every chance of succeeding at Anfield.

In third, Chelsea’s spending is finally expected to pay dividends under the increasingly under-pressure Todd Boehly, whose rushed appointment of Liam Rosenior at the back-end of last season has ultimately led him to rethink his decision and instead hire Xabi Alonso this summer – one of the best managers in the world after he led Bayer Leverkusen to an unprecedented invincible Bundesliga season.

And, as for Tottenham, Merson has predicted them to finish fifth, which would be enough to see them climb 12 positions in the table to go from relegation candidates to a side that qualifies for the Champions League after splashing the cash to bring in the likes of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, and Jan Paul van Hecke.

FIFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against a 2026 World Cup nation following controversial comments made about Argentina.

A series of unfounded conspiracy theories over the Argentina national team gathered momentum on social media throughout this summer’s showpiece international tournament in North America.

FIFA and its match officials were accused of showing favouritism towards Argentina and its players, most notably its legendary captain Lionel Messi.

Messi was one of the stars of the tournament, despite turning 39 years old in June, but many fans and pundits alike claimed the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was fortunate to avoid a red card in Argentina’s opening group match against Algeria.

When further contentious decisions went in Argentina’s favour as the tournament progressed, conspiracy theories spiralled out of control.

Public opinion towards the 2022 World Cup winners subsequently plummeted, with fans even creating petitions in a desperate attempt to have Argentina kicked out of the tournament amid ‘corruption’ allegations.

Egypt Coaches and Players Reacted Badly to Argentina Defeat

REUTERS/Paul Childs

Egypt were on the verge of knocking Argentina out of the 2026 World Cup in the last 16 but a dramatic – and, again, controversial – comeback saw Messi and co. advance to the quarter-finals.

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan said after the match, per GOAL: “We were the better side today against Argentina, but football is not fair, and what happened was unjust, even though FIFA raises the banner of ‘fair play’.” He continued:

Star player Mustafa Ziko added: “Congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup. The tournament is rigged, the referee was unjust, from the start of the match he was against us, and he wasted the efforts of an entire nation. Were they going to let us beat Argentina 2-0? The tournament is rigged and congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup.”

While Hassan’s brother Ibrahim, Egypt’s team manager, said: “We were leading Argentina by two goals to nil, and we were capable of continuing the journey, had it not been for the glaring refereeing errors that everyone witnessed, which revealed the truth before the world, after we were knocked out by someone’s doing.”

Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s Chief Refereeing Officer, categorically denied Egypt’s ‘rigged’ accusations.

Egypt FA Confirm FIFA Have Opened Disciplinary Proceedings

REUTERS/Paul Childs

The Egyptian Football Association have now confirmed that FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Hassan brothers and Ziko.

A statement reads: “The Egyptian federation is following the disciplinary proceedings that the International Federation of Association Football has begun against Hossam Hassan, the national team’s head coach, Ibrahim Hassan, the team’s manager, and the player Mustafa Ziko, on the back of their statements after the Egypt v Argentina match at the 2026 World Cup.

“The federation affirms its respect for FIFA’s regulations and procedures, and the necessary responses and legal memoranda will be submitted within the specified deadlines, while confirming its support and backing for those concerned by the proceedings and the defence of the rights of Egyptian football, through official channels.”

The statement adds: “The federation also stresses its respect for the principles of fair play and the organising bodies, while retaining its full right to defend the interests of the technical staff and the players before the competent bodies at FIFA.”

Argentina reached the World Cup final but produced an underwhelming performance at the New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19 as Spain secured victory thanks to Ferran Torres’ extra-time winner.

Rangers are closing in on a deal to sign Girona forward Kim Min-Su as they prepare to trigger his release clause, according to The Athletic.

The Scottish Premiership side have had a very busy summer window so far with Derek McInnes replacing Danny Rohl as manager, and bringing in 11 new faces so far, including striker Lawrence Shankland and winger Daisuke Yokota.

But after losing Youssef Chermiti to a serious knee injury, plus seeing a deal for winger Couhaib Driouech collapse after he underwent a medical, the Ibrox side are now pushing ahead to get a deal done for an alternative option from La Liga.

According to a report by Jordan Campbell of The Athletic, Rangers are closing in on a deal worth around £8.5m for the South Korea international.

Girona are expecting the player’s release clause to be met in the coming days after Rangers had a bid of around €8m (£6.8m) rejected by the Spanish side. Girona are understood to be disappointed about losing the player, as they had planned for him to be a key player this season after a successful loan spell in 2025/26.

But Rangers are now looking to make him part of their squad for the new season, with the 20-year-old expected to sign a long-term contract.

Rangers have had a difficult start to their 2026/27 season, winning just two games in all competitions so far, but they have won their last two games and are now hoping to build some momentum ahead of an Old Firm double-header next month.

The Glasgow side will take on Czech size Jablonec in their next fixture in midweek in a Conference League qualifier, having won the first leg 1-0 on Thursday night despite seeing Cammy Devlin sent off in the second half.

Analyst Opinion: Min-Su ‘Exciting’ But Not Ready

via Reuters

Min-Su is an unknown commodity to many people in Scotland, but Rangers have clearly seen enough to make him a first-team signing and believe he can make an impact.

However, writing on his X account, analyst Kai Watson has shared his thoughts on the 20-year-old winger, and admitted that while the Korean is an ‘exciting prospect’, he isn’t sure that he’s ready to come in as an immediate starter at Ibrox.

“Min-su Kim looks like an exciting prospect with some great attributes,” he said.