Gary Neville predicts Premier League's top five - and snubs 'story of the season'

Gary Neville has hailed Nottingham Forest's rise as the "story of the season" in the Premier League, but doesn't expect Nuno Espirito Santo to lead his side into the Champions League.

The Premier League is highly likely to have a fifth Champions League spot this season after three Italian sides fell by the wayside during the competition's knockout play-offs this term. Forest currently sit third, but a congested top half of the table could change a lot between now and May.

Forest were beaten 4-3 by Newcastle on Sunday, allowing Eddie Howe's side to close to within three points of Nuno's men. Newcastle remain fifth, behind Manchester City on goal difference, and another defeat for Forest against Arsenal in midweek could see their rivals pounce.

Bournemouth and Chelsea are just four points behind Forest, with Aston Villa another point further back after playing one game more. And it's Villa who Neville expects to take the final Champions League spot - behind City and Newcastle - if the magic number does indeed go from four to five.

"I think Nottingham Forest have been absolutely amazing, the story of the season. But they’ll find it hard to hang on," Neville said on the Gary Neville Podcast. "I hope they hang on in there but my feeling is it’s going to be tough for them to hang on in there.

"I think City, Villa, Newcastle and Chelsea might just [pip Forest]. Yes, 12 games is a long way to go... but I still feel like it could be a long 12 games for Nottingham Forest.

‘"I hope that they do stay there because that would be amazing for the Premier League. We need to see clubs that have been at the bottom one season getting up into the top six and the top four. That’s what we need, what the league needs."

Will Nottingham Forest qualify for the Champions League? Have your say in the comments section

Villa themselves were a new addition to the Champions League contingent this season, though - their first appearance in the competition and just their second in Europe at all since winning promotion back to the top tier in 2019. Neville hasn't ruled out Forest following suit and securing a Champions League spot for the first time since the competition's 1992 rebrand, but believes they will be narrowly pipped.

"We’re worried at the moment about the fact that the three that come up go down quite a bit and we don’t want that familiarity and predictability in the league," he added. "We need it to be the most unpredictable league in the world.

"There’s a long way to go. Chelsea, I’m 50-50. At the moment I’m saying City, Newcastle and Villa in the top five but it could easily be Forest and Chelsea. I think it’s really so close. [Bournemouth] have been amazing but I don't think they'll get into that top five."

Newcastle's victory over Forest on Sunday owed everything to a 15-minute period in the first half in which they scored four times. Forest boss Nuno was pleased with his team's reaction, but admitted they gave themselves too much to do.

"First half Newcastle were better. Second half, us better. And the goals proved that," the former Wolves boss told Match of the Day. "There is no explanation [to the first half] we have to wait and see.

"It was a big gap to to try and recover from. The reaction was very good. We gave it our all and we created a lot of chances against Newcastle and believed we could win the game.

"The reaction was good, I think the team was more recognisable. We played good and were positive going forward. This pleased me the most. I wish it was 10 minutes [added on] to get [the equaliser]. We were in a good moment."

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