Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Savage back Manchester United to finish fourth; Michael Owen backs Spurs

Manchester United are most likely to finish fourth in the Premier League and take the final Champions League qualifying space this season, according to Rio Ferdinand.

Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand, Michael Owen and Robbie Savage gave their predictions for the final Premier League table; Savage agreeing with Ferdinand, but Owen instead backing Antonio Conte's Tottenham to finish above the Red Devils.

And ex-United defender Ferdinand detailed why he feels his former side are best placed to grab fourth spot, naming their potency in attack as a key factor.

He said: 'There's always hope (for United). There's no one fighting for the top four who is standing out as the leading, consistent candidate, who can string five wins together or go unbeaten for 10 games. It's up for grabs.

'No one - Arsenal, West Ham, Man United, Spurs especially - can say they have consistent performances and results to stake a claim. They're all looking at each other going 'I don't know what they're going to do but I don't know what we're going to do either'.

'I think Man United will get there. They'll get the goals to win the right amount of games to keep them in the top four... but I can't be overly confident about that.

'Against Burnley it was a Jekyll and Hyde performance. They came out for the second half and looked a completely different team.'

Every pundit predicted the current top three of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea would remain the same, but their picks of the sides to finish from fourth to seventh varied widely.

Ferdinand went: Manchester United, Tottenham, West Ham, Arsenal; Savage plumped for: United, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham; and Owen chose: Tottenham, Manchester United, West Ham, Arsenal.

Savage added: 'I've gone for United to finish fourth - if they start (Cristiano) Ronaldo every week. (Liverpool forward Diogo) Jota is getting lots of praise, rightly so, 17 goals. Ronaldo's got 14 goals in a team that creates fewer chances.

'Where I think they'll struggle is with playing a high line like Liverpool. I don't think Manchester United can play a high line and win the ball high and press higher up because they're scared of the pace in behind.

'That is a big problem for Manchester United. If they want to implement (interim manager Ralf) Rangnick's style of pressing high and winning the ball in the final third, I think United might struggle.'

And ex-Red Devils striker Owen concluded: 'You can make a case for any (of those four sides finishing fourth). It could literally be any of them. I'm going to go for Tottenham if they keep their big players fit.

'(Striker Harry) Kane is starting to get back to the Kane of old, if they can keep Son fit... (manager Antonio) Conte looks like he's turning it around a little bit at Tottenham.

'It's a toss of a coin.  It's going to be a great race for fourth, it's going to keep us entertained. Let's hope the title race is open as well until the end of the season. Any of those four, I couldn't really argue but I'm just going to go with Tottenham'.