'One of them two will win it' - Paul Merson names his picks for Champions League winner

Paul Merson is backing Chelsea or Liverpool to win the Champions League this season.

With Chelsea beating Lille 2-0 in the first leg and Liverpool overcoming Inter Milan by the same score line, both English sides are on course to progress to the quarter-finals.

Manchester United and Manchester City are also still in the competition with Pep Guardiola’s side putting five past Sporting Lisbon in their first-leg match last month.

But former Gunner Merson is backing Sunday’s two Carabao Cup finalists to go all the way in the Champions League due to their solid defences.

‘I watched the game on Sunday and those two are not going to be a million miles away from winning the Champions League,’ he told Sky Sports.

‘They have got the best two defences in Europe and if you want to win Champions League football over two legs, you need to keep clean sheets.

‘I think those teams have the ammunition going forward. People will say, “well, it was a 0-0”, but it was not a 0-0 game was it? It was outstanding.

‘Great goalkeeping, great defending, good centre-forward play. Not great finishing, but it just showed me that both teams are bang in there for the Champions League.

‘One of them two [will win it]. They are so good at the back. I watch Man City and they will give you a chance.

‘I think Liverpool have got more chance of winning the Champions League than the Premier League.

‘They can lose three more matches in the Champions League and still win it, but if they lose three Premier League games they have got no chance. They have got no leeway in the Premier League.’

Liverpool’s second leg against Inter Milan takes place on March 8 while Chelsea travel to Lille on March 16.

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