Rio Ferdinand is involved in heated on-air debate with Jermaine Jenas after being accused of showing ‘bias’ towards Man United: ‘Why are you questioning me?!’

Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas were involved in a heated on-air exchange after the former Manchester United defender tipped the Red Devils to finish in the top four this season.

United have lost eight of their 19 league games this season and currently sit seventh in the table, but staged an impressive comeback to beat Aston Villa 3-2 on Tuesday evening.

Midway through the season, Ferdinand and Jenas were asked to make their top four predictions and Jenas picked Manchester City to win the title again, with Arsenal finishing second, Liverpool third and Aston Villa finishing fourth.

But Ferdinand was having none of it and backed United – who lost at Nottingham Forest on Saturday – to regain a place in the Champions League, even hinting it might not be that difficult for them.

“Who said you had to sneak in?” I think Manchester United will be there [top four]', Ferdinand said to TNT Sports on Saturday afternoon after Chelsea's 3-2 win over Luton.

'I do not think so [INEOS] will have some influence on it at the moment as they will have no influence on the next transfer window. They will be observers, watching and seeing what is going on and the big challenges behind the scenes that they can then change.

'But I think Manchester United have had one of the most injury-ridden teams this season. A lot of those players will be back in January and I think they will have a big impact on this team.

'Manchester United are still in touch and with a bigger squad back playing and getting results, hopefully they will be back in the top four.'

Jenas was surprised by Ferdinand's claim as he was critical of his former club, especially after they crashed out of Europe earlier this month.

Man United recorded an impressive win against Aston Villa on Tuesday, but have had a difficult first half of the season, with the latest low point being a 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest.

He responded by asking Ferdinand, “Do you believe this?” Do you really believe what you say?' when making his own prediction he had not even considered United as contenders for a top four finish.

This clearly irritated Ferdinand, who hit back: “Yes, why are you interrogating me?”

Jenas continued to fluster Ferdinand by saying: 'Because I remember you having a meltdown at Fulham. Mine was legit. I just don't think I had a biased character with mine.

'I think United's cry is crazy. I've seen meltdown after meltdown over United all year and now you put them in the top four?'

Ferdinand did not back down and even suggested United could finish as high as third.

'I go up and down with them like a yo-yo, really. I am and I admit it and I love it, right,” he explained.

'If Manchester United finish fourth and don't win a trophy, which is very likely, it's an okay season… Oh, they're in there, they'll bounce in there. Maybe they'll finish third.'

As the awkward exchange unfolded, presenter Jules Breach looked on, before TNT Sports cut back to on-field interviewer Lynsey Hipgrave, who joked: “I hate to get in the way of your argument, but send the boys over here and I'll doing it.' make sure I'm in the middle and we'll get this show on the road.”

She then asked if the couple was okay, to which Ferdinand replied, “Yes, we are fine.” Well, we'll see the end of the season, won't we?'