Can Manchester United Finish In The Premier League Top Four?

After Manchester United’s intensely disappointing 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid that saw them knocked out of the Champions League last week the club have an 18-day wait before they are in action again.

Liverpool’s involvement in the FA Cup quarter-finals has meant their trip to Anfield this weekend has been postponed until next month, while the following weekend is the first international break of the year.

It has given United an unexpectedly long time to reflect upon what has been an incredibly underwhelming and dispiriting season.

It had started with high hopes United could stage their first challenge for the Premier League title in nearly a decade, but is ending with the rather less exciting challenge of simply finishing inside the top four.

With no game this weekend, United’s players and staff were given time off, and have scattered across the globe to enjoy a holiday.

But most of them would have still been checking their phones, or even watching live on television, to see the result of Arsenal’s trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.

They would have been disappointed to see the north London side secure a 1-0 win to extend their lead over United in the table and greatly enhance their own hopes of being in the top four at the end of the season.

At the moment Arsenal sit fourth with a four-point lead over United in fifth place, and crucially also have a game in hand.

United’s hopes of finishing in the top four and securing Champions League football are slipping away, but they have not completely disappeared.

There are still 27 points available to win over the course of their remaining nine games, but they need to quickly find the consistency that has eluded them so far.

Their next three fixtures are against Leicester City at home, relegation threatened Everton away, and bottom of the table Norwich City at home.

To stand a chance of forcing their way into the top four it would appear United need to win all three of these games, as their following two fixtures are the rearranged one at Liverpool, and a trip to Arsenal.

On April 23, United will travel to north London to face Arsenal in what could prove to be a classic six-point game, and pivotal to the race for the top four.

If United have collected at least nine points from their four games before this clash, and Arsenal have dropped points over the same period, it could be a game with huge consequences for both their seasons.

However, the fear for United is that when they get to this game they could have fallen too far behind Arsenal, and it is rendered almost meaningless.

Three of United’s final four games appear eminently winnable, against Brentford, Brighton, and Crystal Palace, and then there is Chelsea’s visit to Old Trafford.

Arsenal have their fair share of winnable games as well, but United will be hoping they can falter in difficult London derbies against Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham.

For all the talk of Arsenal’s momentum, both teams are in similar runs of form, with the London side taking 22 points from their last 10 games, and United taking 19 points over the same period.

A lot will now depend on how United come back from their 18-day break and react to the disappointment of being knocked out of the Champions League.

Can United’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick inspire his players to finish the season with a winning run, or will they be unable to break free of the problems that have plagued them all season?