Manchester United are creating themselves problems again. After some decent run of results, they not only crashed out of Europa League way too easily, they also blew a lead against Tottenham Hotspur and lost consecutive matches away from home – against Brighton and West Ham. This is reminiscent of some of the past seasons – whenever the Premier League run-in starts, the team’s form dips considerably and poor results keep coming. Last season, United won two of their last nine league matches. The year before that, things were much better as United finished second, but they still won four points in their last four games. In 2018-19, there were also mere two wins in the last nine games, none of which came in the final five games.
So now that something similar is threatening to happen again, Manchester United are not in a position to be relaxed. With four games to play, they are just one point above Liverpool and still in the fourth place. Sure, the Merseyside rivals have only three matches left to play, but Jurgen Klopp’s side is in on the rise, with six consecutive wins and before that, the two draws they had were against Chelsea and Arsenal. United cannot let this one slip up, and considering the situation they are in right now, Erik Ten Hag’s side still has everything in their hands.
Man United Schedule
First of the four remaining matches for Man United will be at home against Wolves this coming Saturday. That will be a hugely important match, especially considering United’s poor results away from home, with just two league wins in 2023 outside of Old Trafford. That poor run will be tested on 20 May against Bournemouth, where United will travel, before two tricky matches afterwards.
On 25 May, Chelsea will be coming to Manchester and although they are in incredibly poor form and complete chaos reigns over the club, they are still a team with a number of high quality players. They are underperforming massively, but that is exactly why they should not underestimated. And after Chelsea, United will host Fulham, who are having a much better season than many have predicted.
Liverpool Schedule
Liverpool will try to win all nine points and hope United will have more than one slip up before the season ends. First, on 15 May, they will travel to Leicester, to face a team that is in big trouble, currently sitting in relegation zone, two points away from safety. Five days later, Liverpool will host Aston Villa, who were on the hottest run in the league for a while, but have now lost to United and Wolves. And on the final day of the season, Liverpool will play Southampton, which seems destined to be a farewell match for the Saints, who are the closest team to getting relegated to the Championship.
Looking overall, Man United are still in a good position to qualify for Champions League, which would be especially nice to happen at the expense of Liverpool.
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