Manchester United edged past Luton Town in the Premier League thanks to two goals from Rasmus Hojlund.
Erik ten Hag‘s Manchester United side remains unbeaten in 2024, carrying on a hot streak of games with a well-fought-out victory at Kenilworth Road.
The victory means United now sit just two points away from Tottenham Hotspur in 5th, and five off the Champions League spots.
Will Manchester United get top four by the end of the season? The manager and Gary Neville give their verdicts.
Erik ten Hag and Gary Neville on Champions League spot
Speaking straight after the game with Sky Sports, upon being asked about the chances of a top-four finish by the end of the season, Ten Hag said the following:
“I think we are back in the race and we are building momentum. We need to build pressure. Every game is a final to get closer to them.”
Manchester United legend Gary Neville also spoke with Sky Sports before the game. His answer was a little more concrete than the Dutchman’s.
“They can do it, definitely,” Neville begins. “They can go three points behind Spurs today [Sunday]. Spurs play Villa in a couple of weeks.
“I know United play City, but United need six points from these two matches – Luton and Fulham. They cannot make any mistakes in these two games.
“There is still a long way to go for United, they still have a lot of work to do. But travelling from Manchester this morning, looking at that league table and thinking about what United have got coming forward and the fact they have got a lot of their players fit, there is a lot more optimism about whether United can finish in the Champions League places.
“If I was looking at it today, I would probably say, ‘Yes, they’ll sneak into that fifth/fourth place’. They have got to be consistent and they haven’t been that over this season. But just in the last few weeks, there have been signs that it is starting to happen a little bit.”
Will Manchester United get Champions League football?
Our verdict – entirely unknown. But there only appears to be one way into the top four, and that’s if Aston Villa drop out.
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City look certainties, so it seems Villa, Tottenham and United will fight it out for that last spot.
Our form has come at the right time that’s for sure – but now it’s just a case of keeping it up.
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