Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has claimed that three different circumstances could open up the door for Manchester United to challenge for the Premier League title.
Manchester United currently have four Premier League matches remaining in the 2025-26 campaign and are mounting a challenge for a top-four finish.
The Red Devils are third in the Premier League table and are currently three points clear of both fourth-place Aston Villa and third-place Liverpool this season.
United are now widely tipped as one of the Premier League teams expected to secure a place in the Champions League competition for the 2026-27 campaign.
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Gary Neville explains the impact that the potential knock-on effects at Man City and Arsenal could have for Man Utd
Manchester United are currently 12 points adrift from Premier League leaders Arsenal, with only four matches remaining in the 2025-26 season at Old Trafford.
Second-place Manchester City have a match in hand over the Gunners and Pep Guardiola’s men are only three points behind Arsenal in the league title race.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Gary Neville insisted that Arsenal could be left “reeling” if City manage to snatch the Premier League trophy from them this season.
The United legend added that Pep Guardiola potentially leaving Man City or United’s rivals being hit with penalties from their 115 charges would benefit the Red Devils.
“However, I think it’ll come down to how this Arsenal team deal with winning or losing the league?” Neville asked.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen there. So, that could be a case of if they’ve won it, can they win it back-to-back? Difficult. If they haven’t won it, how are they going to recover and what’s going to happen there?
“And then the big question is here, two things: Pep Guardiola and the 115 charges. What’s going to happen with those charges? Are they going to get a big points deduction if they were to be found guilty of some of the more serious offences? So, they’re two big questions.
“If Manchester City were to get a big points deduction or Pep Guardiola leaves and you’ve got Arsenal, who are reeling from not winning it, I would say you’re in with the right chance.
“Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal [all] recruit well. Who recruits best out of those? So, for me, United have a little bit of an outside chance, but things have to go their way.”
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Gary Neville refuses to rule out a Premier League title challenge for Man Utd next season
The Red Devils have not lifted the Premier League title in over a decade and Man Utd’s last league triumph came under Sir Alex Ferguson in the 2012-13 campaign.
Neville suggested that Man Utd could still mount a Premier League title challenge next season, despite Ineos’ continued rebuild of the Red Devils at Old Trafford.
“No, I mean, look, why not? Liverpool aren’t ahead of them at the moment in the pecking order,” he said.
“Neither are Chelsea. Neither are Villa, but Manchester United haven’t had to cope with Champions League football or cup competitions this season. So, there’s a massive advantage there.”
Michael Carrick has been in charge at the Red Devils as interim manager since January after Ruben Amorim was sacked as Man Utd head coach.
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