With nine games to go, we assess the Premier League teams behind Arsenal and Manchester City who are most likely to fill the remaining berths
Reasons for optimism: Michael Carrick recently professed himself as “definitely a glass half-full” manager so the interim surely looks at the final nine games and sees a huge opportunity. Particularly positive here are the fixtures with Aston Villa (Sunday), Chelsea (18 April) and Liverpool (2 May): three chances for Manchester United to seriously damage the Champions League qualification prospects of the three teams currently directly below them and enhance their own. Carrick’s men are third but only three points above Liverpool in sixth and, with fifth probably enough for a Champions League berth, beating even one of the three would be a big boost to hopes – provided results are rosy in United’s other fixtures.
Causes for caution: Could the flaky mid-winter form that was a factor in Ruben Amorim’s January sacking return to plague United at precisely the wrong time? There can be zero certainty it will not, so we are about to discover the robustness of the Carrick project and how equipped the callow 44-year-old is for the intense demand of a tilt at Champions League qualification. After his first defeat as United’s head coach in the most recent game, at Newcastle, Carrick will receive his first experience of the sharp end of managing a club when the stakes are high should his team go down again against Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday. A measured demeanour suggests he will not crumble but Carrick is about to be seriously tested. Jamie Jackson
