Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard believes his side will still have a chance of finishing in the top four when they host Cardiff City on the final day of the season. Lingard is holding on to this hope despite the horrid form his side has been in lately, and the precarious position that it has now put them.
In the nine games played across all competitions since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was named permanent manager, United have just two wins, one draw, six losses, and goal differential of -9. Chelsea currently sit fourth in the table, but they have a +8 goal differential advantage on United, meaning the Red Devils will need the Blues to drop points in both of their final two games.
Then you have fifth place Arsenal, who are one point ahead of United, but +7 on them in goal difference. United are going to need them to drop points too, if they are to have any hope at all on Championship Sunday. Lingard and company have certainly had their chances, but they just didn’t seize them.
The battle for the final UCL qualification slot has essentially been a hot potato- no one wants to take it, and United blew a golden opportunity last Sunday at home versus Chelsea.
“It’s a tough one, the four teams are so evenly matched as you can see, there’s only three points in it,” Lingard told Mirror Football.
“It’ll probably go right down to the final day – I wouldn’t want to say who will miss out, but it’ll be close I’ll give you that.”
If United don’t make it into the top four at the end, they really have no one to blame but themselves at this point.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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