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Manchester United blow Champions League opportunity

Manchester United blow Champions League opportunity

Manchester United had the perfect opportunity to overhaul rivals Manchester City in the race for fourth spot as they travelled to West Ham. Unfortunately for United West Ham are in pretty good form themselves and were determined to leave their home the Boleyn Ground with a win.

Slaven Bilic’s side did just that with an enthralling 3-2 win. The win means that the Irons can finish as high as fifth in the Premier League this season. The side from the east end have enjoyed a very good season and will be ruing the fact that they could have made the top four with one or two more wins this season.

United can still make the top four and secure Champions League football for next season, but they now need to defeat Bournemouth and hope that City lose at Swansea. City are only two points ahead of Louis van Gaal’s men, but have a far better goal difference.

The Red Devils had their golden opportunity of landing that lucrative top-four spot, but seems to have now thrown it away. There is the possibility that City could slip-up at Swansea, as Manuel Pellegrini’s side have been highly-inconsistent.

However, the odds are against a City defeat and United may still make the Champions League. A fourth-place finish would help Van Gaal keep his job, after months of speculation linking Jose Mourinho with the hot seat at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils are considered to have underachieved under Van Gaal, as the veteran boss has spent heavily in his tenure at the club. His development of some of the young Red Devils players has bought the former-Ajax boss some time, but failure to claim a Champions League spot could well mean the end of the Dutchman at Old Trafford.

Premier League
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Arsenal 77 34 24 5 5 56
2
Liverpool 74 34 22 8 4 41
3
Manchester City 73 32 22 7 3 44
4
Aston Villa 66 34 20 6 8 21
5
Tottenham 60 32 18 6 8 16
6
Manchester United 53 33 16 5 12 1
7
Newcastle United 50 33 15 5 13 15
8
West Ham 48 34 13 9 12 -9
9
Chelsea 47 32 13 8 11 4
10
Bournemouth 45 34 12 9 13 -11
11
Brighton 44 32 11 11 10 2
12
Wolverhampton 43 34 12 7 15 -8
13
Fulham 42 34 12 6 16 -4
14
Crystal Palace 39 34 10 9 15 -12
15
Brentford 35 34 9 8 17 -7
16
Everton 33 34 11 8 15 -12
17
Nottingham Forest 26 34 7 9 18 -18
18
Luton Town 25 34 6 7 21 -28
19
Burnley 23 34 5 8 21 -32
20
Sheffield United 16 34 3 7 24 -59

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