Manchester United’s chances of clinching a Champions League spot this season are slim despite their resurgence under Erik ten Hag – if a supercomputer’s predictions are correct.
The Red Devils’ season got off to a terrible start with consecutive losses to Brighton and Brentford. But Ten Hag’s managed to turn things around starting with a 2-1 win over rivals Liverpool.
Since then, United have won all their matches in the Prem and in Europe, not even league leaders Arsenal were able to defeat Ten Hag’s troops when they last played in the top tier English division. United’s winning streak has been aided by the efforts of axed England pair Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho who have flourished under Ten Hag.
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The Red Devils occupy fifth spot in the league at the moment just behind Brighton in fourth. But fifth position is as good as it’s likely to get for United this season, according to FiveThirtyEight‘s prediction system.
The system, complied of statistics from ESPN, Opta and the Engsoccerdata GitHub repository, reckon the Red Devils have a paltry 25% chance of breaking into the top four. The projections mean United are the least likely out of the Prem’s ‘Big Six’ to obtain a spot in the elite European competition.
FiveThirtyEight calculate that only Brighton have less probability than United of getting a top four spot with 24%. The stats will come as a bitter blow to the Red Devils who are desperate to earn their place amongst Europe’s elite once again.
But it gets even worse for United as they’ve got only a 1% possibility of lifting the Prem title in this campaign, the supercomputer predicts. However, United fans can breathe a sigh of relief because FiveThirtyEight reckons the club getting relegated is just as unlikely.
Meanwhile, the system has high hopes for United’s neighbours City who it predicts has a 66% chance of retaining their Prem crown this season. While last season’s runners up Liverpool are on 15%, with Arsenal on 8%.
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United will have the chance to lessen City’s chances of winning the title and improve their own with a win over the Etihad giants on Sunday. A United victory will see them move within two points of their neighbours and give them bragging rights in the city.
The Red Devils have witnessed City’s rise to power in the last decade as their own dominance in the Prem has waned. And now it’s not only on the pitch that the Red Devils are lagging behind the Cityzens, as a new report shows Pep Guardiola’s side have leapfrogged United, Liverpool, and Barcelona to become the world’s second largest football brand – only behind Real Madrid in the rankings.
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