‘If Man Utd stay above Villa, Champions League football will return’

[Getty Images]

With 10 games of the Premier League season left, there is a growing narrative that Manchester United are the ‘favourites’ in the ongoing top-five race.

That prospect did not even exist just two months ago when Michael Carrick took charge.

Advertisement

Now, I refuse to believe that United are favourites in a battle against Champions League stalwarts Chelsea and Premier League champions Liverpool.

However, Sunday’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace put the Red Devils into pole position. Third in the Premier League for the first time since 2023.

And that, as well as the events of two nights prior, confirmed something for me. United’s path to a Champions League return is not what we thought it was. That’s where Aston Villa come into it.

For months, it has been believed that Villa, along with Arsenal and Manchester City, were the untouchable top three.

Advertisement

That was a fair presumption, given Unai Emery’s men were 11 points ahead of United when Carrick arrived.

The debate has been over who will miss out in sixth between United, Liverpool and Chelsea. But it feels like the route has become less daunting.

I am now confident in saying that if United can stay above Villa, regardless of how Chelsea and Liverpool fare, Champions League football will return to M16.

After winning a stunning 12 games out of 13 to propel themselves into the conversation, Villa have just three victories in their past 10.

All season, xG merchants have been telling us that Villa are wildly over-performing based on the quality of the chances they create.

Advertisement

The number of matches they were winning by just one goal suggested the same. It is now levelling itself out, and United are capitalising.

There will come a point when Emery can’t stop the rot in the Premier League and all focus turns towards the Europa League.

Not only is the prize silverware, but also Champions League football. That will work massively in Europe-less United’s favour.

Right now, United are above all three rivals, and it’s hard to imagine Villa, at least, reclaiming their advantage come May.

Find more from Alex Turk at Turk Talks FC



Source link

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Related Article

Is PayPal Stock a Value or a Value Trap?

PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) is one of the most divisive stocks in the market. The stock of the payments processor trades at a dirt cheap valuation, with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just over 9.5 times 2027 analyst estimates and a free cash flow yield approaching 13%. Meanwhile, the company has rebuffed recent acquisition bids,

Fed Rate Decision: What Markets and Bitcoin Traders Can Expect

In brief The Fed announces its decision at 2 p.m. ET with Chair Kevin Warsh’s press conference to follow, and futures and prediction markets put the odds of a hold above 90%. The target range sits at 3.75%-4.00% after September’s 12-0 hike, with September inflation at 3.7% and oil near $100 a barrel. Markets give

2 Warren Buffett Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks That Could Soar Even if the Stock Market Crashes in 2027

Companies developing advanced semiconductors, building data centers, and creating artificial intelligence (AI) applications are attracting historic levels of investment capital. However, some valuation indicators suggest that investors might be getting carried away. The Shiller cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (CAPE) ratio, which compares stock prices to average inflation-adjusted earnings over the previous 10 years, currently stands around

Stock Market: Will S&P 500 Open Up or Down Today?

Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. View more earnings on SPY U.S. stock futures are mixed early Thursday as Wall Street navigates a tech-led pullback, critical PCE inflation data, and retreating oil prices amid renewed diplomatic hopes in the Middle East. Thursday follows the

In the 20th century mass layoffs severed the bonds of goodwill between ordinary workers and corporations. (Unsplash)

Weil’s collapse and the death of corporate loyalty

And just like that, an institution that existed at the apex of corporate America for nearly a century is more or less finished. Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a firm of lawyers, has suffered what can only be described as a run on the bank. In the 20th century mass layoffs severed the bonds of goodwill

People Around The World Say You Should Never, Ever Visit These Cities

People around the world shared these 76 places they deem the scariest, darkest, and most unsettling. You might wanna add these to your anti-bucket list: Hey, you! Have you visited or passed through a city, town, or other place that was so eerie, you won’t ever forget it? Tell us about it in the comments

What Robinhood’s CFO found interesting about Anthropic’s IPO prospectus

Seemingly, everyone is digging into Anthropic’s (ANTH.PVT) IPO prospectus this week, even other C-suite execs like Robinhood (HOOD) CFO Shiv Verma. “I have gone through it. The growth rates are pretty incredible, … up 1,300% year over year, I can’t recall seeing another company doing that well,” Verma said on Yahoo Finance about what caught

Daily Market Price Updates and Commentary 28th October 2026

  ICE Futures U.S. Sugar No.11 Contract Settlement (cUS$/lb) Open High Low Last Volume O/I Life High Life Low Mar27 19.34 0.14 ▲ 19.31 19.51 19.20 19.36 76,698 631,635 21.29 14.42 May27 18.81 0.17 ▲ 18.78 18.96 18.65 18.83 44,924 195,442 20.40 14.29 Jul27 18.42 0.17 ▲ 18.38 18.54 18.26 18.43 21,622 156,280 19.81 14.27

Anthropic IPO: What investors should know

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic filed an S-1 prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, indicating it will go public in the near future. The five-year-old company behind AI assistant Claude is expected to be one of the biggest initial public offerings in history. It could take the top spot if it exceeds SpaceX’s

Oracle stock soars as it promises the AI spending will start paying for itself

For months, investors have asked how Oracle (ORCL) would pay for its AI build-out. On Wednesday the company put numbers on it, and the stock had its best day since May. Shares closed up about 11% at about $144 Wednesday, adding more than $40 billion in market value, as the company laid out new financial

Google stock plunges as Q3 sales fall short of expectations

Google (GOOG, GOOGL) reported its third quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, missing revenue projections on lower-than-anticipated advertising sales, despite Google Cloud growth of 103%. Google saw earnings per share (EPS) of $2.12 on revenue of 127.58 billion. Analysts were looking for EPS of $3.01 on revenue of $127.93 billion. Revenue excluding traffic acquisition

Microsoft Stocks Edge Higher Ahead of First Results Under New AI Reporting

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) faces a familiar earnings test tonight: can its AI push deliver enough growth to justify the spending? Shares traded at $530.37, down 0.18%, at 9:55 a.m. ET on October 28. The company’s earnings preview puts Azure and investment costs in focus, but investors also have new reporting

Applied Digital Insiders Just Bought More Shares. Should You Join Them?

Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) insiders have been buying the dip as the artificial intelligence (AI) stock continues to slide. The company’s CEO and president bought a combined $6.7 million worth of shares on Oct. 16. Despite the insider buying, Applied Digital is down by more than 30% over the past month. No doubt, sentiment around

New York City police officers are on duty outside the Lotte Palace Hotel during a United Nations General Assembly leaders reception, late Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Putin Woos African Leaders, Says Russia a Better Partner Than ‘Colonial’ West

MOSCOW, Oct 28 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin told African leaders on Wednesday ⁠that ⁠Russia was their best partner, accusing ⁠what he cast as a colonial West of still trying to exploit the continent’s resources ​and using debt to hold back development.   Putin was speaking at the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, a two-day event

A UK charity collected 88,544 unwanted Christmas trees and recycled them into mulch, biomass and other uses, while the 2026 campaign raised £1.88 million for charities and helped support local communities

A UK charity collected 88,544 unwanted Christmas trees and recycled them into mulch, biomass and other uses, while the 2026 campaign raised £1.88 million for charities and helped support local communities

A UK charity collected 88,544 unwanted real Christmas trees after the festive season. It turned them into reusable mulch, biomass and land management products. The effort also raised a record £1,885,915 for local causes. Just Helping, the national group behind the yearly Big Christmas TreeCycle Appeal, confirmed in its 2026 impact report that this was

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x