Gary Neville has revealed one “massive advantage” his former club Manchester United have over their Premier League rivals in the race for a Champions League spot this season.
Manchester United look like they have finally started to find form this season, with the Reds winning three consecutive games in the Premier League.
After some initial struggles this term, which piled the pressure on Ruben Amorim, United have taken steps in the right direction with victories over Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton.
The win at Anfield earlier this month was a standout moment but providing another impressive performance and result against The Seagulls after that game might have been even more significant for Amorim’s side.
We have seen over the last year that United can turn up in the big games but then switch off in the so-called smaller clashes. That did not occur against Brighton.
Next up United travel to play Nottingham Forest, where they will face newly appointed Sean Dyche and the in-form Reds will be searching for another three points.
Neville reveals “massive advantage” United have over rivals
Following on from the latest win, United have found themselves sixth in the Premier League table and just two points away from Bournemouth in second.
All of a sudden, the prospect of finishing in the top five and getting Champions League football for next season doesn’t seem like an outrageous possibility.
Gary Neville predicted his former club to finish in the top four before the season started and while he admits that he was almost joking at the time, he now believes it is a serious possibility.
One reason the ex-defender believes this is because of United’s lack of European football this term. He suggests that the Reds have a ‘massive advantage’ over rivals who will be playing midweek fixtures for the majority of the campaign.
“I said at the start of the season that I thought United would finish in the top four, but that was just me being me on Monday Night Football with Carragher, I didn’t actually think they would finish in the top four. I actually thought it would be fifth, sixth or seventh,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“But the way in which this season is panning out, the free weeks that they’ve got to prepare for every game is a massive advantage, to be able to get everyone ready and keep everyone fit.”
United must keep working hard
The lack of midweek football is something that will play in United’s favour, especially when the season goes past January and other teams around them are playing seven or eight games in one month.
If there is one thing that Amorim has done with this United team, it is making them improve physically and that will be partly due to the fact they can purely focus on the league.
United need to be in a position where they can compete on four different fronts without sacrificing anything, but for the meantime, they don’t have to worry about that.
Amorim’s side do have an advantage over some of their competitors who are playing in Europe, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to keep working tirelessly to improve, otherwise they certainly won’t finish in those Champions League spots.
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