I do believe there is a strong chance but we seem to be making hard work of it.

Prior to the start of the season, getting into top 4/5 (i.e Champions League positions), was a goal of all of ours. We want to see Europe's elite club competition back at Old Trafford for many reasons (one of which is that it brings a lotta money which the club needs) but we knew to get into it was going to be hard.

Or so we thought 👀.

Here's the top 10 at the moment:

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As you can see, United sit in a strong 7th above rivals Loserpool who by the way, in 2025, have lost more games (16) than United (15), just saying 🤷‍♂️.

Our 18 points is the same as Villa and Spurs with Tottenham sitting in that potential final Champions League spot of 5th. Those 18 points also means that United are just 4 points off 2nd. Those are the 4 points we just dropped and why I believe there is a chance.

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I know it's only 11 games in but just to see us in the top 4/5 at this point would've been a massive boost not to mention completely unforeseen and I can't help but feel that despite the improvements so far this season, we could've been a bit better and higher in the table.

When looking at some of our matches, there have been a few where we've left thinking what if?

We should've beaten Arsenal (+3 pts), should've beaten Fulham (+2 more pts as it was a draw), and then won these last two (+4 more points to what we have). 27 points would put us top of the league.

I know, I know I'm getting ahead of myself and this is all if, but's and maybe's but you can't help but think that should we have won these games, which we should've done, then we'd be in a far better position.

Yes you can look at needing late goals or oppositions hitting the post a couple of times in certain games to help prevent defeat as a way to balance the scales of these potential wins but it's more because of how we played and how those games panned out that leaves me thinking what could've been.

We were brilliant against Arsenal (David Raya was their man of the match), Cunha and Bruno should've scored early in the draw at Fulham which would've put us 3-0 up by the time they equalized, and we were leading these last two matches before having to rescue a point in the dying stages when really, all 3 is what we should've taken.

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But more than United cocking up, we've seen that there are quite a few teams who are inconsistent, teams we all thought would be a shoe-in for those CL spots.

It appears that the top 2 is set. Arsenal are 4 points clear at the summit and after their win over Liverpool, it's City who are their nearest rivals. United also lost to these two sides who are the two best teams we've faced.

Beyond them though, it's anybody's guess.

Chelsea are in 3rd but are hit and miss themselves (United did beat them too); while Sunderland have been brilliant, no one expects them to continue in this fashion (we beat them as well); Spurs are somehow 5th but we know they are very well, Spurs-y; Villa are looking dangerous with recent form so could be trouble; Liverpool look lost; and Bournemouth have gone down the table with two losses in a row.

The likes of Palace, Brentford, Brighton are all below United yet were teams that comfortably finished above us last season. Newcastle look to be in a spot of bother as well so those Champions League positions are there for the taking.

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We need to find some consistency to give us a real foothold in this race. We saw what winning three games in a row and being undefeated in five can do. Another run like that is required.

And we can get it.

Taking a look at our next five, three are at home, one is against bottom of the table Wolves and the other is arguably the hardest of this period with a trip to Palace. That might still be a very winnable game because before that, Oliver Glasner will see his side play on Thursday night in France. That quick turnaround and having to travel could play a part.

On paper, it looks easy but these are the type of sides that we hate playing against. Everton, Palace, West Ham, Wolves all play this defend-and-counter crap with most of their team behind the ball making it hard for us to break down. The last two games have shown us how much we struggle against such opponents so we really need to improve our style over the international break in order to be better for this run of matches. That will be difficult however, given that most of the squad will be playing for their countries yet we need to improve all the same.

I'm looking at those fixtures thinking that we should be winning at least four with only that Palace game being a tough one. With our home form being really strong, Everton, West Ham and Bournemouth should be 9 points.

Chelsea's next five league games includes a visit of Arsenal with an away trip to Bournemouth. Burnley (A), Leeds (A) and Everton (H) are the other three. In-between are two CL clashes with Barcelona and Atalanta which would make things difficult for them.

Three of Sunderland's next five sees them face Liverpool (A), City (A) and Newcastle (H) which are super difficult even if two of those sides are struggling. Fulham and Bournemouth are the other two matches.

Spurs next five:

• Arsenal (A)
• Fulham (H)
• Newcastle (A)
• Brentford (H)
• Forest (A)

Villa:

• Leeds (A)
• Wolves (H)
• Brighton (A)
• Arsenal (H)
• West Ham (A)

LFC:

• Forest (H)
• West Ham (A)
• Sunderland (H)
• Leeds (A)
• Brighton (H)

These are our closest rivals to top 4/5 and other than Sunderland, all of them are playing in Europe. Villa's run of fixtures are the only set that looks easy (other than Arsenal).

The fixture difficulty is also in our favour as none of our next five opponents are in the red zone (hard) whereas the others have at least one hard game.

The next five could really put us in the driving seat if we take our chance.

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And we'll need to because the AFCON starts on December 21st with players expected to join their nations 2 weeks prior. This would mean losing all of Amad, Mbeumo and Mazraoui in the first week of December which would be just before the Wolves game. Should any of the Ivory Coast, Cameroon or Morocco (or two of them) reach the final to be played on 18 January, it would mean that United won't have these players feature in the return derby on 17 January.

This is why it's paramount to make the most of these next five fixtures although our African trio will miss the trip to Wolves and visit of Bournemouth (we should be beating Wolves anyway). Amad and Mbeumo are going to be HUGE losses.

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I know this is very suspect because it's trying to predict the future with a side that is unpredictable but if we really want to achieve that goal of getting into next season's Champions League, then this is the type of shit we'll need to do in order to see where we are in the next five games.

If we can somehow get 13 points from those matches, I believe we'll be in that top 4. I don't think the others have as easy a run as us and some of them play each other meaning that points will be dropped.

Perhaps there's a chance if all goes well, that we win all five and get that lad a haircut.

What do y'all think? Am I looking too far ahead? Am I getting too ahead of myself? Is there a chance to qualify for the CL given how this season is going?

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Ruben Amorim | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)