With Chelsea already looking odds on favourites for the title and Manchester City looking like the closest contenders, it already looks as though it is going to be a two-horse race for the title. What that also means is that there is only two more Champions League spots. Two spots, that is likely to be closely contested between Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.
For all the talk of injuries, crisis and bad results, Manchester United are still in fourth place in the Premier League, while Arsenal, a side who supposedly had a better start to the season than United are currently eighth on the table. The Red Devils have won three of their last four games and are starting to look like a side who can mount a serious challenge for a Champions League spot. They look considerably stronger than their biggest challenge Arsenal and here are three reasons why the Red Devils will finish above the Gunners in the Premier League.
1. Lack of defensive reinforcement (Arsenal)
So far this season, both Arsenal and Manchester United have been hard hit by a defensive injury crisis. Both clubs have had their key defenders already miss large chunks of the season already, but the big difference is that while Manchester United have continually unearthed youngsters from the academy to take someone’s place, the Gunners have been unable to do something similar and have had to rely on the versatility of their fit defenders, to do the job.
Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair, two youngsters that not many would have heard about outside the club are now known the world over. Even with the injuries to Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling, the club’s only senior central defenders at the start of the season, the Red Devils have looked alright. On the other hand, Laurent Koscielny’s injury means that the Gunners now have just three fit senior defenders. Unfortunately for Arsene Wenger, having started the season with just six senior defenders, he is down to his bare bones and that is another reason why the Gunners will struggle to finish above United this time around.