Jamie Carragher believes that Manchester United will have a fight to finish in the top four

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher believes Manchester United are in a fight to finish in the top four with how Newcastle United are playing.

After a lean period, Newcastle have won their last two games, putting themselves back in the driving seat to compete for the Champions League spots.

The current table situation has United third with 50 points, but the Magpies are only three points behind them in the fifth spot. The first league game for both after the international is against each other at St. James’ Park.

Here’s what Carragher said regarding that game and United’s fight in the league (h/t Daily Mail):

“What that result [Newcastle beating Nottingham Forest] does is it brings Manchester United into the pack in terms of the top four positions.

“I think for a long time we’ve felt that Manchester United were guaranteed to be in the top four. Gary [Neville] even went as far to say they’d finish second – but now it looks like they’re in a real fight to be in the top four, especially with Newcastle playing Manchester United next.”

While we can take an opinion of a Liverpool player with a pinch of salt, he does have a point. Erik ten Hag’s men have won only one point from their previous two league games (a defeat to Liverpool and a draw at home to Southampton).

With no league game this weekend due to United’s FA Cup tie against Fulham, the next game in this competition is against the Magpies away from home after the international break.

A win for Eddie Howe’s men puts them ahead of the Red Devils. If that happens, it would bring the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur into contention to fight for fourth position and rattle our cage.

So, while things looked comfortable on this front a few weeks ago, it has become tricky now, especially with the upcoming fixture. We have to remember that United play Spurs away from home as well later on.

More Manchester United News:

• Mason Mount appoints new agent and ‘set to leave’ Chelsea amidst Manchester United links
• Erik ten Hag feels Facundo Pellistri performed well in full debut for Manchester United vs Real Betis
• Manchester United ‘willing’ to swap Victor Lindelof for Inter Milan full-back Denzel Dumfries

For now, let’s hope that the players come back from their international games fit and healthy. That is the first step to potentially having a special last part of this season.