If you had to pick one word to describe Manchester United’s season, it would be inconsistent and certainly not the top pick. Although the team shows the ability to be strong and skilful, they have had a series of strange games, last where they should have won, and not performed at a level one would expect.

As we head towards the end of this season, they are sitting second in the Premier League, but it’s not going to be enough for them to overtake Manchester City and seal the deal?

Ten to Go

At the time of writing this article, they have 10 Premier League fixtures still to play, but they are sitting eleven points behind Manchester City, and it seems potentially that this is too big a gap to close.

Although that said, United did win their most recent game at the Etihad stadium, shaving three points of what would have otherwise been a 14-point lead.

It seems encouraging that this win was against top place City and saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team win with a 2-nil victory. Firstly, from a penalty by Bruno Fernandes and then a strike during the second half from Luke Shaw. This is the first defeat City had endured since their loss in November when they took on Tottenham.

The win also meant that Leicester City slipped back into third place and United took second, giving an impressive 22 unbeaten away games in a row for the team. Closing an 11-point gap in 10 games is still a pretty big ask; with City being such a powerful and successful team, it is unlikely they will lose all of their coming fixtures.

What Managers Think

After the game, both Pep Guardiola and Solskjaer gave their opinions; Guardiola said, ‘We won’t be in the news because we lost, but the news is 21 victories in a row. There are still 30 points to play, and we have to start to win again. That’s football.

Sometimes it happens.’ The Manchester United boss was not particularly optimistic about his chances. He said, ‘We just take one game at a time; City are too far ahead for us to think we can catch them. Last year we caught 15 points up on Leicester, but City is a different proposition.’

Other Rivals?

If the League can be won by anyone other than Manchester City, it is likely to be Manchester United. Although there are other closely scoring teams, Man City has 65 points, Man United 54 points, Leicester City 53 points, Chelsea 50 points, and West Ham 48; it would seem unlikely that any other team is strong enough in any position to be able to catch up.

Looking at the last five games, we already know that Man City had been on a winning streak until United beat them, but United have only won two of their previous five games and drawn the other three. This time of year places a lot of pressure on all the teams, as many are still involved in other Cup competitions.

READ ALSO: Premier League clubs given green light for return of fans

Manchester City continues their Champions League quest and is only halfway through, and also have a match to play in the FA Cup against Everton in the quarterfinals in March. To add even more pressure to the players and Pep Guardiola’s decision-making process, the Carabao Cup final will take place on Apr 25, where they will meet Tottenham at Wembley. The United team must face a two-legged Europa League run coming up against AC Milan in March, and they also have an FA Cup quarter-final, and they will meet Leicester.

Premier League Games

The remaining ten games for Manchester United in the English Premier League focus on other teams in the top half of the table. They play Liverpool, West Ham, and Leicester at home and they are going away to meet Spurs and Aston Villa. Their remaining games take place against Leeds, Burnley, Fulham, Wolves and Brighton.

All in all, four of these games are away, and six take place on home ground. Manchester City must also take on four teams who sit at the top of the table, and this is Villa, Chelsea, Everton and Leicester. They will also meet bottom half Southampton, Crystal Palace, Leeds, Fulham collar Newcastle and Brighton. Of their matches, only four are on home turf, and the remaining six are away. The full fixture list is as follows.

Man City                                                                                                              Man United

Mar 10: Southampton (H)                                                                            Mar 14: West Ham (H)

Mar 13: Fulham (A)                                                                                         Apr 3: Brighton (H)

Apr 3: Leicester City (A)                                                                                 Apr 10: Tottenham (A)

Apr 10: Leeds (H)                                                                                             Apr 17: Burnley (H)

Apr 17: Aston Villa (A)                                                                    Apr 24: Leeds (A)

May 1: Crystal Palace (A)                                                                              May 1: Liverpool (H)

May 8: Chelsea (H)                                                                                          May 8: Aston Villa (A)

May 12: Newcastle (A)                                                                  May 11: Leicester (H)

May 15: Brighton (A)                                                                                      May 15: Fulham (H)

May 23: Everton (H)                                                                                        May 23: Wolves (A)