Why Man Utd should be back in title race by March

Carlo Garganese

• 12 Dec 2021 16:36 GMT
• 4 min read

New Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has enjoyed the perfect start to Premier League life at Old Trafford by winning both of his first two league games.

A 77th minute goal from Fred gave Man Utd a 1-0 home win over Crystal Palace a week ago.

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And then, a controversial Cristiano Ronaldo penalty on Saturday gifted Rangnick all three points in a 1-0 win at Norwich City.

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Rangnick knows that he has a hell of a lot of work to do if he is to get Man Utd back into the title race as they find themselves a whopping 11 points behind city rivals Manchester City after 16 games played.

However, a quick glance at Man Utd’s upcoming Premier League fixtures will give Rangnick great hope that they can substantially close or even eliminate the gap between themselves and those above them.

Man Utd’s next Premier League fixtures

Between now and the end of 2020, Man Utd will play Brentford away on Tuesday, Brighton at home next Saturday, Newcastle away the day after Boxing Day and finally Burnley at home on Thursday 30th December.

Thus, Rangnick will be expecting Man Utd to pick up 12 points from 12 versus these bottom-half standard sides.

The New Year sees Man Utd face three slightly more difficult, yet very winnable opponents. They host Wolves on January 3, Aston Villa away in a slightly trickier match on January 15 before hosting West Ham a week later.

Then, in February, Man Utd play against four more bottom-half teams as they travel to Burnley, host Southampton, visit rivals Leeds and then welcome Watford to Old Trafford.

So, all in all, that is 11 Premier League fixtures between now and March that Rangnick will be expecting to get as close to maximum points as possible from.

While United will also have the Champions League knockouts resuming in February – as well as the start of the FA Cup – there are 33 points up for grabs that United should be expecting to get close to.

Man Utd will not be facing any of the traditional big six until March, with the Manchester derby coming at the Etihad on March 5.

By the time that game rolls around, Rangnick’s team should have cut the gap on the leaders considerably.

With a bit of luck, they may even have eliminated the lead altogether. After all, City still have to play Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal before then.

Liverpool will lose Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to the Africa Cup of Nations in January, while Chelsea themselves have suffered an alarming dip in performance levels recently.

No one expects Rangnick to launch a title challenge this season but they have such a kind run of fixtures coming up that they may have more to play for than simply settling for the top four.