Premier League
Supercomputer predicts Manchester United’s final Premier League finish after Chelsea win
Man United are locked in a competitive battle to secure Champions League qualification for next season.
Manchester United have been given a 5.2 per cent chance of clinching fourth place in the Premier League this season as the race for European football intensifies.
After an action-packed midweek, just six points now separate Manchester City in third and West Ham United in ninth. The Reds are currently sixth in the table, just three points behind City, who were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
Though United’s start to the season has been underwhelming, their position remains both competitive and encouraging. A win against Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Saturday would move them level on points with City, who don’t play until Sunday this weekend.
Despite Erik ten Hag’s side winning four of their last five Premier League outings, however, data provided by statistical specialists Opta does not give them an overwhelmingly positive chance of finishing inside the top four and securing Champions League football for next season via that method. Their data claims they have just a 5.2 per chance of grabbing fourth.
Furthermore, their data has given them a 1.3 per cent of clinching third, a 0.2 per cent chance of finishing in second and a 0.1 per cent chance of winning the title. United are nine points behind current leaders Arsenal.
According to Opta’s data, the position United are most likely to finish in is seventh – one place beneath their current position. They have given the Reds a 19.1 per cent chance of taking that spot, which would be four places lower than they finished last term.
United had ambitions of kicking-on this season after finishing third in Ten Hag’s debut campaign at the club last term. Following the end of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign, the Dutchman set a target of building on their achievement of taking third and challenging for second this time around.
Speaking at the club’s end-of-season awards ceremony in May, he said: “My hope is that we have to do better. We always have to do better.
“We have a foundation, we have a good base and we have to do better. We still have one game to go this season and it is a great opportunity to make a next step.
“After that we then have the summer and we have to increase our standards to do even better. The competition is tough and our competitors also reach higher levels, so we have to do at least the same.
“But I don’t think it is good enough. We don’t want to stay here; we want to go higher up, we want to increase our levels and compete for the top two.
“We have to demand more and increase our levels.”
To paint an overall picture of Opta’s data, they have given United a stronger chance of finishing in 11th than third, claiming that an 11th-placed finish is four per cent possible. Percentage likelihoods significantly decrease from 12th downwards.
-MEN
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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