Just over a month ago, Manchester United were preparing for Leeds United, a return fixture against Barcelona and an EFL Cup final against an in-form Newcastle.

They were two points behind Manchester City having played a game more, and seven points behind leaders Arsenal having played two games more.

Arsenal drew with Brentford and lost to Manchester City, and were fortunate not to drop more points at Aston Villa. Manchester City somehow failed to get over the line against Nottingham Forest, and arguably the goalkeeper of the season Nick Pope picked up a red card against Liverpool, ruling him out of the EFL Cup final.

United rose to the challenge by overcoming Leeds and Leicester, before sensationally knocking Barcelona out of the Europa Leaguee.

They've also added their first piece of silverware of the Erik ten Hag era in the form of the EFL Cup and progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, with the faint whispers of a quadruple continuing to be heard prior to their recent 7-0 drubbing by Liverpool.

The Red Devils are now 14 points behind leaders Arsenal in the league with a game in hand, but the Gunners still face trips to the Etihad, Anfield and St James' Park not to mention the added distraction of the Europa League knockout rounds to take into account. 

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The primary, and perhaps sole, aim of Erik ten Hag’s first season was to secure Champions League football again and at 1/7 with 13 games to go, that looks rather safe. As such, with United still competing on all fronts, the question is: how far can Manchester United go this season?

The EFL Cup final was quite finely poised; Newcastle had Bruno Guimaraes back, who’s been an enormous miss following his three-game suspension. Eddie Howe’s side drew with West Ham and Bournemouth and lost to Liverpool, and that’s after he missed three games earlier in the season through injury, and Newcastle failed to win any of them either. 

But keeper Nick Pope, looking good for a place in the PFA Team of the Year such has been his form this season, missed the final through suspension, with Martin Dubravka cup-tied having appeared for Manchester United during his brief loan spell at Old Trafford, meaning former Liverpool man Loris Karius lined up between the sticks.

Manchester United's full trophy odds

Manchester United were 4/6 to win the first piece of silverware of the season and duly obliged thanks to two first-half goals.

Coming back from a goal down against West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup to win 3-1 and set up a quarter-final clash with Fulham at Old Trafford, with big hitters such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Newcastle and Chelsea all out of the competition, at 9/4 it’s another realistic chance of silverware for Ten Hag’s side.

The Europa League is another opportunity to lift a trophy. Remarkably, it was Manchester United’s last piece of silverware prior to Sunday's win, beating Ajax in Stockholm all the way back in 2017.

United also edged past Barcelona after falling 1-0 down, setting up a last-16 tie with Real Betis with ten Hag's charges now priced at 5/2 favourites to secure their second Europa League title.

And then to the big one. Not a single Manchester United fan anywhere could’ve harboured hopes of winning the league, and even now at 40/1 it’s fanciful, but in a season split for the World Cup where Liverpool have fallen miles below what was expected of them, and Manchester City still to hit top gear, anything could happen.

The Dutchman’s reluctance to rotate players may come to bite him later in the campaign, and it still appears to be a two-horse race, but if United can bounce back from their Anfield nightmare, hang in there and hope that City and Arsenal continue to drop points, they may well enter the frame.

Liam Williams

• Manchester United F.C.
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