Premier League table & Champions League race after Man Utd draw with Leeds
By Euan Burns
The battle for the Champions League places in the Premier League took yet another twist on Wednesday night as Manchester United dropped points at home to Leeds United.
The pair drew 2-2 after Leeds had gone into a 2-0 lead thanks to a great goal from Wilfried Gnonto after one minute and Raphael Varane's own goal early in the second half. Goals from Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho meant United rescued a point, but they could not get the three that were expected when the contest kicked off.
Here is a look at how that result has affected the Premier League table and the race for those precious Champions League spots.
- How Erik ten Hag can fix Man Utd midfield in absence of Casemiro & Eriksen after Leeds draw
- Erik ten Hag on Man Utd's 'unacceptable' first half performance vs Leeds
- Why is there a Man Utd-Leeds double header?
On this edition of TPL, Scott Saunders & Rob Blanchette discuss the Qatari interest in Manchester United, both fixtures versus Leeds United in the Premier League, Man City, Jadon Sancho & more! If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
What Man Utd vs Leeds means for the Premier League table
Having played the rearranged match against Leeds from the weekend that Queen Elizabeth II passed away, Manchester United are now a game up on many of their direct rivals for Champions League qualification.
Erik ten Hag's side has played 22 times and their 23rd game will also be against Leeds as they travel to Elland Road on Sunday afternoon to try and get a better result.
As for Leeds, the point has helped them climb slightly closer towards safety and was bad news for the likes of Everton and West Ham.
Position | Team | Games | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Arsenal | 20 | 28 | 50 |
2 | Manchester City | 21 | 32 | 45 |
3 | Manchester United | 22 | 8 | 43 |
4 | Newcastle United | 21 | 22 | 40 |
5 | Tottenham | 22 | 10 | 39 |
6 | Brighton | 20 | 11 | 34 |
7 | Brentford | 21 | 7 | 33 |
8 | Fulham | 22 | 2 | 32 |
9 | Chelsea | 21 | 1 | 30 |
10 | Liverpool | 20 | 6 | 29 |
11 | Aston Villa | 21 | -6 | 28 |
12 | Crystal Palace | 21 | -10 | 24 |
13 | Nottingham Forest | 21 | -18 | 24 |
14 | Leicester City | 21 | -5 | 21 |
15 | Wolves | 21 | -15 | 20 |
16 | Leeds United | 21 | -8 | 19 |
17 | West Ham United | 21 | -8 | 19 |
18 | Everton | 21 | -12 | 18 |
19 | Bournemouth | 21 | -24 | 17 |
20 | Southampton | 21 | -21 | 15 |
As of 8 February 2023.
How does the Champions League race look after Man Utd vs Leeds?
It really is starting to look like the Champions League race could go right down to the wire in the Premier League this season with five teams competing to be in the top four.
Right now, it is Tottenham that are outside of the top four as they sit in fifth place on the same number of games as Manchester United. They have four fewer points, though. Newcastle have hit a slightly less steady run of form, drawing four and winning one of their last five.
Despite that, they are on 40 points in fourth place and can go back into third place above United if they win their game in hand over Ten Hag's side.
The title race is generally viewed as being between Manchester City and Arsenal but the gap between second and third is only two points. It would take a serious drop in form for Arsenal to not qualify for the Champions League as they are five points ahead of City with a game in hand and seven ahead of United with two games in hand.
Man Utd's next Premier League games
United have got an amazing number of cup matches coming up in the near future as they have the fifth round of the FA Cup against West Ham, the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United, and the Europa League tie against Barcelona to contend with.
In the Premier League, though, they have got a very mixed set of fixtures. They face two sides that are definitely in the relegation battle, another that could get dragged in, an ailing top-six side and another pushing for European qualification.
- 12/02/2023 - Leeds United vs Manchester United (14:00 GMT)
- 19/02/2023 - Manchester United vs Leicester City (14:00 GMT)
- 05/03/2023 - Liverpool vs Manchester United (16:30 GMT)
- 11/03/2023 - Manchester United vs Southampton (15:00 GMT)
- 19/03/2023 - Brighton and Hove Albion vs Manchester United (14:00 GMT)