Can Man United win the Premier League? Title challenge under Michael Carrick is crazy — but possible

Manchester United winning back-to-back games at home to Manchester City and away at Arsenal would have sounded fanciful at best even a couple of weeks ago.

Two impressive performances and six points later, we're starting to have loftier ideas of interim head coach Michael Carrick and his players.

United's 3-2 win at Emirates Stadium struck a big blow to Arsenal's title charge. It was their first home loss all season, and it allowed City and Aston Villa to close to within four points of the summit. United are fourth, eight points back of the Villans, but arguably the team with the highest level of confidence among the current top six.

This begs the question: should Carrick's United be considered title challengers?

The obvious response is: no, of course not. They sacked Ruben Amorim barely three weeks ago. They finished 15th last season. They were knocked out of the EFL Cup by League Two Grimsby Town; they lost to 10-man Everton and drew with West Ham and Wolves at home in December. It's completely absurd.

Is it? 

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Can Man United win the Premier League?

Crazy as it sounds, right now, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that United win the Premier League title.

That probably seems like precisely the sort of impulsive, blinkered reaction to two wins in two games against which Carrick will caution. United are 12 points behind leaders Arsenal: not only do they need a huge points swing to overhaul the Gunners, but they need the other teams in the top four or five to have a sizeable number of bad results between now and the end of May, all while they show the kind of consistency of performance level that has been beyond their capability for years.

And yet...

Let's look at the top three. Arsenal, the imperious force in Europe this season, have gone three league games without a win. Manchester City, beaten by United a week ago, have taken six points from a possible 15 in 2026. Aston Villa have won two of their last five and were told they had "no chance" of even a top-five finish by manager Unai Emery after they lost to Everton. 

And let's look below United in fourth. Chelsea, a point further back, are enjoying a good start to life under new boss Liam Rosenior, but they were winless in five league games from December 20 to January 7. Liverpool are right now doing a good impression of the modern Man United, lurching from a morale-boosting win to a dreadful result within the space of a few days. Their loss at Bournemouth made it five league games without a win, and talk has already surfaced that they have sounded out Xabi Alonso about replacing Arne Slot.

2 - @ManUtd are the first team to win back-to-back Premier League games with both coming against sides starting the day in the top two positions since Everton in February 2010. Contract. Pic.twitter.com/tVXOZOcK1k

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 25, 2026

Consider, too, United's remaining games.

Their own past ineptitude means they have no domestic cup or European competition to balance; instead, they have only 15 matches of their season left, unlike all the rest of the top five. Their injury picture is therefore far better than in recent years, with only Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee currently sidelined (although Patrick Dorgu appeared to hurt his hamstring against Arsenal, having scored a stunning goal).

By February 8, they will have played Arsenal, City, and Tottenham twice, plus away games at Aston Villa and Liverpool. On paper, their toughest remaining assignments are Newcastle United away (March 4), Chelsea away (April 18) and Liverpool at home (May 2). On current form, they should win at least two of those. Arsenal still have derby rivals Tottenham, City, and top-five contenders Brentford away; City's next four league matches are Spurs and Liverpool away, then Fulham (two points outside the top five) and Newcastle at home.

This is, of course, one giant exercise in ifs and buts. United need the rest of the top sides to drop points on multiple occasions while winning the vast majority of their own remaining games. If they fail to beat Fulham in a week's time, the very idea that they could end this season celebrating a 14th Premier League title will look preposterous.

But in a season where so many top sides look in various shades of disarray, where all of them but United have cup competitions and European football to balance... Can you really rule it out?

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Man United Premier League fixture schedule

United have only 15 games left this season, all in the league. By way of contrast, Arsenal have at least another 19.

When did Man United last win the Premier League?

United's last league title was in 2012/13, their final triumph under former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Red Devils, inspired by the performances of Robin van Persie, finished nine points clear of Manchester City in second place. It was their 20th top-flight title, a tally Liverpool matched when they won the league in 2024/25.