Exclusive: Why Wes Brown feels the next three games could be key for Man Utd’s top-four hopes

Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown has told ManchesterWorld that the next three games could be crucial for the Red Devils’ chances of making the top four this season.

United return from the international break with a Premier League clash against Leicester City on Saturday, before they play Everton and Norwich City in the two subsequent games.

The following weekend after Dean Smith’s men come to Old Trafford, and the Red Devils travel to Arsenal in a crucial match, although United also now have a rearranged fixture against Liverpool in between the Norwich and Arsenal showdowns.

It’s the Gunners who currently occupy fourth place and are four points clear of United, with a game in hand on Ralf Rangnick’s men.

That’s why Brown, who played 362 times for United as a player, feels his old side need to try and reduce that gap to Arsenal and put them under greater pressure, ahead of their crucial meeting on 23 April.

“We’re still fighting for that fourth position, which Arsenal definitely have control over. It’s just whether the lads can now focus on getting the results they need,” Brown told ManchesterWorld, ahead of Sunday’s Manchester Remembers Charity game, to raise funds for victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.

“It’s still possible, but the season in general hasn’t gone to plan. A new manager will probably come in at the end of the season and we will go again. You just hope that everybody picks up form over the remainder of this season.

“I think we play Arsenal as well which is important,” he added. “I feel that the next three games are important. If someone can take that upper hand and get those early wins, it adds a lot of pressure and then it’s on the players themselves.

“It’s still there, and Manchester United are a club that need to be in the Champions League. It’s there, it’s a challenge.”