Ole Gunnar Solskjaer demands maximum points from Manchester United in final five matches to guarantee Champions League spot

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told his Manchester United players they will need to win all of their remaining five Premier League matches to secure Champions League qualification this season.

United will move to within a point of Leicester City in fourth, and two behind third-place Chelsea, if they beat Aston Villa at Villa Park on Thursday night.

With Leicester to play at the King Power Stadium on the final day of the season, United can guarantee a top-four berth if they win all of their remaining fixtures.

Manchester City are due to discover on Monday if they have managed to overturn their two-season European ban when the Court of Arbitration for Sport returns its appeal verdict. But if the suspension is upheld or even reduced to one season, fifth place will be enough to guarantee a Champions League spot next season.

Yet Solskjaer has warned his players that they can ill-afford to rely upon any one else.

Premier League 2019/20 latest standings (top six)

Asked if he felt United needed to win all of their remaining games, the manager said: “I think so, yeah. You never know what’s going to happen but it looks like teams around us are playing well. There are so many games - if we win every single one we’re in the top four.

“We cannot rely on help from anyone else, we have to do it ourselves and go into next season to put other challenges to teams.”

United can extend their unbeaten run to 17 matches against Villa before games against Southampton, Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Leicester. Solskjaer says the run has boosted confidence but must become a norm for his team.

“As a footballer you know you can’t just pick out confidence from the fridge,” he said. “You have to have it every day in training and results matter.

“The last 16 games unbeaten gives us confidence but it’s nowhere near what a Man United team should strive towards.”

Jack Grealish scored a wonder goal and impressed in Villa’s 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in December and the midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to United. Solskjaer has told his players they must be mindful of the player’s threat.

“I think the last game they caused us some problems, Grealish off left and [Anwar] El Ghazi on right,” he said. “Grealish scored a fantastic goal, there's been loads said about him and we need to be aware of him. If he’s off the left, middle or right, he attracts players to him but there’s not just one player in that Villa team, there are a lot of them.”

Solskjaer appeared to be heard telling Nathan Ake, the Bournemouth defender, after United’s 5-2 win on Saturday that he wanted a left footed centre-half. “We need a left-footed centre-back, so keep going,” the manager apparently said to Ake.

But Solskjaer brushed off the incident on Wednesday. “I’ve got seven centre-backs, I don’t know where that’s come from. We’re fine,” he said.