Manchester United will qualify for Champions League, according to study

The Independent has teamed up with the makers of Football Manager to simulate how the final few games will unfold and the table will finish

Wayne Rooney (GETTY IMAGES)

Louis van Gaal will end the season having achieved the minimum requirement demanded of him, returning Manchester United to the Champions League.

The Independent teamed up with Sports Interactive, makers of the Football Manager series of video games, to run a simulation of the final few games of the season and it predicts that the Red Devils will finish comfortably ahead of Liverpool who will end the campaign in fifth.

During the run-in, Manchester United take on reigning champions Manchester City, and are predicted to win 2-1 at Old Trafford. However they will lose 1-0 when they play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Despite that set-back, Van Gaal's side will still do enough to end the season fourth in the table, meaning they will go into a Champions League play-off against another European club.

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With Chelsea predicted to win the league by a staggering 13 points, Arsenal will finish second and Manchester City third to make up the Premier League's Champions League contingent for next season.

Liverpool will finish fifth, whilst Southampton will finish a place ahead of Tottenham in seventh, meaning those three sides will be in next season's Europa League.

Football Manager uses a vast database - compiled by approximately 1,000 researchers across the world (including real-life scouts) - to blend reality and fiction. So impressive is the information that it has become a tool used by real life managers. The painstakingly detailing simulation of club management, which allows players to control every aspect of a manager's role, from scouting new player to tactics and training, has sold millions of copies worldwide.

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