Manchester United kept up the pressure on the Premier League’s top four courtesy of a 3-0 victory over champions Leicester last weekend.

Jose Mourinho’s side had seen both Arsenal and Liverpool lose on Saturday, and they took full advantage of their slip ups thanks to goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Juan Mata at the King Power Stadium.

The result, their 12th league win of the campaign, means that they are just two points adrift of Arsenal in fourth ahead of their clash with Watford at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Mourinho’s men are now unbeaten in 15 league games, dating back to October, and will certainly feel confident of getting into the top four come the end of the season, and indeed returning to the Champions League after a one-year absence.

It won’t be easy for United though, with the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham all battling them for three places, so it should be a fascinating final few months of an already intriguing Premier League season.

So, with 14 games to go, here are THREE reasons why United will finish in the top four this season…

Excellent unbeaten run

Mourinho’s men are currently embarking on the longest unbeaten streak of any side in the Premier League, as they last tasted defeat back on October 23 at the Portuguese’s former employers Chelsea.

Since then, United have won eight and drawn seven of their 15 league games, which has propelled them up to the cusps of the top four places.

Although they’ll be frustrated with the amount of draws in that time, especially the home ones against Burnley, Arsenal, West Ham, and Hull, they are proving very difficult to break down, and don’t really look like losing a game at present.

That’s an invaluable asset to have going into the final 14 games of the campaign, and if they can begin to turn some of those draws into victories, like they did when they won six on the spin in December, they’ll surely finish in the top four.

Ibrahimovic in great form

When you’ve got a talismanic figure like Zlatan Ibrahimovic in your side, you’ve always got a chance of scoring goals and winning games of football.

The Swedish forward netted his 15th Premier League goal of the campaign in the 3-0 success at Leicester last time out, which means that he has now scored 11 goals in his last 13 league appearances.

Add in that the fact that his all round play, of which saw him get three assists in two games back in December, is seriously helping the team, and Mourinho has a forward that can lead the line and will always be a threat, even if he’s not having the best of games.

There does appear to be a reliance on Ibrahimovic’s goals, but strikes from Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan against Leicester suggest that they are beginning to take goal-scoring responsibility, which can only bode well for United’s surge towards a top four finish.

Mourinho has got things going

By starting the season with three wins out of three, everyone thought that Mourinho had already cracked it and would take United towards another Premier League title.

However, the Red Devils struggled post a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in September, and went on to win just two of 11 league games, with draws at home to Stoke, Burnley, Arsenal, and West Ham all games United could and perhaps should have won.

This suggested that the Portuguese still had a fair bit of work to do to turn last year’s fifth place side into title contenders, yet since their 1-0 victory over Tottenham on December 11, United have been very good, winning seven of their ten league matches, as well as reaching the final of the League Cup and the fifth round of the FA Cup.

The team has been much more settled – Mourinho has clearly worked out his best team on any given match-day, and that bodes extremely well for the rest of the season and beyond.