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Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has said that the club's realistic target for the season is a top-four finish. The Red Devils finished a dismal fourth last season, their worst finish in the Premier League era.
After opening the current campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Fulham, Erik ten Hag's side conceded a 95th-minute winner at Brighton & Hove Albion to go down 2-1. They then lost 3-0 at home to arch-rivals Liverpool to drop to 14th in the fledgling standings.
Following the team's underwhelming start to the season, Fernandes had no qualms admitting that his side are not title contenders this season and are more realistically looking to return to the UEFA Champions League.
"Yes, I am perfectly aware that this Manchester United are not ready to win the Premier League," he told DAZN Portugal (via Football Talk).
"We are, indeed, fighting for the title with the concrete and real objective of trying to finish in the top four, in the places that give access to the Champions League.”
Fernandes is yet to make a goal contribution in three Premier League outings this season.
"Casemiro is more experienced than me" - Bruno Fernandes defends embattled Manchester United teammate
Manchester United midfielder Casemiro endured a torrid outing at Old Trafford at the weekend. The 32-year-old former Real Madrid was culpable for the game's first two goals - conceding possession - as Luis Diaz helped himself to a first-half brace.
Casemiro was taken off at half-time, but the visitors scored again through Mohamed Salah to make it a forgettable evening for the Old Trafford faithful. However, Fernandes didn't choose to point fingers at the experienced midfielder, saying (as per GOAL):
"Casemiro is more experienced than me. He played for the two best clubs in the world in terms of media coverage. He has a lot of quality. And mistakes are going to happen to everyone. We just have to be more cautious when they are about to happen and compensate and correct them in time.
"We have to be more alert when we lose the ball, feel and smell the danger and be more objective. Whenever we have opportunities, we have to score more goals. We have attacking quality, but few goals."
Following the international break, Bruno Fernandes and Co. return to Premier League action where they take on Southampton away on September 14. Three days later, they host Barnsley in their EFL Cup opener.
