Antonio Valencia believes that Manchester United face a "tough" fight to finish in the top four this season.

The Red Devils have been tipped to secure Champions League qualification under Louis van Gaal due to their absence from European competitions this season.

United finished seventh in the 2013-14 campaign, but currently reside fourth in the Premier League table, with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool all vying for a top-four place.

"It's very open and quite tight in those top spots," The Express quotes Valencia as saying. "We're seven points behind second place and then a couple of teams are three or four points below us.

"We must fight hard in the remaining games to finish as high as possible. It's a long season and we've picked ourselves up of late, so we need to keep the results coming for the fans.

"We've got tough games coming up against very good teams and rivals for our position but, if we keep the concentration high, we can achieve our aim of a top-four finish."

United's next game is against Leicester City at Old Trafford on Saturday.