‘For f*ck sake, of course they are’

Dimitar Berbatov thinks Man Utd are in a title race with Arsenal and Man City with the Red Devils “hoping to surprise everybody”.

Man Utd beat Leeds 2-0 over the weekend to keep the pressure on the Gunners and Citizens at the top of the Premier League.

Arsenal dropped points to Brentford after the VAR’s controversial decision not to chalk off Ivan Toney’s equaliser saw them draw 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Man City took advantage of their slip-up to beat Aston Villa 3-1 and close the gap to leaders Arsenal to three points, although the Gunners have a game in hand on second-placed City.

Man Utd have been quietly creeping up the table with Erik ten Hag’s men two points adrift of neighbours Man City but they’ve played one more game than Pep Guardiola’s outfit.

And, with Arsenal hosting Man City on Wednesday, Man Utd will be hoping to keep up the pressure on their rivals when they play Leicester City on Sunday.

When asked if Man Utd are in the title race, Berbatov told Betfred: “For f*ck sake, of course they are because they’re in third position at the moment.

“I’m happy to see them in the position they’re in and where they’re moving to, but especially in the case of Manchester United and Tottenham, consistency is the main quality you need if you want to be a champion because the Premier League is a marathon, not a sprint.

“You need to play consistently well and even when you’re not playing well on the day, you still need to figure out how to get the points. This is what all Premier League champions have done. 

“It’s so interesting at the moment because you have Arsenal dropping points, Manchester City have been dropping points and Manchester United is crawling behind them and hoping to surprise everybody. In my opinion it’s too early to say who will win the Premier League title this season.”

But former defender Gary Neville had the complete opposite view when asked over the weekend about United’s title chances.

“I genuinely don’t think they are in the Premier League title race,” Neville said on Sky Sports.

“What was interesting was I was watching the second half [against Leeds] and I didn’t think United were going to get the goal and I didn’t think they were going to get the win.

“At that point I was thinking Erik ten Hag has actually prioritised the Barcelona game this week. He’s put Martinez and Varane on the bench and saved them for Barcelona and played Shaw and Maguire at…