Gary Neville insists Manchester United are not in the title race but Roy Keane disagrees and says their former side “have to be ready to pounce” on any mistakes from Arsenal and Man City.
United scored two late goals to beat Leeds 2-0 on Sunday but still trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by five points having played two games more than their rivals.
Sunday 19th February 1:00pm
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Erik ten Hag rotated his defence at Elland Road, handing Raphael Varane a rest while giving Luke Shaw the chance to play at centre-back ahead of Thursday’s trip to Barcelona with Lisandro Martinez suspended for the first leg of the Europa League play-off tie.
Neville says the United manager’s decision to make changes in the Premier League suggests he knows the title is out of reach.
“Interestingly, I was watching the second half against Leeds, and I thought they weren’t going to get the goal and get the win,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“I thought Erik ten Hag has had to prioritise the Barcelona game because he put Raphael Varane on the bench to save him for that game on Thursday and played Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw at centre-back at Elland Road.
“If he thought he could win the Premier League he would obviously prioritise the Premier League, but even he’s rotating his squad and obviously he got away with it against Leeds and it has worked for him.
“I just don’t think they can win the Premier League for the reasons that they have so many games and I just don’t think they are at the level of Man City and Arsenal.”
Neville added: “Also, United are in all the cup competitions still. They have all those games, playing every three days.
“I just think it will be too much for them but if they are in it come March and April, they’ll have a massive chance with seven or eight games to go.
“So, they have just got to hang in there and hope that Arsenal and Man City aren’t quite right towards the end of the season, but I just think they aren’t quite ready yet.”
Keane: Man Utd must be ready to pounce
At least one of City and Arsenal will drop points on Wednesday when they face off at the Emirates and Keane says United must anticipate that there will be more mistakes from the Premier League’s top two.
“Obviously, Arsenal and City are ahead of them but what they have to do, if any of the teams above them slip up, they have to be ready to pounce,” Keane told Sky Sports.
“They won today and they have to keep the pressure on City.
“Considering the way they started the season – they had a disastrous start against Brighton and Brentford – to be where they are now, I’d say they are very much in with a chance.
“United have to keep doing what they are doing winning football matches. Yes, you can slip up the odd time, but they couldn’t afford to slip up at Leeds. Eventually, their quality did show, particularly the first goal, it was brilliant.
“But the manager mentioned it after the game, talking about the squad, players coming off the bench, Alejandro Garnacho at Leeds and Jadon Sancho the other night, that’s where the squad comes into it.
“There are a lot of games coming up, starting against Barcelona. I don’t think Ten Hag was taking chances. I thought the starting line-up was more than strong enough to win the game, and rightly so.
“But Manchester United – the players, the manager and the fans – have to look at the table and if City slip up as they have done and Arsenal continue their difficult run, they have to be ready to pounce, just in case.”
Richards: Man Utd’s lack of top No 9 the difference
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards says United are short of an elite striker to keep up in this season’s title race.
“Wout Weghorst is a very good player, who links the play well, but can he score enough goals to keep them in the race?” Richards told Sky Sports.
“Marcus Rashford has been excellent, but can he keep this form going towards the end of the season?
“Arsenal have got Gabriel Jesus to come back. Man City have got Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez, a World Cup winner, on the bench.
“That is going to be the difference.”
This content was originally published here.
