The Sky Sports pundit has refuted Rafael’s claims that Man U can still challenge for the Premier League this season.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has denied that Manchester United are challenging for the title, in the wake of United defender Rafael’s claims that his team are still in the race.
Carragher is quoted in the Manchester Evening News as saying “I would expect them to get stronger as the season goes on. That’s quite a thought when you consider that, despite people saying they have had a poor start, they are fourth in the table and above Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton.”
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But the Sky Sports pundit does not believe that this improvement will be enough to see them challenging Chelsea and Manchester City this season.
“Still, I can’t quite agree with Rafael and say they are capable of winning the title this season as, for me, Chelsea, the standout team so far, and Man City are the only realistic challengers to top the table.”
United defender Rafael was quoted in yesterday’s MEN as saying that United “certainly have a chance of winning the title,” despite the fact that his team lie eight points behind league leaders Chelsea.
Manchester United have struggled in the opening weeks of the season, losing their opening game of the season to Swansea and a 5-3 thriller to Leicester, and things aren’t about to get any easier. After West Brom on Monday night, United have Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal in their next four games.
Louis Van Gaal’s team will hope that to regroup after the international break, with a host of names like Falcao, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Angel Di Maria still new to the club. Meanwhile stalwarts like Nemanja Vidic, Danny Welbeck, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra have left.
Their next four games will define whether Carragher or Rafael is right. A win away at West Brom is essential, and if United can follow that up with positive results against Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal, none of whom have looked completely olid, there’s no reason they can’t be top by May.